One very successful comedian who has made it big when he ditched his patients in favor of telling jokes on prime time is about to realize, he has blood on his hand. Few days ago, I pondered out loud Why Do I Hate Comedian Bassem Youssef. Now, I am almost certain his contact jokes on the president of Egypt and his supporters are paying dividends.
For months now, the good doctor has been telling jokes targeting the Islamic Brotherhood and most famously, the Egyptian president Morsi. Jokes are a fair game, and they are easy to tell about people we do not really understand. His jokes tend to dehumanize the Islamist parties, and their president. For long he was waged war on their supporters, and called them names.
It's easy to mock people we do not understand--they did it here when they turned Arabs and Middle Eastern into a punchline in the wake of 9/11. But when people started getting hurt, and comedians realized the negative affects of their jokes, they toned it down.
Bassem did not do this, and he seems to has a limitless desire to escalate his criticism of all things Islamic and all things political. Like him, I take issues with Islamic political parties and the way sometimes, they conduct business. But we all cannot be irresponsible Bassem has a huge microphone and a large fan base who take anything he says as a a matter of fact. The other issue is of elitism the media folks, think they are they only ones who know how to run the country. They think the conservatives are wrong, before they even open their mouths. In fairness, this issue is not exclusive to Egypt. But when blood stars spilling like in Port Said, people need to step back and bring people together not, keep promoting fear.
We cannot incite people to go march the streets, and get in confrontations with the police and the army. Both people love their country, the issue comes when protesters started to believe that their country is under attack form the Islamic parties and supporter whom thank to Bassem, have been labeled by every name in the book.
His show does two things very well, tell people that things suck really bad, then blame the Brotherhood for all things wrong with the country. His fans are very young, and gullible, they are also unemployed, and have so much free time, so they go and join groups like Black Bloc that has been terrorizing the people of Egypt in the name of freedom.
Dr. Bassem's also shines on the social media where he is a leading voice, mostly mocking the president and his politics, organizing slacker activism against the regime. So, he is branching out into politics too, which is confusing is he a serious politician or is he is a comedian whose lines are not to be taken seriously.
This is the time to be a mature soul and stop pouring gas on the fire Dr. Bassem, your fans need you to say something along the lines of reconciliation. You cannot possibly hate the Islamists and the president more than you love Egypt. The sooner he and other talking heads realize this, the more of Egypt one can rescue.
البرنامج - الرئيس والاعلان الدستوري - حلقة ٣ - جزء ٢
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