Although the last few years have been fairly quiet, riots are not exactly foreign to us. Think back to the 60s, when a lot of future investment bankers were tearing it up, or the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles not too long ago.

As a previous poster remarked, we have a system of reasonably fair and effective elections that can effect change. Egypt and much of the Middle East has no such tradition. I cringe when I read about what passes for elections in some countries these days.