Liberals and The Left in the U.S. and Europe cherish liberty and political self-expression, but ignore the absence of same elsewhere. In Cuba and North Korea, and countries somewhat less oppressive, but still censorious and corrupt - such as Syria and Egypt. Egypt has been roiling. More from AP.

Cairo, Egypt - Thousands of Egyptian riot police beat pro-democracy activists Thursday, chasing and dragging them through the streets to break up a demonstration in support of judges who blew the whistle on election fraud. The Bush administration expressed deep concern and said it would continue to press for political reforms and freedom of speech and the media in Egypt, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. The violence appeared to signal a tough new zero-tolerance stance by the government toward protests demanding reform and expressing discontent that President Hosni Mubarak has backed off promises of democratic change.

Some pretty basic changes are needed, and expected.

The Egyptian government has postponed for two years local elections that were to be held in April. It has renewed its controversial emergency law, which allows for arbitrary arrest and detention without charge. The lifting of the emergency law was a key promise in Mubarak's election campaign.

In this press briefing transcript from yesterday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack notes that some of the protestors belong to The Muslim Brotherhood, and that it is a religiously-based political party which is thus outlawed under the country's constitution. However, he also emphasizes, rightly, that freedom to protest, and an independent judiciary - the need for which which was the root of the these demonstrations - are essential rights in any country aspiring to democratic principles.

Tom Henry of Jurist Legal News And Research, at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, has more on the judges and their earlier findings regarding the parliamentary runoff elections.

TECHNORATI TAGS: EGYPT, DEMONSTRATIONS, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, CONSTITUTION, POLICE, DEMOCRACY, ELECTIONS, VOTE FRAUD, JUDICIARY