What to do with the Muslim Brotherhood?

Upon seeing the recent events in Egypt, the question now lingers, "What to do with the Muslim Brotherhood?"  Since they cannot govern well and obviously want an Islamic Theocracy, it would be nice if Egypt started over and kept them off the ballot box next time.  However, that may not be so easy nor might it be wise.  It won't be easy because there are other groups that can take up the mantle and have not been banned, and the MB could fracture into different Islamic parties that want to be in the political process. 

If the parties are banned altogether, it plays into the suspicion that the Islamic parties have, which is that democracy should not be trusted and the system is rigged against them.  Consequently, there could be violent rebellion.  But if they are included, technically an Islamic Theocratic party could win--or there could be quite the bloody war between various splintered parties.  But there's a lot more to consider.  

Morsi and the MB ended up running the Egyptian economy into the ground, past the point of no return.  They acted like a closed, secretive organization and alienated just about everyone in the whole country.  Can this even be considered a political party? Or was it a group of MB insiders doing their own thing--no matter what the cost to the Egyptian people.  Could Egypt have lasted much longer under their leadership?  They were burning through Egypt's reserves, not delivering bread and fuel, and scaring away foreign investors by the hoard.  How could this have gone on for 3 more years unchecked? 

Complicated questions, but here are some articles wrestling with the issues, but coming from different angles.   

Here's some articles and comments that offer a glimpse at the tricky way forward. 

Hazem Kandil via the London Review of Books defends the ouster of Morsi and argues that this is part of a long revolutionary process the Egyptians are embarking on. 

David Brooks of the New York Times argues that Islamists should not be allowed anywhere near the government of any country if people want that country to work. 

Daniel Larson at the American Conservative is against rigging the system against Islamists in Egypt.

Daniel Levy at Al-Jazeera distrusts the Egyptian military and felt that it was too early to pull the plug on Islamic groups in Egyptian Politics.  

And a very helpful article from the New Republic about things to think about and not think about regarding the latest developments in Egypt.  A "road-map for backseat drivers."  

Revolutions always take surprising twists and turns--and usually last a lot longer than we would like.  Keep praying for Egypt and all of our friends there.