A while back, while heading home from work, I listened to “The Five” on FoxNews Radio. It’s always entertaining watching the only liberal, Bob Beckel, fend off the four lightweight conservatives who try to storm his battlements.

At the end of this particular broadcast, during which they focused on the embassy attacks in Egypt and Libya, one of the women sarcastically remarked, “That whole Arab Spring thing is going real well, isn’t it?”

I guess she thought she was really sticking it to the Obama administration, and would get brownie points from Roger Ailes. Since she wasn’t one of the multitudinous FoxNews blondes, she had to try harder.

I’ve heard lots of similar junk from conservatives. It’s as if the Arab Spring was an initiative of the Obama administration, and Republicans want to make sure it gets discredited. But Obama had nothing to do with launching the Arab Spring, any more than the French were responsible for starting the American Revolution.

The Arab Spring started with a Tunisian who set himself on fire, resulting ultimately in the toppling of the Tunisian government. This rampant Arab discontent spread to other countries under dictatorial rule, not unlike a viral Youtube video. I’m sure there were some behind-the-scenes persons pulling strings, but ultimately, it was a grassroots movement which swept across borders.

This was NOT an American program. We had nothing to do with starting the Arab Spring, and probably nothing to do with spreading it. In fact, a lot of American voices, including liberal ones, were calling for caution, since we didn’t know what kind of governments would replace these dictators–maybe radical Islamic governments.

Anyway, I can do without the sarcasm, FoxNews Lady.

Let’s applaude these Arab people who courageously rose up against ruthless dictators and claimed their freedom. They may or may not get the new leadership they wanted or deserve, but at least they risked their lives to bring about change. That, after all, is a very American thing to do. And we should give them a standing ovation…not snide mockery on cable TV.