As you pointed out on the other thread, the urban / rural divide is very significant. There is more to Egypt that Cairo and Alexandria.
And, furthermore, I have serious doubts that any country with a large Muslim population can ever exist under anything other some form of despotism.
The basis for liberty is just not there.
The greatest strategic error the US has made in the last fifteen years whether it be in Iraq, Afghanistan,Syria or soon Iran is that we can change political and social realities at the point of a bayonet. The recent jail break in Iraq where 500 al Queda terrorists that cost the live of many young brave Americans to capture underscores the futility of American entanglement in the internal affairs of these countries. Nation building is the silly fantasy of on sabbatical academics sitting in air conditioned Washington offices. The reality is that they, if they have oil, are forced to sell it to anyone with hard currency or they will wither and starve. There will never again be a 1973 effective OPEC boycott. The US should disengage from direct involvement in the Mideast. Our policies simply do not benefit the American people and actually destabilize the region over the long term.
Agreed, however, Egypt is a strange step-child of Islam. They have been somewhat more successful than the ME Muslim countries and it appears through this latest coup, they still want to be. They are losing their tourism base, and many are seeing it with Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood. I believe most Egyptians do not want strict Islamists to rule. They have had a long taste of western economics through tourism and are losing their livelihoods.
Of course, Obama and Hillary were as usual on the wrong side. My prediction: The military coup installs a moderate Islamist or even a secular government that will bring Egypt back into the modern world.