The fact that the Muslim Brotherhood and the even more fundamentalist Salafist Nour Party have garnered some 65 percent of the votes in the first round of Egypt's free parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak should hardly come as a surprise. Given the way that the military regimes in the Arab world decimated all independent secular political parties over the last 50 years, there is little chance of any Arab country going from Mubarak to Jefferson without going through some Khomeini.

But whether this is the end of the Egyptian democracy rebellion, just a phase in it or an inevitable religious political expression that will have to coexist with the military and secular reform agendas remains to be seen. The laws of gravity, both political and economic, have yet to assert themselves on whoever will lead Egypt, which is why today I am in a listening and watching mode, with more questions than answers.

David Fuller's view My guess is that few Egyptians will want to follow Iran's path. Their struggle has been for democracy and jobs, and this time no western country tried to keep an unpopular dictator in power. Egyptians aspire to be the next Turkey, not a repressive theocracy. Let us hope they succeed.

This article: Joining a Dinner in a Muslim Brotherhood Home, also from the NYT, is both interesting and informative.