By 10 p.m., soldiers had surrounded the entrance to Cairo University, where the despondent included Ahmed Ali Ismail, who did not belong to any party and saw hope even in Egypt's flawed new politics.
Donald Trump won the presidency promising to end these misguided policies, but his erratic style of governing and flawed grasp of world politics have made a bad situation worse.
The allegations - strongly denied by the Scottish Government - are contained in a new book, Megrahi: You Are My Jury, in which Abdelbaset al-Megrahi claims he was "the innocent victim of dirty politics, a flawed investigation and judicial folly".
I say this with full cognizance of the flawed, compromised nature of politics in general and the Democratic Party in particular.
Before you say, "But wait, it would be foolish to assume that the legalisation of medical marijuana would necessarily lead to the legalisation of recreational marijuana, and even if it did, would that be so bad?" then welcome to the foolishness that is politics, where flawed syllogistic assumptions are basically what passes for debate.
He's a decent, if flawed man, susceptible to local politics and the interpersonal bitterness that seems to occupy so much relational space in his parish.
Nor could government and its flawed inhabitants usurp divine authority by harnessing politics to the church.
Their reluctance reflects not just politics, but also two flawed assumptions.
But if "Semyon Kotko" is an arresting yet flawed work, compromised by censors and politics, it's in pretty heady company, from Mozart to Verdi.
