Thomas Friedman rips President Bush and the State Department for allowing an Egyptian kangaroo court to sentence a democracy advocate to 7 years of hard labor: Bush’s Shame.

Watching the pathetic, mealy-mouthed response of President Bush and his State Department to Egypt’s decision to sentence the leading Egyptian democracy advocate to seven years in prison leaves one wondering whether the whole Bush foreign policy team isn’t just a big bunch of phonies. Shame on all of them.

Since Sept. 11 all we’ve heard out of this Bush team is how illegitimate violence is as a tool of diplomacy or politics, and how critical it is to oust Saddam Hussein in order to bring democracy to the Arab world. Yet last week, when a kangaroo court in Egypt, apparently acting on orders from President Hosni Mubarak, sentenced an ill, 63-year-old Saad Eddin Ibrahim to seven years at “hard labor” for promoting democracy — for promoting the peaceful alternative to fundamentalist violence — the Bush-Cheney team sat on its hands.

The State Department, in a real profile in courage, said it was “deeply disappointed” by the conviction of Mr. Ibrahim, who holds a U.S. passport. “Disappointed”? I’m disappointed when the Baltimore Orioles lose. When an Egyptian president we give $2 billion a year to jails a pro-American democracy advocate, I’m “outraged” and expect America to do something about it.