Meet The New Dictator, Same As The Old Dictator

Democracy working out just about as well as expected in Egypt.

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi triggered controversy on Thursday by issuing a decree likely to lead to retrials of Hosni Mubarak and his aides but which was compared to the ousted leader's autocratic ways.

As well as ordering retrials for Mubarak-era officials responsible for violence during the uprising against his rule, the decree shielded from legal challenge an Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt's new constitution.

It gave the same protection to the upper house of parliament, dominated by Islamists allied to Morsi, and assigned the president new powers that allowed him to sack the Mubarak-era prosecutor general and appoint a new one.