Today marks the first anniversary of the revolution that overthrew Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Oddly enough, many tears have been shed for the departed Mr. Mubarak—and not just tears from his military cronies, his business cronies, his family cronies, and the Israelis, who had gotten used to the devil they knew in Cairo.

Choice in Middle Eastern politics ranges from the bad to the worse, and Egypt is no exception.

The new president will need to decide whether democracy in the process is more important than democracy as the final result. How should the United States react if, as the new regimes rewrite their constitutions, they turn from democracy toward theocracy? (INCLUDES VIDEO)

Mubarak cannot stay in office until the September elections; Egypt needs a transitional government until that time.

The crowds that brought down the Mubarak regime in Egypt do not believe America stood with them in their struggle for freedom-and many believe we stood against them.

In Egypt's revolution, Mubarak's downfall marks not the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning. Decisions made now will reverberate for decades. Speaking on an Arabic satellite channel just days after Mubarak's ouster, Secretary of State Clinton called for "a democratic transition with free and fair elections" while also acknowledging "the end of the road is what matters."

The new dawn in Egypt will require active engagement by the administration to bolster pro-democratic secular forces over more radical Islamist elements.

As the Obama Administration's reaction to the protests have reached the streets of Egypt, the perception has taken hold that the United States is siding with Mubarak.