Why is the international media so captivated by events in the Middle East? The various countries’ efforts to overthrow their governments (read: “autocratic dictators surrounded with friends with official titles”) are certainly compelling narratives. But you can log this under la plus ca change, la plus la meme chose (a.k.a., same old, same old). The coverage has reached such obsessive levels that the “Arab Spring” is starting to sound like Springtime for Hitler. Not that I’d want that to happen. My heart beats a little faster for the Libyan rebels, who seem close to winning freedom from decades of ruthless dictatorship. Before we begin congratulating them, though, NPR reveals that the new government may be taking steps to eliminate any possibility of the kind of resistance that brought them to power in the first place . . .