It's Official: Hamas Election Equals Bad News Update to my post yesterday: there can be now no doubt that Hamas' election victory is about two steps away from catastrophe.

Interesting piece today on TomPaine.com by Robert Dreyfuss. Makes a fairly convincing case that, as usual, the West and Israel bear the responsibility for this democratic debacle. Worth a read.  ¶ 11:38 a.m. 0 comments

  Well, On Second, Second Thought.... When I first heard about Hamas' stunning electoral victory, I was determined to play devil's advocate and give this new government the benefit of the doubt. I thought, "hell, Hamas could moderate. And a parliament with popular support could be a good thing for the Palestinians. Let's give them a chance."

I am beginning to regret this stance.

Reason #1: This article in the New York Times. It seems to me, refusing to acknowledge the existence of Israel is like watching 76 grown adults put their hands over their ears and say something roughly like: "Nah Nah...can't hear you". These kinds of attitudes will only end in tears.

Reason #2: This quote from Sheik Mohammed Abu Teir in the Globe and Mail:

“We will take such measures because we look at examples in the West, like Sweden. They have the highest level of co-education and the highest level of suicides,” he said. “We would like our children to have a protected environment. We don't want any distractions for our boys or our girls.”

I could pump my fist and take up the plaintaive cry of hapless social scientists of "Correlation is not causality!", but I prefer to let the inanity of this kind of logic speak for itself.

Hamas are like violent, political children. I hope to god they grow up before the entire region goes to hell. Maybe Hamas does want to play it straight, but if they keep this up, the rest of the world won't let them.  ¶ 8:36 a.m. 0 comments