If talking is off the table, what’s left? Is the only appropriate response to shoot on sight? how does that make us better than them, if in fact you are saying we are?

Talking and compromising are only possible with people who believe there is some possiblity (however remote) of a win-win outcome.
Hamas will of course jump at this opportunity to win another victory in the anti-Israel PR war. Carter is so awash in his own self-righteousness that he can’t see what is right in front of his nose.
Hamas will only be made irrelevant when well-meaning people stop treating them as heroes and begin to see them for what they are.

meh, why would you believe what they had to say? Do you think that they can be talked into peace with a nation that they refuse to acknowledge exists and one that they have said repeatedly that they will destroy?

One wonders which side in that is more desperate–Hamas thinking that anyone cares what Jimmy the Weasel thinks or Jimmy the Weasel thinking that anyone believes what Hamas says.

You’re right, Michele. We better just kill them all.

meh, I never that and I wouldn’t. And I can tell by your response that you have no answer to my question, do you? How do you negotiate with a nation bent on your destruction? That refuse, for religious reasons to grant that you even exist. That you are the great Satan. How does Israel do that? And how do we do it on Israel’s behalf?

Don’t discount the possibility that Mr. Carter means well. I like to think that, based on his track record, and his association with Habitat for Humanity, that former President Carter is a quit nice, sincere, well-meaning man.
I also think that there’s a strong possibility that he is more than somewhat clueless as to the existence of, and nature of, evil.

Norski, I agree with you that Carter probably has the best of intentions but I think he lacks discernment and wisdom.

as indicated by his crowning achievement of the still lasting peace accord between egypt and israel?
had we then been of the same brain-dead mindset that you all are in now, we would have considered egypt an enemy of israel and thus an enemy of us, and would never have talked with them to negotiate peace.

anonymous, you have yet to tell me how we negotiate with those bent on the destruction of Israel. And it’s not like we haven’t tried. Don’t you remember Clinton’s summit with Yasser Arafat and Barack and Israel gave up so much during that negotiation but they could not come to an agreement because it would mean that Palestine would have to agree that Israel had a right to exist. Could not do it. What makes you think that it would be different now? Especially when they know they have Iran backing them and they will be able to annihilate Israel in the near future.

meh, I never that and I wouldn’t. And I can tell by your response that you have no answer to my question, do you?
I have an answer to your question, and I gave it. Don’t blame me because you don’t want to look at where your “logic” leads.
You said: “Why would you believe what they had to say?” My answer is: “Because the alternative is endless war with them where one side has to fully eradicate or opress the other side into compliance with political, social and spiritual ideals that are anathema to it.”
Our choices are clear: find a way to dialogue, or find a way to destroy them. You seem to be saying that the first option is impossible, leaving us only the second.
How do you negotiate with a nation bent on your destruction?
I don’t know. Why don’t we ask the Native Americans who believed the lies we told them as we signed treaties with them and then proceeded to slaughter their women and children?
That refuse, for religious reasons to grant that you even exist. That you are the great Satan.
You would punish the millions (possibly billions) who just want to make a life for themselves for the words of a radical few? Why then, should they care what happens to us? Why shouldn’t they pray for our erradication when we’re doing the same to them?
How does Israel do that?
Not my concern. Israel has had many opportunities to make peace with Palestine, and has, at every turn, been railroaded by the most hawkish into aggressive action that does nothing to foster either dialogue or peace.
And how do we do it on Israel’s behalf?
Why do we need to do anything on Israel’s behalf? They have put themselves in the position of a permanent “us or them” paradigm. I am not required to support them in that.

so once is good enough for you? wow, brain-dead people have no patience either. it’s easier to kill them all then to have dialog with them, right?
“anonymous, you have yet to tell me how we negotiate with those bent on the destruction of Israel.”
i don’t have to tell you squat, because it simply wouldn’t register. you already blogged about it and immediately forgot the answer to your own brain-dead question.
“He really does live up to his reputation of being the worst president in the history of this nation.”
nice conservative myth with typically no facts. sure, he might not be the best president from the ranks of the democrats, but leave it to conservatives to make him look good. just to set you straight:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/favorables/presidential_favorables
and some key rasmussen numbers from 2007:
gw bush favorable: 41% unfavorable: 59%
carter favorable: 57% unfavorable: 34%
and to bring you up to date, bush’s just broke his record low approval rating, now at 28%.