***UPDATE***
Expose the Left has the video of the new "Censure Jimmy Carter commercial.

Just popping over to Hot Air to see what's new, I ran across this late night/early morning post from Allahpundit, on reports that Israeli intelligence helped thwart an assassination attempt by Hamas on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

A HAMAS plot to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has been thwarted after he was tipped off by Israeli intelligence.

Hamas’s military wing, the Izza Din Al-Qassem, had planned to kill Abbas at his office in Gaza, intelligence sources said.

Abbas, who became president of the Palestinian Authority last year after the death of Yasser Arafat, was formally warned of the danger by the Israelis and cancelled a planned visit to the territory.

Read the full Times Online story here. Allahpundit believes this may not be exactly as it appears.

I did a quick Yahoo! News search to see if there was anything else on this story, but before I got that far I clicked on an International Herald Tribune link to a column by no one's everyone's favorite former President, Jimmy Carter. I'm having a tough time picking out what I want to excerpt from it, because he basically all but bends over for Hamas, while trashing American policy. Yes, he does acknowledge that Hamas doesn't recognize Israel's right to exist, but he seems far less concerned with that, and more concerned with evil American and other countries withholding money from a country that has elected a terrorist government (who name may be going after their own).

In addition to brushing off the fact that Hamas won't recognize Israel's existence as no big deal, while bashing America, he praises fair Palestinian elections, and at the same time insists that Palestinians still want a peace agreement. Wait a minute, they elected a terrorist group that refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, but they want a peace agreement?! What would that agreement look like? "We the Palestinian people agree to blow the Jews to pieces.... What!? You said a peace agreement! I guess you should have been more specific." Seriously though, if they won't recognize Israel or live side-by-side with them, what kind of agreement could be reached unless the Jews are forced to leave, right?

Carter opens with this:

Innocent Palestinian people are being treated like animals, with the presumption that they are guilty of some crime. Because they voted for candidates who are members of Hamas, the United States government has become the driving force behind an apparently effective scheme of depriving the general public of income, access to the outside world and the necessities of life.

(read "blame America")

Overwhelmingly, these are school teachers, nurses, social workers, police officers, farm families, shopkeepers, and their employees and families who are just hoping for a better life. Public opinion polls conducted after the January parliamentary election show that 80 percent of Palestinians still want a peace agreement with Israel based on the international road map premises. Although Fatah party members refused to join Hamas in a coalition government, nearly 70 percent of Palestinians continue to support Fatah's leader, Mahmoud Abbas, as their president.

First, show me these polls. Secondly, ask the depth question: "what sort of "peace" are you open to?" If the answer is primarily "Jews leave, we get it all", then the watercolors Jimmy Carter is using to paint this picture are lookin' a little runny.

It is almost a miracle that the Palestinians have been able to orchestrate three elections during the past 10 years, all of which have been honest, fair, strongly contested, without violence and with the results accepted by winners and losers. Among the 62 elections that have been monitored by us at the Carter Center, these are among the best in portraying the will of the people.

Okay, and who did they elect? Hamas. Carter goes on to say how it's the fault of Israel that recent peace talks have failed. Then he tells us how Hamas are the good guys:

With all their faults, Hamas leaders have continued to honor a temporary cease-fire, or hudna, during the past 18 months, and their spokesman told me that this "can be extended for two, 10 or even 50 years if the Israelis will reciprocate."

And apparently we're to believe this because

Although Hamas leaders have refused to recognize the state of Israel while their territory is being occupied, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has expressed approval for peace talks between Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel. He added that if these negotiations result in an agreement that can be accepted by Palestinians, then the Hamas position regarding Israel would be changed.

Oh, okay. Enough with the Hamas praise, let's get back to bashing America:

Regardless of these intricate and long-term political interrelationships, it is unconscionable for Israel, the United States and others under their influence to continue punishing the innocent and already persecuted people of Palestine.

And then wrap it up with some more brushing off the fact that Hamas won't regonize Israel's existence like it's not really a factor, and go back to blaming everyone else.

Hamas has so far refused to recognize the sovereign state of Israel as legitimate, with a right to live in peace. This is a matter of great concern to all of us, and the international community needs to probe for an acceptable way out of this quagmire. There is no doubt that Israelis and Palestinians both want a durable two-state solution, but depriving the people of Palestine of their basic human rights just to punish their elected leaders is not a path to peace.

Well I'm glad to hear it's of "great concern" to you Jimmy, but I can tell you what the international probe (someting I think you've had a couple too many of) would find: If Palestinian leadership won't recognize Israel's existence, there won't be peace!

It goes on and on, just read the column, it's really not that long.

Others:
A Blog For All, Flopping Aces, Sister Toldjah, Martin's Musings, Blue Crab Boulevard, Freedom for Some, Darleen's Place, In the Bullpen 1, In the Bullpen 2, Hyscience, Decision '08, Keshertalk, Environmental Republican, Captain's Quarters 1, Captain's Quarters 2, Wizbang