You’re welcome, Jimmy.

Likely bloggers today will be writing about Bush’s State of the Union speech, Alito’s appointment, perhaps even Teddy Kennedy’s blood pressure.

I wanted to do something different.

Initially I was moved to create a Moonbat of the Week post. Then I thought: no. Just portray the facts — facts you won’t read in the DEM, the Defeatist, Elitist Media.

And no Moonbat Award? I declined that as well; Jimmy’s simply too easy, combined with, well, on one hand he’s so Yesterday’s News. Yet, he does provide for good, clean entertainment.

To wit, from the Jim Kouri article, printed in The Sierra Times:

When asked by the media for his thoughts on the Hamas triumph in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, former President Jimmy Carter replied that while they have a terrorist past, at least they’re not corrupt.

Huh. Hamas not corrupt. I guess Jimmy doesn’t read my blog when I posted yesterday about the corruption rife within Fatah and Yassar Arafat’s regime.

Mr. Kouri continues:

Arafat himself squirreled away millions of dollars from aid packages that were intended to help the Palestinian people. However, Carter’s comment appears to dismiss the years of death and destruction perpetrated by Hamas on the Jewish State.

And Mr. Kouri concludes:

But, as Jimmy Carter said, at least Hamas isn’t corrupt. There’s some bad news and some good news for the people of Israel: the bad news is Hamas attained legitimate power within the Palestinian State; the good news is that Jimmy Carter is leaving the Middle East.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Draw your own conclusions.

The vote? 58 to 42, along party lines. Four Democrats went over for Alito. One Republican voted against: Lincoln Chaffee, Rhode Island.

Guess what: Samuel Alito is only 54. He’ll be around for a long time.

And Bush may in fact be able to make a third Supreme Court appointment.

Last Thursday, January 26th, Hamas won 75 of the 132 seats in voting for the Palestinian Authority legislature. That Hamas victory over Fatah marks the end of ten years of Palestinian Authority rule.

And Fatah is pissed.

The Palestinian masses are finally realizing how abjectly corrupt the party of former PLO leader Yasser Arafat and current leader Mahmoud Abbas really was. Arafat was the biggest dipper and corruptor, with the EU having shoved $4 billion into the Palestinian Authority since 1983. Where did the money go? Not to the people; mostly to Arafat’s various accounts. It is, therefore, no surprise that Arafat’s surviving wife Suha is currently living in France (with mother and a serving staff) on a mere $100,000 per month.

But I digress.

This post is about money and what the United States is doing about the resulting elections placing Hamas ostensibly in charge. But mostly it’s about what we were doing and my dismay over past practices.

First: the European Union continues to fund the Palestinian Authority (see above). EU member states donated about $600 million to the Palestinians in 2005.

Second: after the Hamas win, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States wants other nations to cut off aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian government. She ruled out any U.S. financial assistance to a Hamas government.

Humanitarian help to the Palestinians, many of whom are poor and unemployed, is likely on a “case-by-case basis,” Rice said Sunday. She indicated that the administration would follow through on aid promised to the current, U.S.-backed Palestinian government led by President Mahmoud Abbas. “We’re going to review all of our assistance programs, but the bedrock principle here is we can’t have funding for an organization that holds those views just because it is in government,” Rice said.

Wait wait wait wait wait. Are WE funding the Palestinian Authority? HAVE we been funding the Palestinian Authority? THIS is the story behind the story!

The BBC News article indicated, “The US has also said it would stop its aid to the PA if Hamas failed to renounce violence or recognise Israel.”

I’m kidding, correct?

No. I am not. The United States has been funding the Palestinian Authority. In essence, that nice new carpeting in Suha’s Paris living room? Partially funded by you. By me. That nice Cartier watch? I think I purchased the bezel.

How outrageous is this? Israeli limbs blown off by PA-led terrorists?

Their explosives, IEDs, equipment: partially supplied by the American taxpayers.

I am completely disgusted.

______________

Who else are we funding?