I recall an old song that goes "What can I say, after I say I'm sorry". Well, folks, I've been humming that tune a lot of late, but it keeps coming out, "except I told you so!" For more years than I care to remember, I have been writing endless columns about the 'Big Lie' and the fact that what is trumpeted loudly, in every quarter, as 'the plight of the poor Palestinians' was, in fact, a travesty caused by their own Arab brothers. I seem to recall I also said once or twice that Israel is the prime candidate to take the fall.



Frankly, I'm neither unhappy nor even surprised at the state of affairs we have arrived at with the Hamas election victory. It's also no surprise to see these macho savages parading around Gaza, firing their guns aimlessly and pointlessly into the air, or at anyone unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Who can be surprised, seeing them begin the entirely predictable pattern of destroying themselves from within? The old adage concerning them, "The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity," couldn't be more true. You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear.



For years, I have been told that Palestinians are an educated people. Pardon me if I remain unconvinced. Intelligent and articulate people of good will do not rampage through the streets, rioting and shouting, "Jihad, Jihad!" and "Death to Jews".



I've been to Gaza a few times. If it were in the hands of anyone with a little sense or an IQ higher than an eggplant, something could be made of it; something resembling an economic lifeline, like the most beautiful of resorts, as just one example. The sea and beach front areas are superb. Except, even then, all the Palestinians excelled at was throwing stones at passing cars, burning tires and, oh yes, smoking that laughing water out of funny looking vases.



When given the opportunity to demonstrate their sense of civic duty and pride, what do they do? How do they go about rectifying all those years of corruption Yasser Arafat and company blessed them with? Why, they vote in a known and violent terrorist organization, a group of people who, from their inception, embraced hatred, death and destruction as their only way of life. Their nursery schools and kindergartens, even their version of Sesame Street, carefully teach their children, step by step, how to embrace death, so that when they are old enough to grow up and murder innocent Jews, they can become martyrs. Having looked into Palestinian "schooling", I know this is the highest aspiration a child of this misfit and evil culture can aspire to. Their parents "harvest" children so that they can grow up and blow up. Now that some of them have grown up and come into political power, what happens now? Let's not beat about the bush. The future of Palestine has been laid out in its past. There is no hope coming from that quarter.



For years, I've been making the point, wherever I can, that our government and the general population just don't "get it". President George Bush expounds endlessly about how the people of the Palestinian Authority just need "the vote". Democracy will bring out their true nature and there will be a miracle. Yeah, right! Well, they got it - and now that the Palestinian Terrorist Party has won the elections, are they happy campers?



Hamas is not an newly emergent 'solution'. It is not a democratic party. It has simply usurped the democratic process for its own ends. They have been feverishly working for the past decade or so towards two goals: the total Islamization of Palestinian society and the total destruction of Israel. This is not a political party that has come into power, nor are they interested in political solutions. Neither do they harbor intentions compatible with any Westernized understanding of the democratic process. In short, using the word "democracy" in association with Hamas is a joke. Palestine, under Hamas, is a religious 'nation' which lives for and by hatred, mass casualty suicide bomb attacks, and the murder of as many Israelis as they can manage. They have no other agenda. No economic policy was promoted pre-election. The entire 'dialogue', if you can call it that, was about power. That is all that interests Hamas.



Their philosophy will make Iran look like a pussycat when they implement their changes. The Sharia law that is going to be enforced will prohibit normal male-female interaction; music is going to be banned; G-d help you if you are homosexual, as they especially like to behead them. I can not yet shake the image of 'honor killings' brothers or fathers perpetrate on daughters they suspect of dishonoring them. This is about to become the norm, under Hamas, even the law of the land.



They've managed to murder or chase out most of the Christian minority, but those who are still left may find themselves paying the dhimmi tax - yet another benefit for 'unbelievers' in Islam. What right will we have to criticize them over these coming human rights abuses when we endorse the authority that will bring all this about? None. And that will be another "I told you so" far too late. "Missing the opportunity" might not be confined solely to Palestinians, after all.



The Palestinians have proudly declared themselves the enemies of Jews, of America, and of civilized values; the Palestinians have declared with their 'votes' that they want no peace. Aid? That's another story.



Jimmy Carter, who was the worst governor of my home state of Georgia before he inflicted himself upon the world stage, obviously believes that they are going to need our help. Lovely. This is a group of people who have wasted billions and billions of dollars in American taxpayers' money; yet, Carter has never changed his tune. He still hasn't found a terror group active against the Jewish state that he couldn't love. Unbelievably, he's on record declaring, "We must continue funding PA President Mahmoud Abbas." Um, why? It's really sad when the senile can't be stopped from shooting off their mouths. (And that goes for Shimon Peres also.)



It is going to turn really interesting now. Bush is also on record warning of a cut in funding. Yet, rumor has it that the State Department, with President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have found a way to approve funds to funnel American tax dollars into Palestinian pockets. In the past, despite the will of Congress, they funneled money through international charities and non-governmental organizations located in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. Shame some of that money couldn't find its way into Israel for the benefit of the victims of Arab terrorism.



I am amazed that the Arabs, who have all the money in the world, especially now that oil is again at high levels, don't do anything to help their "Arab brothers", but sit back smugly, happy that the burden of aid falls on everyone except them. Amazing that Saudi sheiks have seemingly unlimited funds to set up "Muslim Chairs" at American Universities, and are buying American real estate at the speed of light, but are too cash-strapped to help build the schools and hospitals 'Palestine' is going to need. And need them they would if it were up to me - I'd make sure that Israel turned off the water, electricity, medical options, etc., and make sure they didn't get one damn thing more from Israel's good heart.



Hamas made no promises or statements to the Palestinian people about financial management and responsibility, so surely the responsibility is on us to exercise some.



They are already pleading that they are on the edge of bankruptcy and cannot 'function' without more international funds. Since they have no export except terrorism, no infrastructure and no industry to speak of, they're not going to be able to meet the payrolls of their 130,000 PA employees, mostly terrorists of one kind or another, let alone promote a better fiscal future for their 'nation'. Good! Maybe they might notice that their leadership is a present day Nazi party and the rest of the world might think twice about funding another Reich. Or Caliphate. It's already come back to bite them in the tush in Paris and a dozen other countries that once befriended them.



And let there be no mistake about it. All of Hamas's friends are waiting in the wings. I have no doubt that their savage cohorts in Morocco, Iran, Tunisia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc., are waiting with bated breath to see how the Lunatic Left feels about pushing through aid and congratulations because they are now "one of us" in democracy. This is a terrorist state in the making. And they can not be negotiated with. Aid cannot, must not, be forthcoming and the only thing that can be done to them is to make certain of their destruction in the name of civilized society. That, folks, is something they understand. Hugs don't work with this group of people. Power, yes; that they can comprehend, and they must - now!