Carter-izing The Wound

Obama's been tigh-lipped on the whole Gaza invasion situation, calmly bringing up the "one President at a time" clause and refusing to send "mixed signals."

Well, whether it's close enough to January 20 to do something, or the situation in Gaza is so bad a response is now deemed necessary, that clause just went out the window as the Guardian is reporting Obama is planning "low-level talks" with Hamas.

The incoming Obama administration is prepared to abandon George Bush's ­doctrine of isolating Hamas by establishing a channel to the Islamist organisation, sources close to the transition team say.

The move to open contacts with Hamas, which could be initiated through the US intelligence services, would represent a definitive break with the Bush ­presidency's ostracising of the group. The state department has designated Hamas a terrorist organisation, and in 2006 ­Congress passed a law banning US financial aid to the group.

The Guardian has spoken to three ­people with knowledge of the discussions in the Obama camp. There is no talk of Obama approving direct diplomatic negotiations with Hamas early on, but he is being urged by advisers to initiate low-level or clandestine approaches, and there is growing recognition in Washington that the policy of ostracising Hamas is counter-productive. A tested course would be to start ­contacts through Hamas and the US intelligence services, similar to the secret process through which the US engaged with the PLO in the 1970s. Israel did not become aware of the contacts until much later.

The question is who leaked this story and why? The response from the rabid right is predictable: Obama is apparently the worst person since Neville Chamberlain, and he's aiming to destroy the US, Israel, and delicious pie.

I have to wonder if this leak was made precisely to prevent Obama from talking to Hamas at all. Certainly now he will face immense pressure from the Israel lobby to continue the same failed policies of Preznitman From Preznitland, as Obama will be viewed as a President with something less than unconditional and total support for Israel's every action, which of course is against the rules.

Combine this with the Village barrage on Obama claiming that he's now under assault from his own party for a stimulus package neither side of the aisle likes, and the crusade to Jimmy Carter-ize Obama is on: painting him as a weak President that doesn't have the respect of anyone in Washington or the world.

You know, like Bush is now.

It's possible this is all smoke and mirrors to make Obama look like he's standing up to the Liberal Spending Machine or something (odd plan, given that Senate Democrats have the backbone content of jellyfish on a good day) but it's pretty clear the one thing we can be sure of is that Obama's information control policy is becoming increasingly useless in the environment of Washington. Leaks happen. Everyone uses them as weapons to advance an agenda or to slow an opposing agenda, and so far Obama's not playing the game too well.

[UPDATE] John Cole over at Balloon Juice smells a rat too.

The report mentioned above is in the Guardian, and the Obama team is already denying the leak. For me, the only question is who is planting the leak- is it just wingnut conservatives trying to hamstring the Obama foreign policy, or is it pro-Israel groups trying to box Obama in and move him towards a more pro-Israel by forcing him to slap down Hamas with vigorous denials about this report?

Isn't one group pretty much composed of the other? Either way this looks as John says like a move to cut Obama off at the knees with the Israeli lobby and ensure nothing along the lines of "the new administration legitimizing Hamas" can happen. As I said above, the leak appears to be a weapon aimed at preventing Obama from dealing with Hamas at all.