I haven’t fully absorbed the details of Hamas’ stunning victory of a majority of the seats in the Palestinian Parliament, but the headline really says enough.

The implications for Israel could be staggering, both for good, and for bad. Will Hamas stop terrorist bombings, no longer being able to hind behind status as a fringe group? Or will Hamas use this as a platform for launching more coordinated and regular “military” attacks on Israel. Does having a terrorist regime next door allow Israel to claim an even stronger interest in closing its borders? Does the wall become legitamate now? I hope to hell so!

I really can’t even guess how this is going to play out. Does the peace process dissolve, with no real hope at all, leaving only a government sanctioned Intifada, which most other people would call “War?” Or does Hamas come to the table, on their own terms, and really look out for the welfare of the Palestinian people, as they continually profess to do?

I don’t know.

However, this interesting (at least to me) perspective occurred to me:

Hamas is listed by Israel, the US and EU as a terrorist organizations. Meaning, that the US will not have diplomatic relations with them. So, can America rightly continue to call for Palestinian statehood? Shouldn’t this be immediate grounds for Regime Change? What’s different about Hamas and the Taliban? In fact, isn’t President Bush committed to removing Hamas from power, by his own words and precedential actions?

He can’t, of course, do that. After all, the terrorists were democratically elected. What would regime change accomplish? Another election that Hamas wins? It would do nothing. I am very curious to see, however, what this does to the American attitude towards Palestinian Statehood.