This Is No Time To Get Mousey

"If you imagine that you can buy immunity from fanatics by curling yourself in a ball, apologising for the world - to the world - for who you are and what you stand for and what you believe in, not only is that morally bankrupt, but it’s also ineffective. Because fanatics despise a lot of things and the things they despise most is weakness and timidity. There has been plenty of evidence through history that fanatics attack weakness and retreating people even more savagely than they do defiant people."

-- John Howard, former Prime Minister of Australia, endorsing The Macho Response - all the way back in 2005 - to The 7:30 Report.

Here's A New Role For France: Sit Down & Shut Up

"PARIS — France confirmed on Monday that it has been engaged in contacts with the leaders of Hamas, the radical Islamic group that is running Gaza, for several months to try to better understand its positions.

The Bush administration, which recently likened talks with Hamas to appeasement of the Nazis, quickly criticized the French for the contacts, calling them unhelpful.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner (above) emphasized that there were no negotiations with Hamas, labeled a terrorist group by the United States, Israel and the European Union.

'These are not relations, they are contacts,' Mr. Kouchner said on Europe1 radio. 'We are not the only ones to have them,' he said. 'We must be able to talk if we want to play a role.'"

-- Steven Erlanger, writing for the New York Times