The Larry Kane Report

Hamas, the terror-filled and murderous gang in Gaza, is about to send this nation’s Middle East policy into the trash can. The Hamas civil war with Fatah is an example of just how extreme Hamas is. Unfulfilled by getting the land back from Isreal, the Iranian sponsored organization has only one goal -eradicating Israel.

The Hamas victories over fellow Palestinians in Gaza mean that very shortly Israel will attack Gaza to provide a security barrier. Hamas leaders, who sanction the murder, will be killed.

Israel simply cannot standy while an organization thriving on murder as a political tool is prepared to launch more rockets in innocent civilians.

The most fascinating part of this story is the fact that noi one could have predicted that Hamas was extreme enough toi wage a civil war. The whole world is watchiing now as the brazen Israeli-hating terorists try to eradicate their political enemies by pulling triggers.

There is no end in sight to the intra-Palestinian hatreds that are threaning the Palestinian government and at the same time, Israel.

Watch this carefully. The ramifications may be deeper than the outcome in Iraq.

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Some advice to newsmakers.

Paris Hilton: Get some help. You’ve got the money, but do you have the smarts to get the help you need? I mean, someone with your record as person needs to find out what to do with a life. DUI kills people. You were driving with a suspended license. It is true: you probably got more time in jail because of  who you are. That is the price of celebrity.

And where are your parents and friends?

Alberto Gonzalez: The game is over. You have been contradicted by former ades, caught in apparent lies, and your effectiveness has vanished. Yes, the GOP saved you from a no confidene vote with a Senate filibuster. Make it easier for your friend in his final 18 months in office. Quit. You’ll feel better, and so will the world of law enforcement.

Ed Rendell: Fight hard for the highway taxes to fund mass transit. The suburban Republicans in Pa. are making you look more successful than you already are. And that’s pretty successful. How can the GOP leadership be such obstructionists to mass transit and Phila. gun contro? What century are they living in?

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General Peter Pace, four star Marine General, will not be serving another two years as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This is a good thing.

Defense Chief Robert Gates suggested that nominating him for another term would cause great divisions in the Congress. No kidding? Pace, unlike many other generals before him, presided over the flawed planning in Iraq, the dilution of American forces, and was largely a rubber stamp for the policy of denial at the Pentagon under Donald Rumsfeld.

Although he’s entitled to his views, his public comments against gays was an example of what bad leadership is about. Generals who run armies are better off keeping their views private, especially when there are members of the armed forces serving under them who might have a sexual preference different than theirs.

In recent years, we’ve learned that Generals can be deceptive and unrealistic as they send our men and women into battle.

I’m sure that Peter Pace is a loyal American, brave to the core. But , as in all things about Iraq, the times are changing.

Gates, if nothing else, is a realist. Realism in this White House has been hard to find.

This is a good move. In fact, sources in the Senate tell me it was highly unlikey that General Pace would have been confirmed.

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President Bush will no doubt veto the bill from Congress to help fund stem cell research, a bill with tremendous bipartisan support.

Years from now, the veto will be remembered in the Bush legacy as a dark moment in American history. Whether he deserves it or not, the President will be tagged with blocking research that can help people live longer and healthier lives. There are many good arguments against embryonic stell stem research. Those arguments will make it almost impossible for any Republican opposed to this bill to be elected President.

This reporter was also shocked over Virginia Senator John Warner’s comment to the new Iraq Czar during his confirmation hearings. An angry Warner, a respected Republcan told the General to wake up to the fact that the Iraqi government is taking too long to get its act together. Republicans in both chambers know that the next appropriations bill for Iraqi war costs will be defeated.  As Warner said, “We are paying a heavy price.
By year’s end, our death toll may top 4,000.

The President  should get the troops out of Iraq in an orderly process, and keep a force , a large one, in thde Middle East. That force is critical.

Right now, safely leaving Iraq and keeping a serious presence in surrounding countries, is a priority. Only 28 percent of Americans approve of our Iraq policy. Time is running out for the planners who allowed us to sink into this quagmire.

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The Republican debate Tuesday night featured one theme– run hard, away from the President. The attacks on the war and the style of the White House were appropriate, but voters are smarter than that. They understand that McCain, Romney and Guiliani need to distance from Bush, but more than distancing, they need to convince voters that they have a vision.

All of the top three Republicans are formidable, but voters want candidates who can pose for the camera and some up with some ideas at the same time.

So far, there are no specifics from the Republicans on health care. The GOP candidates, as a group, are against open doors for immigrants, except for one. They have muddled views on Iraq, except for one. They have confusing views on stem cell research. They have the same view on abortion, except for one.

The exceptions here are Rudy and John. Rudy is willing to stake out a pro choice position. McCain stands firmly behind carving a path for illegals to stay here.

From an analyst’s perspective, this kind of honesty and courage, is what people respect, even if they disagree.

I have long felt that John McCain will be the last one standing, only because he doesn’t flip flop like a political pancake.

Changing your tune to win a Presidential nomination, pandering to the extreme right, makes it impossible to run a substantial general election campaign.

That’s why, in this reporter’s view, just distancing yourself from an unpopular President has two looks: the appearance of abandoning the party, and giving the impression that your views can change, depending on the political winds.

The Democrats have a little more vision these days. The Republicans need some more positive vision, and less of an emphasis on bashing the past and the present.

As the woman said in the campaign commercials of 1984 - ‘where’s the beef?”

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