A new entry in the fine Democratic tradition of undermining U.S. policies overseas, which makes the left’s outrage over Bush’s appeasement remarks before the Knesset that much more absurd. Carter, of course, has carved out a special niche in this regard, but that’s only because his Nobel-ized moral authority is a tad more absolute than the rest.

Britain and other European governments should break from the US over the international embargo on Gaza, former US president Jimmy Carter told the Guardian yesterday. Carter, visiting the Welsh border town of Hay for the Guardian literary festival, described the EU’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute as “supine” and its failure to criticise the Israeli blockade of Gaza as “embarrassing”.

Referring to the possibility of Europe breaking with the US in an interview with the Guardian, he said: “Why not? They’re not our vassals. They occupy an equal position with the US.”…

He called on the EU to reassess its stance if Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza. “Let the Europeans lift the embargo and say we will protect the rights of Palestinians in Gaza, and even send observers to Rafah gate [Gaza’s crossing into Egypt] to ensure the Palestinians don’t violate it.”

Embargoes and sanctions are, of course, the humane alternative to war as a form of pressuring a rogue regime, until they’re not. Oh, and lest you think his Hamas advocacy came solely at the expense of the United States, he spilled some Israeli nuclear secrets this weekend too. Exit question: The more he talks, the better it is for McCain, no?