This'll be all over the JBlogosphere in a couple hours, and we don't have anything particularly interesting to contribute. It's the kind of thing that we would make up as a punchline to a really over the top post about the State Department - something like "what's next - getting advice on how to pressure Israel from Jimmy Carter?" Except it's for real:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has sought the advice of former US presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton ahead of a planned Middle East peace parley scheduled to take place in Annapolis, Maryland, in November or December. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Saturday that Rice met with Carter this week. The two reportedly discussed the peace talks Carter brokered between Israel and Egypt in the late 1970s. The White House called the meeting with Carter positive and "to the point."... The State Department also reported that Rice has recently conferred with former UN Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, as well as her predecessors James Baker, Henry Kissinger, and Madeline Albright. Rice has stated that she intends to devote the rest of the 14 months remaining in her term to establishing an independent Palestinian state while ensuring Israel's security.

Condi Rice got advice from Jimmy Carter and James Baker about how to make peace in the Middle East. That's just totally fucking fantastic.

References:
* Rice confers with Carter and Clinton [JPost]

Previously:
* Jimmy Carter - Not Necessarily Pro-Nazi, But Not Categorically Anti-Nazi Either
* Carter "Nauseated" By Jewish Settlements
* In Just Seven Short Paragraphs, Jimmy Carter Tells 2 Lies, Makes 2 Incoherent Arguments, Takes an Anti-Israel Stance that the State Department Mocks, and Just Generally Annoys the Hell Out of Us