Hey, remember that time when Clinton said that the Obama administration would never change their conditions for accepting Hamas?

Secretary of State Clinton said forcefully today, "Our conditions with respect to Hamas have not and will not change...We have a very clear policy toward Hamas, and Hamas knows the conditions that have been set forth. They must renounce violence. They must recognize Israel. And they must agree to abide by prior agreements that were entered into by the Palestinian Authority... We are not able to, you know, look into the future to see whether there will be changes on the part of Hamas that would meet our conditions. But you know, certainly, that would be a clear path for them to follow."

Turns out, her firm and principled rejection of Hamas's intransigence had some wiggle room:

In the first meeting of its kind in more than two years, senior Fatah and Hamas officials met in Cairo over the weekend to discuss ways of ending the power struggle between the two parties and forming a "national unity" government... A PA official in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that the meeting was also the result of the change of government in the US. He noted that the previous administration of President George W. Bush was strongly opposed to any form of reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.

I'm not sure what the big deal is. It's not like the Obama administration isn't de facto funding Hamas via UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority. Why not make it official?

References:
* Clinton: Our Hamas principles will not change [Rosen / Obama Mideast Monitor]
* Hamas, Fatah try to form 'unity gov't' [JPost]
* Congress: Hey, Has Anyone Heard About This "We Fund UNRWA And UNRWA Funds Hamas" Rumor? [MR]
* Hamas: You Know What? Starting Friday We're Not Even Going To Pretend There's A Ceasefire. [MR]

Previously:
* Hamas Taking Limited Losses, Waiting For Obama Inauguration To Negotiate Ceasefire Terms
* Hamas: Oh All Right, We'll Let Obama Try To Appease Us
* Human Rights NGOs: We Don't Talk About Hamas's War Crimes Because They're Too Blatant And Savage