It was too much to hope, it turns out, that for once James Earl Carter might just stand aside. But no, when the Palestinian Arabs go to the polls and hand control of their parliament to a terrorist organization that denies the right of Israel to exist and maintains overtly anti-Jewish and anti-American policies, who should show up to certify the elections and express his faith in the ability of Hamas to transform itself? None other than President Carter, most recently via his appearance on CNN’s “Larry King Live.”

The former president started by describing the Palestinian vote as a “beautiful election.” Asked whether he thinks there’s any chance of Hamas turning away from terror, Mr. Carter said, “Yes, I think there’s a good chance, Larry. I did meet with some of the same Hamas members in Ramallah, and I think they told me they want to have a peaceful administration. Of course, what they say, what they do is two different matters.”

One could weigh that statement on the merits, but in this instance it’s quicker to consider the source. President Carter once warned Americans, in respect of the repressive Eastern bloc, to avoid an “inordinate fear of communism.” He cozied up to Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev with the comforting statement that “the old ideological labels have lost their meaning,” a line he delivered at an arms control summit, of all places.

The man from Plains also helped install Robert Mugabe in power in 1980. The thug from Zimbabwe had originally been excluded from participation in an election that voted in a moderate president on the grounds that his “party” was actually a terrorist organization (of a decidedly Marxist bent, incidentally). Mr. Carter invited Mr. Mugabe to the White House in 1980 after having engineered a second election that gave Mr.Mugabe a chance to muscle into the presidency, a post he fills to this day.

Then there was his withdrawal of support from the Shah on human rights grounds, which led to the eventual seizure of power by an Islamic government of exceptional barbarism, anti-Americanism and hostility to Jews and Israelis. It was Mr. Carter who abrogated an American defense treaty with Free China. As an ex-president, he has cavorted with Fidel Castro, rubber stamped Hugo Chavez’s elections, and pleaded with the Saudis for more money on behalf of Yasser Arafat. If Mr. Carter sees peaceable tendencies in Hamas, it must be proof of something.