Jimmy Carter is an evil man. It is painful to label a past president of the United States as a force for darkness. But it is dangerous to let a man like Jimmy Carter stalk around the globe cloaked in the garb of American royalty, planting the seeds of Western civilization's destruction.

On Tuesday, former President Carter met with leaders of the terrorist group Hamas. He embraced Nasser al-Shaer, the man who has run the Palestinian education system, brainwashing children into believing Jews are the descendants of pigs and dogs. He laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat, the most notorious terrorist thug of the 20th century. Then, he had the audacity to offer to act as a conduit between the Palestinian Arabs and the Israeli and U.S. governments. This is somewhat like Lord Haw-Haw offering to broker peace between the German and British governments during World War II.

Carter is a notorious anti-Semite and an even more notorious terrorism- enabler. In particular, he is a huge supporter of Palestinian violence. He considered himself a friend to Arafat, as Jay Nordlinger of National Review wrote in his masterful 2002 piece, "Carterpalooza!": After the Gulf War, when Saudi Arabia was perturbed by Arafat's support for Saddam Hussein, Carter flew to the country at Arafat's behest to soothe the Saudis. In 1990, Carter told Arafat, "You should not be concerned that I am biased. I am much more harsh with the Israelis." He then proceeded to agree with Arafat that "the Reagan administration was not renowned as promise keepers," according to Douglas Brinkley.

Carter subsequently wrote one of Arafat's speeches, penning these vomit-inducing lines: "A good opening would be to outline the key points of the Save the Children report … Then ask: 'What would you do, if these were your children and grandchildren? As the Palestinian leader, I share the responsibility for them. Our response has been to urge peace talks, but the Israeli leaders have refused, and our children continue to suffer. Our people, who face Israeli bullets, have no weapons: only a few stones remaining when our homes are destroyed by the Israeli bulldozers.' … Then repeat: 'What would you do, if these were your children and grandchildren?' … This exact litany should be repeated with a few other personal examples."

Not surprisingly, Carter's ardent hatred for Israel translates into a Jeremiah Wright-esque hatred for the United States — the country he has never forgiven for throwing him out on his ear in 1980 in favor of Ronald Reagan.

Here's Carter on America's refusal to fund Hamas: "Innocent Palestinian people are being treated like animals, with the presumption that they are guilty of some crime. Because they voted for candidates who are members of Hamas, the United States government has become the driving force behind an apparently effective scheme of depriving the general public of income, access to the outside world and the necessities of life."

Jimmy Carter is all about Jimmy Carter. During his presidency, he gave up the Panama Canal and allowed the Ayatollahs to take power in Iran — all for the praise of the international community. In 1980, he asked the Soviet Union to release Jewish emigrants, hoping that such action would soften American feeling against the USSR and thereby swing the presidential election to him. In 1984, he told the Russians that if Reagan were re-elected, there would not "be a single agreement on arms control, especially on nuclear arms, as long as Reagan remained in power." In 2002, Carter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, despite a clear indication by Nobel Committee members that the prize was meant as a rebuke to President Bush.

Does all this make Carter evil, or just a useful idiot? By all accounts, Carter is highly intelligent — perhaps the most intelligent president of the last 50 years. It would be foolish to write him off as simply naive. He is quite willing to be used by dictators from Venezuela to Cuba to North Korea, so long as helping them polishes his legacy. For almost three decades, Carter has pandered to enemies of Western civilization, shielding his treasonous behavior with the title of "ex-president." His Hamas-hugging is just the latest entry in a political diary that would make Osama Bin Laden proud.

Ben Shapiro, 23, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School. He is the author of the new book "Project President: Bad Hair and Botox on the Road to the White House," as well as the national bestseller "Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth." To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.

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