Surprise! Jimmy Carter writes on CNN’s website about the enduring value of promoting and protecting a world order that holds human rights to be sacred. This advice never gets old:

Too often, the international community has failed to respond to emerging crises, partly because voices of the oppressed are missing in policy discussions. Had the international community heeded the warning of human rights defenders in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Darfur, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, more robust and coordinated diplomacy and even limited intervention may have averted these crises.

Catastrophic conditions exist in Congo, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan and elsewhere and will require unprecedented cooperation to resolve. It is time to embrace the idea that when human beings are systematically abused, international peace and security are inherently threatened.

As everyone knows, Jimmy Carter has been a laughing stock on the right for 30 years because of his "feckless" foreign policy. Well, guess what, my friends: George W. Bush has been by every measure a worse foreign-policy president, way more disastrous and incompetent and venal and foolish. You have lost all standing to ever sneer at Carter. The valet will collect your keys at the door.

Crossposted to The Streak.