A FIRST FOR KENYA, AND FOR AFRICA:

Kenya’s Supreme Court annulled Kenya’s presidential election results, mandating fresh elections in the next 60 days. No court on the continent has ever done such a thing. . . .

Jimmy Carter and John Kerry have some explaining to do. Who’s wrong, Kenya’s highest court, or foreign election monitors? And how much did fears of election-related violence play into the observers’ decision to brand the elections as “free and fair” when some on the observation teams may have had significant reservations? Did American favoritism for Kenyatta, who is seen to be more cooperative on business and security cooperation with the United States, play any role in the enthusiasm with which American observers approved the results?

The next 90 days will be extraordinarily messy.

It’s easy to forget that elections, in a way, are a simulated civil war. Without them, or without belief that they’re reasonably fair, you move quickly beyond simulation.

And, really, Carter ratified Hugo Chavez’s fraud. He’s utterly untrustworthy.