Isn’t it great that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is around to opine on the legitimacy of things?

Just last week, Annan told the BBC that the U.S.-led war in Iraq was "illegal." This week, he told the U.N. General Assembly that all nations should respect the rule of law.

In some parts of our country, this is what’s known as "the pot calling the kettle black." In others, it’s just called laughable hypocrisy. Annan can’t even get his own staff to follow the rule of law. Remember the Oil for Food scandal? Annan’s chief aide in charge of the Oil for Food program has been accused of taking bribes and kickbacks. Countless other charges of corruption have plagued the world body under Annan’s leadership.

Yet Annan, without so much as a blush of embarrassment, is more and more frequently lecturing the United States and other free nations to follow the rule of law, as if Annan is the sole arbiter of international legitimacy.

Enough.

Enough of this hypocritical garbage from yet another Secretary General who seems intent on fanning the flames of anti-Americanism at the United Nations and around the world while expecting U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill for his ambitious global spending plans.

Recall the Millennium Development Goals. Crafted under Annan’s leadership, the MDGs are a blueprint for fostering economic and social development in underdeveloped nations around the world. Make no mistake, the goals are worthy, and some of the specific proposals to help grow economies, feed the hungry and provide for the sick are outstanding. But mostly, the MDGs are a call by the United Nations and third world governments for developed countries like the United States to regularly write multi-billion dollar checks, which may wind up in the pockets of the greedy, rather than reach the needy.

Annan needs to choose. If he wants to continue to bash America, that is his right. The United States, as a bastion of liberty, will even defend his freedom to speak. But we are under no obligation to continue to foot the bill for Annan to denigrate us.

It’s time for Kofi Annan to get his head screwed on straight. The United States is a nation of liberators. Our cause is noble and just. We promote freedom and liberty around the world. We reject totalitarian governments. We abhor those who prey on the sick and the innocent.

Unfortunately, the United Nations is an organization of governments, not people, and too many rogue regimes and perpetrators of hate are Annan’s constituents.

That means Annan probably won’t ever feel enough pressure to stop his America-bashing, and by continuing his tirades, he will inevitably push Americans — and other freedom loving peoples — further away. As a result, the United Nations will continue down the road to uselessness and irrelevance.