Hypocrisy or realism?

Tonight on his show, Michael Coren accused the United States of hypocrisy because they are refusing to recognize the democratically-elected Hamas as legitimate. For Coren, if the US is going to preach democracy, they have to live with the results and can't cut out a democratically-elected government just because they (the White House) doesn't like what they have to say. One of the panelists countered by saying that Hamas' number one goal is the destruction of Israel through violent means, and so they cannot be viewed as legitimate because they are not peaceful. Coren then responded that the US propped up terrorists all over Central America during the Cold War, etc. etc., and, well, I'll save you the rest.

I can see Coren's point, but I don't agree with it. I think any government has the right to end relations with any other government, democratically elected or not, for any reason it wants to. It may not look good all the time, but that's the prerogative of individual nations. Sure, the Bush administration has put itself into a bind by portraying democracy as the solution to all the world's ills - often before a stable middle class exists in those countries that are making the transition from authoritarianism to free and fair elections - but it doesn't mean that the American government is obligated to just throw up its hands and blindly accept and endorse the choice of voters, be it in Gaza, the West Bank or elsewhere, especially if the stated goal of a democratically elected government is to wipe a key US ally like Israel, and for that matter, the United States itself, off the face of the earth.