As we are treated to picture after picture of our president traversing the globe, don’t you wonder why one of those nations doesn’t arrest the little prick? How is it our war-monger emperor doesn’t find himself shaking hands with constables, being informed that he’s being detained for crimes against humanity, most of them already self-confessed?

Diplomatic immunity protects government leaders from politically motivated law enforcement. Technically, a nation has to agree to respect the diplomatic immunity of our officials before we consent to venture overseas. But technically too, the 1968 Conventions on Statutes of Limitations, to which the US is a signatory, prevents any domestic or international law from limiting the reach of war crimes prosecution.

That our little emperor can trot the globe without fear of arrest is an illustration of how virtually the entire planet is our empire. American hegemony insures that while populations certainly oppose our actions, their leaders will not.

The other day I watched a junior high adaptation of hacky-sack. A half-dozen boys take turns trying to keep airborne a beany-orb, that’s hacky-sack. In this adaptation three successive kicks entitle that boy to grab the hacky-sack and fling it as hard as he can at someone, rendering that person out, with a bruise to match. The game goes on until the last man standing. To whom the ball is given each turn is apparently random.

I noticed that one boy was a lot better at keeping the hackysack aloft, and I noticed too that he was given it with much more regularity than the others. I asked later as to why the other boys would keep giving him the ball. Because then, I was told, you’re less likely to be his next victim.