This is just a passing thought and I don’t have a great deal to say about it but I wanted to pass it along. When you don’t act strictly within the confines of international law and impose your own sense of justice using the means you see fit, you aren’t the “world’s policeman”. You’re Batman.
The confines of international law aren’t at all clear and are often contradictory. As I’ve noted before, international law and international “policing” are not really comparable to how domestic law and policing function in the US and most other states.
Yep. We are Batman.
We’re more like Bullit – a cop who plays by his own set of rules!
And since we’re talking fictional crime fighters…. I think Americans like to picture themselves as the public image of Edmund Exley – smart, tough, valorous, completely clean though exceptionally skilled at getting the job done. The truth is we usually vacilate between being the true Edmund Exley – cowardly, expedient, grasping and careerist, willing to use people ruthlessly for self-advancement, though occasionally committed to absolute justice – and the true Dudley Smith – malevolent, completely duplicitous, brave, calculating and cunning, concerned with public order solely because it allows him the chance to commit all manner of crimes with complete cover.
EYEBALL MAN! EYEBALL MAN!
We are _the_ Batman. Luckily, our rouge’s gallery is full of crazy people like Vlad, the Lad, Kim Jong-Un, and the Iron Shiek.
Because America’s the hero the world deserves, but not the one it needs right now.
And yet most of our military efforts these days aren’t directed against the “rogue’s gallery” but against ordinary street criminals. Or just against innocent bystanders. Maybe a better comparison is Fearless Fosdick.