Yesterday the International Criminal Court confirmed its status as a joke organization as it issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes. The ICC is accusing Putin of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine, something he has openly bragged about. This marks the first time the global court has issued a warrant against a leader of one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Texas, George W. Bush is probably finger painting to try and purge the memory of the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis that haunt his conscience. Former world leaders like Bush and Tony Blair will continue to face no punishment for their roles in devastating and destabilizing an entire region as a result of their uninformed and catastrophic decision to invade and “liberate” Iraq.
If you think about it, it's a bit absurd to charge Putin with war crimes without charging Bush. If the law doesn't apply equally to everyone, then it's not the law, it's just corruption. It's a tool of the powerful. At the end of the day, the practical implications of charging Putin are pretty limited, as Moscow doesn’t recognize the court’s jurisdiction or extradite its nationals. So in the end, the ICC’s decision is almost entirely symbolic. But if we’re going to start issuing symbolic war crimes decisions, I can think of several living US presidents worthy of such charges.
Side Items
RIP Lance Reddick: Yesterday the world lost a brilliant actor, a hilariously serious personality, and by all accounts a kind soul. This man struck the ideal balance of good guy with incredibly spooky vibes. You can watch his performances in everything from serious TV dramas like The Wire to ridiculous comedy shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Key and Peele, it’s clear this man was a pro
Trump Arrest Watch: The former president and perennial scumbag said in a social media post that he expects to be arrested Tuesday in a case relating to hush money paid to women who alleged sexual encounters with him. He provided no evidence that suggests he was directly informed of a pending arrest and did not provide details of how he knew of such pending arrests. If he does get arrested (which I’ll go ahead and say I doubt), it’ll most definitely be a day to remember on social media and probably beyond
What (NOT) to watch: Apple TV’s original show “Servant”, produced by M. Night Shyamalan (or Shyamalamadingdong if you nasty), tells the story of a family mourning the loss of an infant, but only in the strangest, most unexpected way possible. On the one hand, the show features Ronald Bilius Weasley as a recovering drug addict, but on the other hand it’s a tedious and at times outright boring show. 5/10 at best