Why people don't throw shoes at Kim Jong-un

Richard Fernandez illustrates the reason why people feel free to throw shoes at George Bush or call him "Hitler."

Indignant protesters can safely throw shoes at John Howard or George Bush yelling “Hitler” precisely because they know they ain’t. If they threw shoes at a real Kim Jong-un — or Hitler — the results would be rather different. We throw shoes at those we are sure won’t strike back.

Here's what happens if you displease Kim:

A few months ago the Telegraph reported that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s ex-girlfriend and a dozen of her friends were executed by machine gun for pornographic crimes. “All 12 were machine-gunned three days later, with other members of North Korea’s most famous pop groups and their immediate families forced to watch. The onlookers were then sent to prison camps, victims of the regime’s assumption of guilt by association, the reports stated. ”

What has become apparent is that the rules governing the Ruling Class have primarily been enforced not by law but by custom.  The Country Class has to fear the constable and the prosecutor.  Not so the governors.  Not so long ago politicians resigned because they made mistakes or did things that were considered "out of bounds."  Richard Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment.  But when Clinton was impeached for his crimes, he fought refused to go.  And the Ruling Class (of which the Press is a full fledged member) moved the goal posts and today he's viewed as a stalwart of his party and his wife - complicit in his crimes and misdemeanors - is the leading candidate to be our next President.  The current occupant of that office simply ignores the laws he dislikes, changes the ones he wants by executive order, refuses to provide Congress it's rightful demands even as his polling numbers plummet.  But the thought of removing him from office is viewed as out of bounds, and his resignation is a fantasy.

Who is going to hold him within the constraints of his Constitutionally mandated limits? The Congress will not because part of Congress is of his party.  The people cannot because they are powerless.  The courts cannot because, as Stalin once said "The Pope! How many divisions has he got?"  How many divisions does the court have?

Custom and a sense of shame once made questions of "who has the guns" not something that people in this country needed to worry about since Independence was won.  That's a very dangerous situation because it increases the likelihood that the conflict between the rulers and and ruled will not be settled at the ballot box but in the streets.  

No one apologizes any more; least of all the wicked. We misspeak but never lie; we make excuses and evade responsibility; or worse we create new frauds to conceal the old. In place of the old injunction “go and sin no more” we have substituted the new commandment: “sin is no more.”