George Orwell, where are you when your country of birth needs you? Consider two cases of consular officials two years apart. One shoots and kills two locals, the other pays her nanny wages below local minimum but above home rates.

The same U.S. president insists on diplomatic immunity for the first but stays silent on the second. Had host-country law prevailed, the first — Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor in Lahore, Pakistan — could have faced the death sentence. Instead he was brought home without trial. Then-Sen. John Kerry went to Pakistan to appease its anger. The U.S. media managed to contain its outrage on his victims.

The second — a female career diplomat, not an intelligence agent — is strip- and cavity-searched. The U.S. media are oh so touched by the plight of the poor maid and the sanctity of the law of the land. No apology from Kerry, now the secretary of state. Guess which country they accuse of hypocrisy? Yes indeed, the second one, India. And praise which for standing up for the rule of law that must treat everyone equally? Yep, the good ole USA.