During President Bush surprise visit to Iraq this past weekend – in the middle of the news conference with Mr. Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted “this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” before hurling a shoe at President George W. Bush which narrowly missed him. Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture. Shoes are considered unclean – signifying the lowliest and dirtiest part of the body. The reality is: I do not care what culture you are from, throwing shoes at someone is not welcomed by anyone, this act of disrespect spans all cultural boundaries, not just Arabs. Just put yourself in their shoes – the person that is having the shoes thrown at them. I know Bush policies have not been popular, however he should have been shown some respect.
Let’s move on to the Secret Service. Where the deuces were they? And why didn’t they have his back? What kind of weak nonsense is this? It’s not cool that the President had to duck from danger. Just like the WTC terrorist attacks the second shoe should not have been thrown and someone should have taken Bush off of the stage when the first shoe was thrown! The attacks that are dressed in sheep’s clothing, Americans are never prepared for…shoes, planes…what is next….hamburgers? The guy was lucky that it was Bush and not Cheney standing at the podium, Old Quick Draw McGraw would have fired around that podium and blew his head off.
With his second shoe, which the president also managed to dodge, Mr Zaidi said: “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.” Mr Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, was then wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away.
First Lady Laura Bush probably has been hurling stuff at him forever, that’s why he has able to do a Matrix move and dodge the shoes.
“If you want the facts, it’s a size 10 shoe that he threw,” Mr Bush joked afterwards. I am surprised Bush didn’t say: Na, Na, Na, Na, you missed me, you missed me, your momma drinks whiskey!!! Al-Baghdadiya’s bureau chief told the Associated Press that he had no idea what prompted Mr Zaidi to attack President Bush, although reports say he was once kidnapped by a militia and beaten up.
This was definitely a courageous act on the part of the correspondent; his convictions underscore our unfavorable standing in the world today.