« How many Americans have an old pair of shoes? | thepeoplechoose's Blog | Why hasn't a U.S. journalist throw his shoes at Bush? »
Iraqi throws shoes at Bush - Nobody Cares
I've been waiting for CNN and MSNBC to run the shoe throwing on their cable broadcast but so far - zip. MSNBC has the video on their web site.
It tells you something when an Iraqi can throw his shoes at Bush and it doesn't show up on the cable news channels immediately.
This is the first time I recall a live video event of significant consequence being on the web first.
Advertisement
It toook almost a full half hour before it appeared on CNN. They showed it when they went on break from their regular Sunday programming. Bush is so irrelevant.
December 14, 2008 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do people realize what this means? Recall how they threw shoes at the statue of Sadaam. In their culture that is the way they show utter contempt!
Does anyone have a link? This should go viral!
December 14, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The man shouted: “This is a farewell kiss, dog.”
Again, calling someone a "dog" in their culture indicates total contempt!
December 14, 2008 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's up on the front page of the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/middleeast/15prexy.html?_r=1&hp
December 14, 2008 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
"“This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”
This is what the journalist yelled as he flung the second shoe (the guy is a correspondent for an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt).
I empathize completely with this man and I am glad he threw a wrench (shoe) into W's PR visit agenda. If you watch the video, Bush keeps grinning like a moron after the shoes fly, as the reporter is wrestled to the floor, screaming. I would love to fling a shoe at the smirking bastard's stupid head!
December 14, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
W is apparently too stupid and ego-bound to recognize his own humiliation in progress. I wonder if even a hard sole thwacking his forehead would have jarred his hard soul or rattled his tiny brain.
December 14, 2008 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
From a journalist! I love it!
I too have total empathy for the man. What courage!
December 14, 2008 4:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
And ya want your So Called Liberal Media? There it is in Iraq... 99% of our right wing corporate owned and controlled media don't have the balls to editorialize like that. Most of them have problems just telling the plain truth.
December 14, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Glad to see that this story is now all over the front pages online, including MSM.
December 14, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I must be the only one that didn't think that was cool at all. The video said that Dana Perino got a little bit of a black eye during the scuffle. Say what you want about Bush - and it would be true, of course, but I don't want to see someone throw shoes at him. What's next? Are they going to stone him on his way to the plane?
December 14, 2008 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
My concern differs from yours. My intial thought was the same one expressed by Josh Marshall: Where the hell is the Secret Service? I have been increasingly concerned over the last several years. Does anyone else recall when Bush got slightly manhandled in Chile (I think it was Chile, but my memory is fading)? He had people touching him, being sort of rough, and the secret service couldn't immediately get to him. Then there was Barbara Bush having her purse stolen in a bar. WTF? Where was the Secret Service? Then there was the wacko on the campaign trail, only a few weeks before Obama became the nominee, who accosted Obama and wouldn't get out of his face, wanting a picture. In an effort to end the confrontation, Obama agreed to the picture but was very annoyed. And finally, there was the chasing of Obama and Sasha down a Chicago street on Halloween with paparrazi chasing them. Although the paparazzi are free to take photos, the news account I read suggested they got pretty close. So I am concerned. Although I agree with the sentiments expressed by others that Bush is a dirtbag who deserved a humiliation of some kind, how the hell did this guy get a second shoe airborne before being tackled? And it wasn't even the Secret Service who tackled him. I obviously know nothing about protection protocol, but this just seems lax. And if it seems lax to me, how does it seem to some Aryan Nation nutbag planning to assassinate our first Black president?
December 14, 2008 11:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
You said it better than I did.
December 15, 2008 12:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, Gawd, please forgive me.. But could there be a more perfect coda to Bush's adventures in Iraq? My only regret is that Cheney and Rumsfeld and some of the others weren't there as well ... with the whole damn inventory from the local Foot Locker flying in their direction.
I do believe this is the closest I've seen any victims of this war being able to make a connection with our Commander in Chief. This video will define the Bush Legacy, I'm sure of it!
December 14, 2008 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Even steel toed size 16 construction shoes upside the head wouldn't make the War President comprehend all the lives he has ended or filled with a lifetime of suffering.
December 14, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
What galls me is that the Iraqi Parliament got to vote on the Status of Forces agreement - and they made a big deal of that - but not us!!!
December 14, 2008 6:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the shoe should become a traditional greeting for Bush. Upon seeing him, everyone reaches for their shoes & starts tossing. Awesome.
Cheney needs his own traditional greeting though. Wouldn't want him feeling left out.
I suggest fish.
December 14, 2008 6:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great ideas! Graet tradition!
Bush/Cheney - Both of them a "sole" man!
December 14, 2008 6:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh! ...you're Goood!
December 14, 2008 7:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would have been happy if the media would have merely pointed out that the emperor had no clothes, and not bothered themselves with clothing him.
December 14, 2008 7:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's video of this on the front page. And it must show the 2 shoes being thrown 4 or 5 times!
December 14, 2008 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Man, I hate to say this.
I really really do.
But I felt angered and bad when I saw that video.
I dunno, some old patriotism or nationalism or something, and mixed in there some compassion for that awful man and how bad he must have felt..didn't give me any joy at all.
Yet when I reflect on the damage Bush (a man I never used the word President with for almost eight years) has done to our own country, and then the enormity of what his unprovoked war cost the Iraqiis in lives and destruction, not to mention all the servicemen and women dead, mangled, disabled and TBD'd for the rest of their lives. All on a hoked up war on false pretenses. The enormity of that boggles my mind and I think the shoe throwing is a light penalty for the man, probably the only one he will ever get.
THe whole United States democracy and court system could not slow or stop this man and his cohorts and will not even seek justice.
So the shoe throwing is perhaps the only justice we will ever see served and I grieve to see our country so besmirched and dishonored.
December 14, 2008 7:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
it is incumbent upon those who understand and care to hold steadfastly, to continue speaking of the evil that has been done, to assure this is documented and known in the future's history. Things do not increase forever; there will always be times of retreat. It is imperative to help assure that the retreat does not turn into a rout, or the Dreamtime will be lost forever. Stand you ground friend; the past will always remain immutable, but the future can be changed.
December 14, 2008 8:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you. That comment made my day better.
Much appreciated wisdom and marvelous eloquence.
December 14, 2008 9:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
These three comments (just one small part of this thread) exemplify the best of TPM: Nuanced attention to truth, compassion, honest assessment of morality in all its complexity, and a sense of history and feeling to boot. Events like this shoe-throwing, while very brief, hold so much meaning and could be turned over and over from different perspectives for a long time to come.
Just imagine if one day decades or centuries from now, the Iraq war is going to be discussed with some students. And the professor starts out showing this little incident. And from that flows so many streams of inquiry: The Green Zone; the failed bush presidency; Islamic customs; a war with all its horror on both sides (and all the perfidy that led up to it); a president installed by the Supreme Court; false allegations related to 9/11 and WMD's; a secular country igniting in a religious frenzy of retribution; an occupier torturing prisoners and looting its own nation at the same time; and on and on.
Just from one shoe-throwing incident, you could trace back a whole war and failed presidency.
December 14, 2008 9:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is a melancholy and tragic path, strewn with debris of lives lost unjustly, families destroyed, and children orphaned.
December 14, 2008 9:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
There is a particularity of the American political scene, Lux, that helps cause such cross-feelings. Parliamentary systems separate Head of Government from Head of State. So that our PM's are fairly regularly heckled, shot down when having to face questions in Parliament, replaced between elections and so on. But it's not felt so much as an attack on the nation or the flag or the troops and such. For me, it's easy to laugh, because I see Bush the way I'd see a Stephen Harper. He's a man, and a politician. So patriotism and nationalism don't come into it much for me.
As the Ike Reilly song says, "Who says you can't toss a fish at a President, say you're sorry, and be on your way?"
December 14, 2008 10:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
We should debate a parliamentary system some time. I think I'd prefer it for a number of reasons.
December 14, 2008 10:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can you see Bush trying to handle Prime Minister's Questions?
December 14, 2008 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope! A vote of no-confidence would have been held long ago. Likely before 9/11.
But under a parliamentary system, I doubt he would ever had made it to PM.
It's fun to imagine him squirming under questions, though. Our press is too docile. But a good parliament would definitely go after him mercilessly. (as he deserves to be questioned)
December 14, 2008 11:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't really feel sorry for Bush. This is the guy who said, without a trace of irony, that he survived eight years of Washington with his principles intact. Were he prone to self-analysis he maybe would have realized that it is those very same principles that make him such an asshat. Given the lack of self-analysis, he will probably consider being called a dog and having a shoe chucked at him one of the highlights of his Presidency. Years from now, when he is barely able to move, he will replay the tapes and smile with glee at his youthful (and admittedly rather speedy) reaction time. Whatever. How many more days?
December 15, 2008 3:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Lux, I was taken aback by your response. For myself, my reaction was nothing short of pride and joy - kinda' like watching my grandson stretch his arm to win a teddy bear shootin ducks at the shootin gallery on the midway.
I felt none of the shame or insult that you apparently felt, and this troubled me. As I thought about it, however, I find the reason I didn't take it personal is because this target of derision has never been MY President in fact, I identify much more closely with good ol' Sandy Koufax - or was that "shoeless" joe Jackson - shown in the video.
And gawd - the pic I now have in my memory of Bush ducking like a philandering dope trying to get through the doorwAy at home after an adventurous evening will stick with me forever -and will always make me laugh.
December 15, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
SJ, there is probably not too much real difference between us. I hate the fact that our country has behaved in such a way that our "leader", even Bush, get such treatment. And I felt bad for Bush. I really did. Can't help it.
I hear you though-- I just had that reaction and wrote it down knowing it was going to rub across the grain a little.
Even after eight year of this man, I still don't know if he is a tragic idealistic simpleton misled by evil advisors or a scheming evil deceiver in on a grand deception and approving of it.
Which makes me the simpleton I guess.......
December 15, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
As reprehensible as bush has been, you've put your finger on something. He's an enigma in many ways.
Can't stand the guy myself. But: Enigma. Big time!
December 15, 2008 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
G.W. Bush: The President of Lowered Expectations
December 15, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
PCA:
still thinking on, and thanking you for that comment yesterday...
Lux
December 15, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
welcome Lux; what motivated that response came from an intuitive place i tread softly in, and do not desire to publicly express all the reasons why. i read your thanks, and appreciated it, but at the same time need to consciously guard against self-pride. there is great danger moving to the beat of the subconscious; it is a foggy place, where too much territory crosses the line into madness.
December 15, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
understand completely.
December 15, 2008 5:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't believe that any President deserves anyone's automatic respect--they are just guys doing a job. If they do the job well and earn respect, fine, otherwise they are just losers like Bush.
Interesting that he obviously (from the video) doesn't grasp how much he is hated by many people. He has been sheltered in his bubble the whole time! I actually think that it is good that the secret service allow some real communication outside of a distant "free speech zone." Bush was not in any danger. And he richly deserves the insult.
December 15, 2008 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Isn't it fitting that the Iraqis show such public contempt for Bush after he has shown a similar contempt for people everywhere? It's a good bet people all over the world are applauding. Bush may never pay for his crimes but in a very unsuspecting way justice has been served. Historians will mark this as Bushs presidential epitaph. You have to love the irony. Just as Bush couldn't get a thing right, at what amounts to the funeral for his presidency, mourners are in short supply but celebrants are out in droves. This isn't perfect. But it's as close as humanly possible.
December 14, 2008 7:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Direct Link to MSNBC Nightly News Story
December 14, 2008 8:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Don't shoe me, bro!
December 14, 2008 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now I recall it... the taser incident! Excellent.
December 14, 2008 9:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Please, more shoes!!
Opening Monday, Nikkei is up, Hang Seng is up, Australia is up, Hong Kong Red is up, straight greens across the board!
December 14, 2008 10:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I have a few Army boots I don't wear that I am willing to let go of. I mean it is for a good cause right?
December 14, 2008 11:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nike is up! Florsheim is up! Kenneth Cole is up! Miguel issued a 'buy' recommendation for all shoe manufacturers Dec. 15, @ 2:18 EST.
December 15, 2008 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
ha! good job, miguel! going long shoes!
December 15, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously the Secret Service did a crap job– big time. Lucky it was only a shoe. It may be funny now and it is but think for a moment what it could have been and that thought brought back Dallas in a flash. Nothing funny there. Bush is the President and our security arrangements were second rate. The entire security detail should be reprimanded and possibly relieved of duty pronto. No one jumped to his aid. This is unacceptable. You may not like Bush but that does not matter. I don’t like him that much either, but he still is the President. These people (SS) are supposed to be the best trained on the planet, and they all stood around with their thumbs up their collectives butts. You could get $5 an hour security guards from any mall in America who could have done a more competent job than those clowns. Those fools should walk home for the stunt they pulled. We look like jerks leaving our President their by himself to defend himself, and you know Bush did a pretty good job in spite of everything. He really was pretty cool under the circumstances. I think Muhammad Ali would have to agree he could not have done better had Smokin’ Joe Frazier been throwing the shoe.
December 14, 2008 10:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree, and posted similarly above. I just don't think than anyone should be able to assault (this was an assault; I have prosecuted people for assault for less than this) someone who is supposedly being protected by the secret service, particularly the most high level protectee of all. I am losing confidence in them. They are willing to act as security guards at Palin rallies, expelling people for exercising their first amendment right to protest her, but are not willing to stop Bush from being assaulted? I have a problem with that.
December 15, 2008 12:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
What did you expect the Secret Service to do?
(1) Open up with Uzi's after the first shoe.
(2) Push Bush down to the floor forcefully and jump over him to absorb the blast of the second shoe.
(3) Ask everyone who is ever in the same room with Bush to remove any and all clothing/belts/watches, clips that could be thrown.
(4) have everyone remove their shoes and wear socks when in the presence of Mr Mission Accomplished.
Frankly, Bush himself is a clown so what is the problem if he is surrounded by them?
December 15, 2008 12:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
First they should have placed their bodies in between the assailant and the President.
Second, the President should have been yanked down behind the podium which is bullet proof and at least one bodyguard should have covered the President's body with his.
Other agents should have instantly headed for the man throwing the shoes or they should have gunned him down before he launched the second shoe. Harsh, yes, but the life of the President must be protected by whatever means it takes.
For God's sake! They were in Iraq where the UN envoy was murdered in the green zone and where at any moment there could be gunfire or rockets coming in. The Secret Service sucked today.
December 15, 2008 2:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Totally agreed. This wasn't a low level security situation. Several months AFTER 9/11, a terrorist was able to get on an international flight with a bomb in his shoe. That is one of the reasons it is so laughable that repubs are saying Bush kept us safe (he really hasn't). So honestly, I can't believe others aren't more freaked out by this. After all, the broader issue here is not Bush's safety but Obama's. That's what we're really worried about.
December 15, 2008 5:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
I've given a lot of thought to it. First of all, I bet the bush folks wanted to showcase how safe Iraq is. They'd had him review Iraqi troops and all (apparently). They likely wanted to have this presser that showcased a democratic state and all. They may have even asked the secret service to keep a low profile - so as to show this place of such safety (within the fortified green zone), the capstone to shrub's great episode of his magnificent presidency.
It's strange to watch this event where bush ducks so quickly and nothing happens... then another shoe... and then what appears to be other audience members tackling the shoe-thrower.
So their attempt to showcase this great event turned into a circus. It's sad and comic at the same time.
I picture this man becoming a hero throughout the middle east. I bet they "arrested" him to protect him from the Americans (remember, the new agreement wouldn't let the Americans touch him probably!!!) - and pretty soon this guy is gonna be greeted with flowers....
December 15, 2008 10:13 AM | Reply | Permalink
"I picture this man becoming a hero throughout the middle east."
You nailed it Thera. http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/12/across_mideast_arabs_hail_shoe.php
December 15, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was Elvis and those were his Blue Swede shoes.
December 15, 2008 1:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
The shoe throwing is reminscent of how the Native Americans would whack an enemy with their clubs to humiliate in lieu of killing him. I don't know if I have the spelling right but it was called "counting coo" on someone. This is an appropriate thing for an Iraqi to do to Bush who deserves unending humiliation for the crimes he has committed.
What struck me instantly as the most unusual thing about the incident and what concerns me is the total lack of response from the Secret Service. The moment that man stood up out of order and reached for something, the President's personal bodyguard detail should have gone into action. Instead, this man hurls an unknown object at the President and there is no reaction at all from security personnel of any kind. He then gets the other shoe, aims and throws it right at the President. This was not the Secret Service's finest hour. What could possibly explain their delay in reacting to this threat?
I'm not terribly concerned about Bush's security, but this concerns me greatly with respect to our new President and his safety. To remain safe, President Obama will require security that is second to none, never sleeps, and is with him at all times. The squad ostensibly protecting Bush today failed utterly in their mission. Those shoes could as easily have been knives, or other dangerous weapons even if unconventional in nature. President Obama's security can never be as lax as what we saw today. They must be alert at all times and react instantly the moment anything happens that could be a threat.
December 15, 2008 2:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. This is about Obama, not Bush. Bush is a worthless murderer who will burn in hell, the sooner the better.
December 15, 2008 5:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's one way to end a thread, allright!
December 15, 2008 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think what happened is a direct result of the new status of forces agreement, which had just been signed. Which basically says Iraq is in charge of responding to events. Given how much the US had to concede to get this agreement at all (and boy did they want one!), it may have been foolish for bush to go there, since once he had signed the agreement, his protection may have been compromised!
December 15, 2008 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
counting coup.
A french term. as in "coup de grace" also
December 15, 2008 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Secret Services duties in Iraq must have been outsourced to Blackwater and Co.
You do not necessarily get what you pay for when it comes to government outsourcing...
December 15, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wonderful series of quotes from Iraqis.
All praise to the pitching arm, apparently.
December 15, 2008 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, quinn. Looks to me like there's a conflict between the value of hospitality to a guest (=bush) and defending Iraqi honor. Interesting moral dilemma for them. I wonder how it will play over time.
December 15, 2008 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
A suggestion: If you have an old pair of shoes lying around that you no longer want, why not mail them to the president as a going away gift?
Just a thought...
December 15, 2008 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed. But we should wait. Wait for him to move. Mail shoes to Dallas. Or Crawford. Or one shoe to each!
Let the man deal with all the mail, when he no longer has servants.
December 15, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink