Iraqi People Throw Shoes At W

[The Central Scrutinizer]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/12/14/vo.bush.shoe.pool.cnn

[billw]

Good for the sole to lace into a real heel.

[quixotecoyote]

people?

[lionking]

Good to see that objective journalism is alive and well in Iraq.

[Zep]

It's been explained to me that showing someone "the sole of the shoe" is the worst insult in the Arabic world. So this was really a symbolic form of extreme insult, perhaps the equivalent of a vituperous swearing tirade of insults.

So I rather suspect the journo was never going to be there to ask questions, take notes and report. And no doubt he would have been relieved of any armament at the outer door. So he was clever, and devised his own "improvised weapon". Pity his throwing arm was a bit girly though!

Frankly, I really would have liked to have seen one of the Iraqi Julius Marlowes bounce off Bush's noggin! After all he has done for the region, it's the best thing he should receive by way of thanks and a parting gift as the door hits his arse.

[CFLarsen]

American people blow up FBI building.

Just as accurate.

[rjh01]

The video no longer works. It goes to the home page. However you can find it from there.

[Lonewulf]

American people blow up FBI building.

Just as accurate.

Wow. I finally agree with a Larsen post on political/social issues.

Something to note for world politics:

--If you're from Europe or America, you're an individual with rights.
--If you're from North Korea, Iraq, Iran, or anywhere the U.S. doesn't like, you're just part of the crowd and have no individuality.

Glad to see that we're helping some of the dictators do their jobs for them.

[thatguywhojuggles]

The video no longer works. It goes to the home page. However you can find it from there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCKPp-a8jPU&eurl=http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn

[soylent]

Should have learned from us westerners and used a nice, gooey pie from close range.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

American people blow up FBI building.

Which one?

[Fordama]

While I do think that Bush is the worst President in my lifetime, I have to give him credit for his evasion ability and reaction time! It looked like he was about to laugh right after the first shoe went by!

Fordama

[I Ratant]

Had Iraq adopted the National Pastime, the aim would have been better!

[fuelair]

Ther is another thread on this - just so you know!!

[Darth Rotor]

Agreeing with Larsen is enough to make a post.

But

Claus, it was the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, not "the FBI building." I know you meant well with that.

Summary from Wiki:
By the 1990s, the building contained regional offices for the Social Security Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The building also contained recruiting offices for both the Army and the Marine Corps. It housed approximately 550 employees. In May 1994, the General Accounting Office recommended the removal of the day care center from the building.
It is thought that the ATF was the significant target of McVeigh, due to the Waco Koresh thing.

DR
.

[mikedenk]

Had Iraq adopted the National Pastime, the aim would have been better!

I dunno, the first shoe looked dead-on, the second was maybe a little high...

Bush is surprisingly spry given that he looks like he's aged 25 years during the past 8.

[CFLarsen]

Timothy McVeigh targeted the government, not just the ATF.

[Harpyja]

Which one?

:hb:

What happened here was that one Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at George W. Bush. You put as the title, "Iraqi People Throw Shoes," implying that that one Iraqi journalist was not acting as an individual with his own personal convictions, but acting as a representative of an entire race.

He was highlighting your perceived bigotry with an equally outlandish statement.
He (the poster) was being sarcastic.

[gumboot]

This is how Bush should have reacted:

5D5oKEVqQJg

[Skeptic Ginger]

Double thread (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=130760)

[Sunstealer]

The irony is that if this journalist had done that to Saddam Hussein then he along with every member of his close and extended family would have been executed. GWB just shrugged it off and came out looking the better for it.

[Brown]

The irony is that if this journalist had done that to Saddam Hussein then he along with every member of his close and extended family would have been executed. GWB just shrugged it off and came out looking the better for it.There is another irony, too. Little Bush went to Iraq to try to put a good light on the Iraq mess that he created, and the shoe-thrower spoiled that plan.

[ServiceSoon]

Does the journalist have a good reason to be upset?

[linusrichard]

The irony is that if this journalist had done that to Saddam Hussein then he along with every member of his close and extended family would have been executed. GWB just shrugged it off and came out looking the better for it.

I always love these little "ironies." Bush is some kind of great guy because he's not as bad as Saddam Hussein? Talk about setting the bar low.

[Skeptic Ginger]

The irony is that if this journalist had done that to Saddam Hussein then he along with every member of his close and extended family would have been executed. GWB just shrugged it off and came out looking the better for it.Gee, now he only got arrested, beaten and had his family threatened by Maliki's security guards (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?postid=4273146#post4273146). Oh, and talk is that he'll be charged with attacking Maliki, not insulting Bush. I'm sure that carries a mild sentence range commensurate with the crime and the free speech and democracy we've installed in Saddam's place. :rolleyes:

[Skeptic Ginger]

Does the journalist have a good reason to be upset?Do you really need to ask that question?

[JoeyDonuts]

I did notice Maliki didn't really flinch at all. Tried to paw the second Hush Puppy out of the air, while Dubya was jinking and juking out the way.

[mikedenk]

I did notice Maliki didn't really flinch at all. Tried to paw the second Hush Puppy out of the air, while Dubya was jinking and juking out the way.

He was probably so horribly mortified that all he could muster was a faint wave of his hand in front of Bush's face.

Regardless of the primary intent of the journalist, he delivered quite a blow to the honor of Maliki. Even if the PM were to hate Bush's guts, he is still a guest.

I really hope that the allegations of beatings and threats are false... the best thing the Iraqi government could do is to give the guy a fair and public trial on a reasonable charge. Simple assault or its Iraqi counterpart perhaps?

[rjh01]

Double thread (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=130760)


Well I gave the two threads the same tags.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

:hb:

What happened here was that one Iraqi journalist threw a shoe at George W. Bush. You put as the title, "Iraqi People Throw Shoes," implying that that one Iraqi journalist was not acting as an individual with his own personal convictions, but acting as a representative of an entire race.

Ahem: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/16/shoe.reporter.profile/index.html :)

[Darth Rotor]

Timothy McVeigh targeted the government, not just the ATF.

Fair enough.

By the way, I will suggest that W's dad would have caught the shoe, being a Yale baseball player and all that. W, a cheerleader at Yale, may not have the instincts to be a good glove man.

W's own comments on the Flying Shoe Event:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/16/bush.crowley.interview/index.html?iref=topnews
Bush also addressed a Sunday incident in which Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw a shoe at him during a news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

"I didn't have much time to reflect on anything, I was ducking and dodging," Bush said.

The journalist was "looking for notoriety," Bush said, adding that authorities shouldn't "overact" in their treatment of him.
"First of all, it's got to be one of the most weird moments of my presidency," he said. "Here I am, getting ready to answer questions from a free press in a democratic Iraq, and a guy stands up and throws his shoe. And it was bizarre, and it was an interesting way for a person to express himself."

He added, "I'm not angry with the system. I believe that a free society is emerging, and a free society is necessary for our own security and peace."
CNN made a pun, eh? Watch reaction to the 'shoe-icide attack'

It hurts us, Precious!