"Shoes Fly, Don't Bother Me" soundtrack to Bush's (R) latest visit to Iraq

[Aliantha]

tw does crack the odd funny now and then.

[TheMercenary]

Al-Zeidi may have also been motivated by what a colleague described as a boastful, showoff personality.

"He tried to raise topics to show that nobody is as smart as he is," said Zanko Ahmed, a Kurdish journalist who attended a journalism training course with al-Zeidi in Lebanon.

Ahmed recalled that al-Zeidi spoke glowingly of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose followers organized protests Monday to demand his release.

"Regrettably, he didn't learn anything from the course in Lebanon, where we were taught ethics of journalism and how to be detached and neutral," Ahmed said.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/...oth_U_S___Iran

[TheMercenary]

http://boingboing.net/2008/12/15/ira...osser-guy.html

[ZenGum]

http://www.sockandawe.com/

[Undertoad]

Code Pink members attended a meeting held by Iraqi Ambassador to the US, Samir Sumaida’ie, and interrupted to demonstrate for the freedom of shoe-thrower al-Zaidi. The Ambassador proceed to pwn them.

Now the ladies here, clapping, I -- let me -- allow me please to address. Thank you for attending this meeting. I see you are carrying a plaque defending Mr. al-Zaidi, who attempted to assault President Bush in Baghdad. Let me take this opportunity to make a couple of remarks, here.

It's very clear, in our culture, throwing somebody's shoes at someone is an insult, is a big insult. Two comments. One: Mr. al-Zaidi is a very, very lucky man. It was Mr. Bush and Mr. Malaki and not Mr. Saddam Hussein. Because had it been Mr Saddam Hussein, you would be carrying a different plaque right now. That's number one.

Number two, in our culture, I know people have told you that throwing shoes at someone is a big insult. But it's a bigger insult to the host, not the guest. In our culture, anybody who insults a guest, is insulting the host. To a double degree.

So even if it had been a local, tribal leader, he would not have stomached that behavior. So, in our culture, we believe that what Mr. al-Zaidi did was reprehensible.

Code Pink member shouts: What about what Mr. Bush did?

I -- let me just finish my remark. It was reprehensible. It was -- not representative of the way we behave as Iraqis. It diminished us as a nation. We are better than that. We have issues, whether it is with Mr. Bush or with other people, but we believe that we should always behave in a dignified manner and in the correct manner. And if we have differences, we express them in the right way. But as I said, and as Mr. Bush said himself, these are the fruits of freedom; everybody gets the fruits of the freedom, even those who don't know how to handle them or how to make use of them. So that's all I'm going to say on that. (applause)

[Trilby]

HA! little assholes!

[Happy Monkey]

I'm not sure there's really a guest-host relationship there.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

I'm not sure there's really a guest-host relationship there.

It all really misses the point. George Jr never needed shoes. He needed the boot.

[classicman]

I think its great that he stood up and did what he felt was the right thing. He defended his "guest" in his "house."

[classicman]

Iraq Parliament clashes over fate of man who threw shoes at Bush

BAGHDAD: A session of the Iraqi Parliament erupted in an uproar on Wednesday as lawmakers clashed over how to respond to the continuing detention of an Iraqi television reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a Baghdad news conference earlier this week, people attending the parliamentary meeting said.

As Parliament began to discuss legislation on the withdrawal from Iraq of armed forces from nations other than the United States, a group of lawmakers demanded that the legislature instead take up the issue of the detained journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, 29. After his shoes narrowly missed Bush's head at the news conference on Sunday, Zaidi was subdued by a fellow journalist and then beaten by members of the prime minister's security detail.

The legislative session became so tumultuous that it prompted the speaker of Parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, to announce his resignation, according to The Associated Press. A spokesman for Mashhadani, Jabar al-Mashhadani, refused to confirm whether the speaker had tendered his resignation, although he would not deny it. Some in Parliament say the government should release Zaidi immediately, while others say the judiciary should decide his fate.

How badly injured Zaidi was by members of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's security detail is not clear. He has not appeared in public since his arrest, and his family members and his legal representatives say they have not been permitted to visit him. On Wednesday, Zaidi was scheduled to appear before a judge, but it was unclear whether that happened.

I wonder what should happen to him. Should he be given a medal or stoned to death?

[Happy Monkey]

Neither. He should be charged with attempted assault or disturbing the peace or whatever it is when you do something that is momentarily frightening, but ultimately harmless.

[piercehawkeye45]

Stoned to death?

This guy threw a shoe, not a bomb. Unless the Iraqi government wants to insult Bush as well, he should get a reasonable non physical harming punishment. Although I assume he will get a harsh symbolic punishment to prevent anything like that in the future but if he does get out, he will probably be treated as a hero.

[Cicero]

Heh. That shoe was a million times too small, is all. Size does matter folks.

[tw]

Once a speaker's face was threatened by lemon pies. Today we use empty shoes. Violence eventually escalates. However, the pies were thrown by paid professionals.

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by tw

Once a speaker's face was threatened by lemon pies. Today we use empty shoes. Violence eventually escalates. However, the pies were thrown by paid professionals.

Clowns?