Am I the only one who applauds the shoe thrower for his act of courage?

[blueclown]

Fuck political correctness. Bush deserved it.

[monmouth]

1. My nominee for "Profiles in Courage." .....n/t

[malaise]

2. No a few billion others are applauding

and laughing their asses off. :rofl:

[lunatica]

3. Where have you been?

There must be a dozen threads of accolades by now.

[blueclown]

5. Some people here seem to be mad about it.

Saying that no matter who is President, they don't deserve that type of treatment.

I say fuck him. He deserves it.

[pipi_k]

29. Yep...and my answer to them is

that since he was never legitimately elected, he's not now, nor has he ever been, the true "President", and I have steadfastly refused, for eight years, to refer to him with that title.

So if he was fraudulently chosen, he's not really The President, and the shoe thrower didn't really disrespect the office.

[tomp]

87. I agree with you on his illegitimacy AND i think it's irrelevant.

if a legitimately elected president invaded my country killing millions of innocent people for his geopolitical gain, he or she should consider himself very lucky indeed to get only the shoes thrown at him or her. wait till we throw the book at him. see how he likes that.

[Pavulon]

97. IBC has you an order of magnitude

off on that casualty count. 100,000 is horrible. Not that your point is invalid but when that unsupported number comes out it tends to make your primary and valid point seem contestable. NO reason for us to be there,

However we are going to escalate Afghanistan, a division or so is onramped to go. that may or may not lead to more people being killed there. So by your logic is it ok for barack to be subject to your "consider himself lucky" logic?

[endarkenment]

41. About 5. Mostly the usual suspects.

[yellowcanine]

4. No. I just wish the guy had better aim and used rotten fruit.

[OwnedByFerrets]

15. Nothing is more contempuous than the sole of a shoe...in their culture.

in ours, it might be rotten eggs.

[yellowcanine]

21. I understand that. But soft rotten fruit would be so much more satisfying.

"Bush hit by rotten tomato" tops "Bush hit by shoe" in my book.

[pipi_k]

33. I'll see your soft, rotten fruit and

raise you a handful of squishy carnivore feces


:popcorn:

[sohndrsmith]

6. I don't know if I would word it quite that way, but I certainly agree with his

sentiment. Had I not restrained myself, I'd have smashed several dozen televisions in the last eight years acting on my emotions as the Iraqi journalist did... I absolutely understand and share his anger - I don't know if he acted out of courage, though... I think it was more rage and disgust... But I dunno.

What I found more startling than the show throwing was the reaction that came from the target. After getting over the shock that the W had actual reflexes that worked, his expression absolutely stunned me after the first shoe missed him and before the second was thrown.

The guy had a moronic school-kid grin on his face, as if he - no not as if - because he - really has no sense of maturity or gravity unless given something to read that sounds important. Even then he often doesn't make it on the credibility scale...

That playground grin scared me, actually... because this guy seems to really be unable to comprehend things beyond their being a "game".

That's what struck me as being the most disturbing part of the whole event... maybe I'm misreading it but - that just was creepy to me...

[lunatica]

28. Bush wagged that coke jaw from the beginning to the end of that snip

Even before he noticed the guy throwing the shoe at him his coke jaw was working overtime. The reason he dodged the shoes was because he was strung out on cocaine or something like it.

[sohndrsmith]

35. oh heck, you just made my face hurt I laughed so hard... now STOP it! : ) n/t

[pipi_k]

37. If you misread it, then so did I

because I got the same impression...

It's all just a big schoolyard game to him. ALL of it.


What really amazes me is the number of people who are having hissy fits over the "Office" of the President being insulted.

Hell...Bush himself doesn't even seem that disturbed about the whole thing. He either doesn't have the sense God gave a slug, or he just views the "office" as something that gave him a bit of power for a while (and infamy forever) and he's degraded it for eight long years...all by himself.

If he has such contempt for the position in which he was fraudulently placed....twice....then I say he deserved whatever he got. And more.


There are even some who view the shoe throwing as an insult to the American people as well. Pfffft...I don't feel personally insulted...I didn't vote for the asshole. I'll leave the "Wahhh wahhhh I feel SOOOO insulted" business for the idiots who voted for him to deal with....

[youthere]

7. I admire his restraint.

[patrice]

8. No.

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[rocktivity]

9. I think he WAS politically correct

And I don't think he walked in there planning to do it. I think he just got fed up with the pretense. Or is that romanticizing him?

:headbang:
rocknation

[BoneDaddy]

10. Or stupidity

That man may face some serious time (I hope not). Courageous but I imagine he is rethinking that decision now.

[T Wolf]

11. True courage IS doing something for which you know you will suffer consequences.

Something no repuke will ever experience or understand. Bullies have no courage.

I just wish Georgie had been visiting a colder country where ice hockey was popular.

[malaise]

81. Oh Puck

:rofl:

[soulcore]

77. Possible he'll get up to 2 years for "insulting a foreign leader".

So much for a 'free' Iraq.

[Pavulon]

98. He should pay a fine and be let go after a reasonable

amount of time. a week, whatever. What he did was stupid. The secret service should never have allowed that to happen, he should not have been in that room.

He is lucky no one was shot in a security reaction.

That being said the draconian sentence is off the mark. Hopefully, but not probable, we will publicly or privately assure he is released.

This has the ability to cause problems after jan 20 if mishandled.

[BoneDaddy]

124. Given the public response to his jailing

and mistreatment, my guess is he may get out earlier. Bush should have forgiven him on the spot. That would have been at least some token gesture given he has caused so much damage there.

[Ian David]

12. Most of the world agrees with you. n/t

[Zywiec]

13. Did you just log on to DU after vacation?

There have been endless threads saying the same thing.

Only one?

Not even close.

[OwnedByFerrets]

14. This man has more courage than 99% of Americans.....

including myself. We think we have to much to lose to show courage of this kind. And, in feeling this way, we have lost more than we can ever get back.

[EstimatedProphet]

16. Oh please. It was an act of anger.

Deserved or not, that's all it was. He got mad and he threw his shoes.

[bobd0]

18. WRONG!

http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20081215-Crikey-Clarifier-Shoe-throwing.html

Crikey Clarifier: Shoe throwing ... it's an Arab thing

Monday, 15 December 2008

What was the significance of an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at President Bush?

We asked Middle East expert and ARC post doctoral fellow at Melbourne University Benjamin MacQueen:

US President George W Bush came in for some rather harsh treatment yesterday by being pelted with the shoes of Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi of Al-Baghdadia television who also labelled the President a "dog".

So what is the significance of this, despite the obvious reticence anyone would have by being hit by a shoe? There are two elements that make the shoe, and hitting someone with a shoe, a particularly significant statement in Arab and Middle Eastern culture. The first has its basis in religion and the second in cultural custom, although the two are inter-related.

Not limited to just Arab Muslim culture, but Middle Eastern religious culture generally (Jewish, Christian and Muslim), reference to someone or assault of someone with a shoe carries symbolic value in terms of Old Testament tradition. For instance, Psalms 60:10 ("Moab is my washpot, over Edom will I cast out my shoe...") reveals that assault with a shoe is a traditional defamatory gesture for one's enemies (Moab and Edom were both enemies of Judah).

In more strictly cultural terms, the shoe is representative of the foot, the lowest part of the human body. It is a sign of respect in Arab culture (and, many other cultures) that one does not show the sole of one's foot or shoe to another. To do so can be taken as a sign that you consider that person of being beneath you. This is analogous to the practice in many cultures of leaving your shoes outside before entering a home or religious/sacred place.

The insult of the shoe can also be seen through some rather creative forms of verbal insult. For instance, whether at a football game, driving through the streets of Beirut or Cairo, or in the rather entertaining television debates on regional satellite TV, using phrases such as inta kundara (you are a shoe) or ibn al-kundara (son of a shoe) sit at the high end of insults, and are not to be taken lightly (i.e. don't say it unless you really mean it, and are ready for a reaction).

Whilst these cultural observations do risk generalisation, there is a strong emphasis in Arab culture (particularly Arab male culture) on issues of respect and shame. To publicly shame someone by declaring that they are beneath you, that they are only worthy of the soles of your shoes, is intensely humiliating.

The "shoe issue" also has some added weight in terms of the Saddam-Bush relationship. Saddam had pictures of George H.W. Bush as well as American flags tiled into the floor at the entrance of his major palaces, so that all those who entered walked on his face, an extreme act of disrespect. The toppling of Saddam's statue in April 2003 and the peppering of it with shoes (albeit a rather contrived event as has subsequently been shown) continued this symbolic war.

It is here that the "shoe-ing" of Bush last night gains added significance. To assault the President in a televised public forum, in front of another Head of State, and to call the President a "dog" (an animal seen as unclean in Arab culture and, again, highly culturally significant) was an act designed to show the utmost disrespect.

[EstimatedProphet]

40. So?

[bobd0]

55. "It is here that the "shoe-ing" of Bush last night gains added significance."

To assault the President in a televised public forum, in front of another Head of State, and to call the President a "dog" (an animal seen as unclean in Arab culture and, again, highly culturally significant) was an act designed to show the utmost disrespect.

[EstimatedProphet]

66. Again, so?

What I am questionng here is the idea that this was an act that the guy planned, built himself up for, girded his loins for, etc. He was justifiiably mad, and he acted on it. To listen to people here you'd think this was the Berlin Airlift.

[saigon68]

108. Dogs pick at corpses as US strike subdues Iraqi city

REMEMBER THIS GEM

October 04, 2004 Edition 1

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=2248233

Samarra, Iraq - Waving white flags, Iraqis have fled Samarra on river boats as US forces claimed victory over insurgents in an offensive aimed at taking control of rebel-held cities.

Iraq's US-backed interim government is hoping American and Iraqi forces will crush a bloody insurgency and take back all of the country before scheduled January elections.

But yesterday's operation in Samarra, north of Baghdad, brought condemnation from residents about the cost in lives and suffering, and guerrillas in the fiercest rebel-held city of Fallujah are expected to put up a tougher fight.

One man, who said he escaped the city yesterday, reported that civilians had been killed. He said he had seen dogs picking at corpses in the street. "I swear I saw dogs eating the body of a woman," he said.

[terrya]

47. I can't believe someone would plan an act that would involve throwing shoes.

"Let's see...do I throw the right shoe first or the left one? Which shoe would have the most profound impact for my protest?"

Of course it was simply an act of anger. Nothing more.

[PVnRT]

69. Uh-oh. Welcome to the shit list

Don't you know that this guy is The Greatest Hero Ever? All who question anything about this incident are Republican trolls!

[rhett o rick]

79. So are you arguing that it wasn't an act of courage? Even knowing he would be tortured and most

likely killed?

[EstimatedProphet]

88. No, I'm arguing that this isn't the Great Act Of Ultimate Defiance it's made out to be here

The guy was pissed off (rightfully) and gave into anger. There's a difference between acting out of anger and standing defiant against tyranny - namely the amount of thought involved. This isn't the plot to kill Hitler here.

[rhett o rick]

94. I say all the better. This wasn't some elaborate plot, but from the heart. Now he will pay with his

life. I applaud him.

[no_hypocrisy]

17. He was speaking for me when he threw those shoes.

[Richardo]

20. Are you an Iraqi widow or orphan? A displaced Iraqi?

That's who he was speaking for.

[no_hypocrisy]

45. I am in complete solidarity with Iraqi widows, widowers, orphans, and other victims

of George W. Bush's hubris and inhumanity.

[Richardo]

50. Yes, but you're not ONE of them

Anyone can be 'in solidarity' with anyone about anything, but it doesn't mean you've gone through what they have. I find that very presumptuous, and I'll bet the reporter would, too.

"Excuse me sir, when you threw those shoes were you also speaking for white liberal Americans grousing at their keyboards?"

[rhett o rick]

80. So what's your point? We shouldn't support this man and his demonstration against tyranny? nm

[EstimatedProphet]

89. What do you think he really did, anyway?

Are you trying to say that him throwing his shoes is at Bush is on the same level as Gandhi's Salt Protest, or Schimmler's List?

[rhett o rick]

96. So do you have a scale? This humble man took off his shoes and expressed his

anger at the occupying country knowing full well he will be tortured and probably killed. But some how it doesn't register very high on your scale.

[EstimatedProphet]

99. Tortured and probably killed, huh?

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/139800/Shoe-thrower-to-appear-before-Iraqi-judge

An investigative judge will review the evidence and decide whether al-Zeidi should stand trial — a process that could take months. Iraq officials have recommended charging him with insulting a foreign leader, a charge which carries a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment or a small fine.

This isn't certain that it is the only thing that will happen punishment-wise, of course, but there's no reason to believe that he went in there prepared to die - unless, of course, that's what you want to believe. I still see it as an act of anger, and not trying to charge the Siegfried Line.

[rhett o rick]

100. I believe he will be tortured and killed. But I don't understand your apparent contempt for him.

And yes I believe he knew he would be tortured and killed. We are the occupiers we torture and kill. Why would he ever think he might get a fair trial?

[EstimatedProphet]

103. I don't have any contempt for him at all

What I find ridiculous is the idea that since this guy threw his shoes at Bush that makes him A Great Hero. I'd like to throw things at Bush myself, but I'm not fooling myself into believing it would be some great act of resistance. He gave in to anger, and he made Bush look silly. Why isn't that enough?

[PeaceNikki]

105. Shoes to power, dude.

[EstimatedProphet]

120. Shoes to power!

[Magrittes Pipe]

126. ...

[Zuiderelle]

127. ROFL! You need to start a thread for these!

Edit to add...

[PeaceNikki]

131. Shoes to power.

[EstimatedProphet]

133. Shoes to power!

"Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following shoes will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter. In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

[Richardo]

19. Throwing shoes to power!!!1!

Even MORE effective than speaking truth to power!!1!! And that ALWAYS works!!!!11!

[Richardo]

22. Have you not seen the 3,472 other threads applauding the guy?

No, you're not the only one. Way to post for recommendations, though :thumbsup:

[MadinMo]

23. You are definitely not alone.

:headbang:

[DonEBrook]

24. It will be interesting to see the reaction if someone does it to Obama.

...

[Richardo]

25. Yep.

Put me down as being against physical assaults on the President of the United States.

[pipi_k]

39. Just the United States?

Or does that apply to leaders of other world countries as well?

[Richardo]

48. Other countries as well.

[pipi_k]

68. Like, for instance...

Hugo Chavez...Fidel Castro...Slobodan Milosevic....Kim Song Il....

How about Saddam Hussein?

Adolph Hitler?


I suppose throwing shoes at any of them would have been just as outrageous as what was done to Bush, no matter what horrible crimes they had committed... Because they were/are world leaders who deserve our respect and all....

[Richardo]

70. I don't think physical assault would have made a jot of difference in their thinking, do you?

As for retribution for criminal acts, that's what the ICC and due process laws are for.

[otherlander]

109. Are you comparing a democratic socialist

to Hitler?

[immoderate]

49. How about symbolic assaults against international criminals?

This is not a knife or a gun or even a rock or a fist. It is a protest move.

--IMM

[Richardo]

51. What do you mean, not a rock or a fist? Throwing objects is physical assault

Kind of a fuzzy line you've got there.

[immoderate]

54. Perhaps, but can you cite an incident where someone was killed...

or even seriously injured from a shoe throwing attack? If you want to get technical, it's an assault, but so is yelling at someone. My lines might be fuzzy but I see it as more of a profound insult.

Moreover, I don't think the intent of the assailant was to do bodily injury. (But I can't speak for him.)

--IMM

[Richardo]

56. Did you see how fast he threw them? He winged those things

Guy has a great arm. Accurate too. I have a hard time believing he wasn't out to do some damage.

[immoderate]

117. Not good enough though.

Or he would have scored. :)

--IMM

[tekisui]

26. If Obama sends 4,000+ to die in an illegal war,

and kills a million in an illegal war and shreds our Constitution, and tortures children, and disappears innocents and obfuscates the law at every turn and shows no remorse.....Then I will cheer for a shoe tossed at him, too.

:eyes:

[DonEBrook]

31. Ah. Situational ethics at their finest.

;-)

[tekisui]

34. Yes, and unapologetic.

Shoes at war criminals, good.

[Richardo]

52. Stop saying 'illegal war'

God that's even stupider than 'speak truth to power'.

[devilgrrl]

72. Then tell us what's legal about it?

:popcorn:

[northofdenali]

95. ...

:popcorn:

[StudsT]

111. if the shoe fits

yuk yuk yuk

StudsT

[devilgrrl]

44. Sure, it will be interesting if Obama lets a bunch of Saudis crash planes into buildings

then invades a country that had nothing to do with it. :eyes:

[DonEBrook]

46. But you don't get to approve the rationale used by other people

unless you are God, that is.

[devilgrrl]

71. And you don't get to speculate about reactions should anyone throw shoes at Obama.

bozo

[malaise]

82. If he lies, invadies and occupies a country after

lying and then causes death, injury and dislocation, I'll have the same reaction.

[uppityperson]

128. If Obama does something as awful as the Iraq debacle, he would deserve it.

[keepthemhonest]

136. why would that be interesting?

Obama has not done all of the horrbile things Bush has done on a list so big you can't put it down here.Also, Obama was overwhelmingly elected unlike that other dipstick I would like to throw a shoe at.Wouldn't you like to throw a shoe at himz(Bush) or better yet? see him behind bars?

[bdamomma]

27. I applaud his action against Bush

but now the man is paying by being tortured for speaking his mind. Democracy sure it is.:sarcasm:

[mondo joe]

30. I can't applaud his action, but I'm not in his position either.

I don't feel I can really judge someone whose country was invaded, whose people have suffered so much.

[tom_paine]

32. God and all of the Earth applauds. Except for a few million Hannidiots and Savage Weiners.

But they're the people who would have followed Hitler had they lived in the where and when, so what should the rest of us care about THEM?

I wish the shoe thrower had been one of those pie-in-the-face-guys.

Of course, if he had actually landed a coconut cream pie on Bushler's kisser, he would have been tortured and "shot while trying to escape" the second the M$M State-Controlled cameras turned away.

One last thing, a cream pie to the face, even if it had happened at the cost of the Iraqis life (the Bushies may still order him tortured and "shot while trying to escape" is NOT a stand in for the trial and conviction that Bushler and the rest of his arch-criminals deserve.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

36. It was a foolish, dangerous, and ultimately meaningless act.

He's obviously a troublemaker...which the world needs a lot more of.

[Richardo]

74. I remember that Code Pink woman - the war ended the next day, didn't it?

And Condi Rice became a liberal Democrat and everything was great after that.

Good times.

[uppityperson]

129. Why protest unless you can end the war? Gotcha.

[JackRiddler]

132. Yes, those funny abolitionists were at it ineffectively for centuries!

Same thing with those hilarious sufragettes at their 1848 conference - 80 years worth of that laughable stuff still didn't get them the vote.

Ha ha ha.

Tell you what, why don't you found a site called consumercomplacency.com? Because, at least based on the name, I think you're out of place here.

[slackmaster]

38. It's the same kind of courage that a mugger draws upon to sucker-punch someone

He has balls, but no class.

Real courage is what President Truman had when he made the decision to use the atomic bombs on Japan.

[wuushew]

42. How was Truman brave in authorizing A-bombs?

Isn't an act of bravery exemplified by a person taking on additional risk to themselves in pursuit of a goal? The decision to instantly wipe an entire city off the map was not particularly nuisanced or clever.

You can't really claim the country was sympathetic towards the Japanese either so where was the political risk?



What definition of courage are you using?

[slackmaster]

57. Truman's choice was an example of moral courage IMO

He knew that lots of people would die, he knew that many would second-guess his decision, and he accepted full responsibility for the consequences.

Throwing a shoe at someone at risk of getting the crap beaten out of you may be physical courage, but it's not anywhere near the same level as Truman's decision.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

58. How many people were killed by Truman's "moral" courage?

The casualties from the shoe throwing are a tad less.

[slackmaster]

60. It doesn't matter

Some number of people would have died as a result of him deciding NOT to use the Bomb.

The point is that he had the courage to make a BIG decision and accept the consequences.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

61. What were the consequences of his big decision?

Last I heard he was re-elected and died comfortably. Which is a helluva lot better than what happened to the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[slackmaster]

62. For the purposes of this discussion, it doesn't matter

You're hung up on the question of whether Truman's decision was right or wrong.

That is NOT the issue.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

63. You're the one who brought it up.

You lauded Truman's "moral courage" while scoffing at the courage of the reporter comparing him to a mugger. I see nothing laudable, or moral, or courageous, about giving the order to kill 10s of thousands of people, while I do see something moral and courageous about speaking out, with the aid of a shoe, about someone who also gave orders to kill 10s of thousands of people.

[slackmaster]

64. Normally I defer this discussion and inevitable shitstorm until late July every year

But not dropping the Bomb would have led to an invasion of the Japanese home islands, and possibly more deaths than using the Bomb caused.

Dropping the Bomb was an act of moral courage in the context of the time.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

67. It was a calculated political decision to scare the Soviet Union.

Which didn't work.

There was absolutely no need to invade Japan. It was already defeated and posed no further threat to anyone other than it's own people.

[slackmaster]

73. See you in late July or the first of August

:hi:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

75. Yeah. The annual debate that never changes anybody's mind.

:shrug:

[tabasco]

114. Hahahahahahahaha.

Tell that to the guys on ships hit by kamikazes.

[StudsT]

112. thats very scary, imho

nuking civilians, while their gov was defeated and looking to negotiate terms of surrender is about as low as you can go... even our own generals were against that form of mass murder and recommended against it.

but i guess that is the kind of thinking that would not see the courage of ordinary folks standing up to murderous leaders who have the power to not only take their life and torture them along the way but also everyone they know and many thousands you don't.

StudsT

[uppityperson]

130. You forgot your sarcasm icon.

[zorahopkins]

43. Absolutely NOT!

I admire the man uuho had the courage to stand up to one of the uuorst tyrants in human history.

His action will surely be counted among the great acts of protest -- along side Rosa Parks' refusal to sit in the back of the bus and the person uuho stood in the uuay of tanks in Tienamin Square.

No, you are not alone.

Note: In protest of the continuing occupation of OUR Uuhite House by the illegal and totally corrupt Bush/Cheney regime of thugs and cronies, I REFUSE to use the letter betuueen "V" and "X". Instead, I use a "double u", as in "Uuhite House".

[Rob H.]

53. Nope, you're not the only one

The sad thing is, after the shoe-throwing incident Bush is so clueless he actually said, "I don't know what his beef is."

[slackmaster]

65. Grant us the luxury, 'cause all our heroes are bastards

Grant us the luxury, 'cause all our heroes are thieves
Of the innocence of the afternoons
Now we think it's a virtue to simply survive

- Camper Van Beethoven

[acmavm]

59. Hell no. That guy is my hero.

[ColbertWatcher]

76. No, you are not alone. And to prove it: k+r, n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

78. I have no respect for the scum who don't appreciate that shoe thrower.

If I could, I'd throw my shoe at them.

[Sex Pistol]

83. About as much courage as one could could expect from a 3rd grader.

[lostnotforgotten]

84. I Second Your Approval

eom

[robinlynne]

85. no there are millions of people applauding him. I think you missed several days of

threads....

[Laelth]

86. Nope. You are not the only one.

al-Zaidi spoke for billions.

His was a speech act, and the world heard it loud and clear. Most of us agree with the message, too. It was perfect.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[newtothegame]

90. Applauded..but pointless.

Throwing a shoe at an outgoing President with approval ratings less than 20%?

Pointless. And if you say, "But the shoe is an insult!", I say who cares? Anybody around here? People at work laughed about it, anything else?

[fascisthunter]

91. he deserved more than a shoe

[northofdenali]

92. Nope.

:applause::applause::thumbsup::applause::thumbsup::applause::applause:

I just want to borrow Mr. al Zaidi for one single Palin public appearance......... :evilgrin:

The man is justly being called a hero, not just by his fellow Iraqis, but by many in nations worldwide.

[truth2power]

93. Count me in. I don't give a crap about Bush, or his office as long

as he occupies it. He's directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, as well as the maiming of countless others. (Oh, and that includes those who died on 9/11. You're free to disagree.)

People can peddle their political correctness somewhere else. That journalist deserves a medal.

[earth mom]

101. Anyone who doesn't applaud it is a full on freeper.

I loved it! :evilgrin:

[backscatter712]

102. Nope. Too bad he missed...

I'd love to see Bush trying to do press conferences and photo ops with a black eye, a broken nose or missing teeth...

[MellowDem]

104. Barack better be ready for the shoes then...

when he holds a press conference in Afghanistan. I hate simplistic, emotional thinking. It's so... Republican.

[Ladyhawk]

107. That fucker put the Iraqis through hell. Friends and family died by the hundreds of thousands.

"Emotional thinking" is a rather mild (and insulting) way to phrase it.

[MellowDem]

137. Whatever

I'm talking about the reaction to the shoe-throwing, not the man himself who did it. As it is, most of the "hundreds of thousands" of Iraqis who died killed each other. They better start throwing shoes at each other pretty fast. Or I guess they could ignore the reasoning of their civil war and blame Bush, killing each other all the while.

[StudsT]

113. if his policies perpetuate the evil, he'd - and the SS - be wise to do so

and much worse, for that matter.

StudsT

[MellowDem]

138. What is the threshold for shoe throwing?

One wrongful death caused by a president's decision? Ten? 1,000? I just can't stand the word "evil". I'm not even sure it exists, though I heard it all the time growing up when I was at Baptist churches. "Evil". It's so black and white. Maybe it's this type of thinking that drives the religious right? Or neocon views of the world as "good" and "bad"?

The war in Iraq was a mistake, no doubt. But perpetuating evil? In what way? Is our policy toward Sudan and Darfur perpetuating evil? What about when we intervened in Bosnia and killed innocent civilians? The point is, there are few, if any cases where everything is black and white. The invasion of Iraq was not done to perpetuate evil, it was done because of a shitty neocon theory that would lead to an unrealistic utopian world of happiness. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we can understand and gain from past mistakes and move on and heal.

In other words, while it is gratifying in the emotional sense to see Bush have shoes thrown at him, it does nothing for dialogue, in fact, it hurts it, and it lowers the level of discourse all around. It does not help the Iraqis, IMHO.

[StudsT]

141. that depends on you you ask, though it is apparent that this evil regime has surpassed most

evil for me is the most depraved behavior known to man, war of choice and which is why i have no hesitance to use it in this case... and therefore I will do and assist in anyway i can to see it DEFEATED and totally support even symbolic or token resistance to any and all of it's perpetuation (e.g. bush pseudo victory laps) and why I support the brave reporter... au contraire, i have seen much dialog since this mans actions, e.g. our own ;)

However, If you see the war in Iraq as something less than I do than never, I suppose, shall the twain meet :hi:

StudsT

[Ladyhawk]

106. No. I wish he had thrown cleats. nt

[mtnsnake]

110. Fuck Bush. Long live the courageous shoe thrower for driving the message home!

[book_worm]

115. Really? you are the only person in this whole world who applauds the shoe thrower?

Just YOU? You must be very special.

[Bluebear]

116. What does this have to do with the right-wingish "political correctness"?

[boppers]

118. If you would accept it being done to Obama is the real issue. eom

[pacalo]

119. No. He's as much a hero to me as the guy at Tiananmen Square.

No one has stood up with pure unadulterated anger to the boy king as the Iraqi did. And he knew he would be beaten, imo.

[lonestarnot]

121. Damn straight.

[pacalo]

140. Hiya, lonestar...

I forgot the Code Pink lady standing up to Condisleezy, dammit.

:hi:

[shadowknows69]

122. I wish I had ten hands to applaud him with.

[Balbus]

123. What impressed me was the nimbleness of Bush...

That sumbitch has the reflexes of a cat!

[LWolf]

125. No.

Bush deserves every insult that has come his way, including this one.

[mimitabby]

134. unplug your ears

can't you hear the roar??? I think this was a noble act. it took courage and conviction.

[Jack Sprat]

135. Of course not

I personally think an International Wartime Tribunal should convict him, put him in a dunk tank, and let everyone throw shoes at the target. When each person hits the target, then Bush would fall into the tank. The tank would not have water like normal dunk tanks, but it would be filled with sewage. They would take him on a world tour and let everyone across the continents have their shot at dunking Bush in sewage.

[arthritisR_US]

139. I applauded him too and, without shame :-) n/t