Wednesday, December 17, 2008

"Throwing The Shoe At Him"?

Ever since Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi threw his shoes at Bush during a press conference in Iraq, the act of "throwing a shoe" at a person in disfavor as the ultimate insult seems to be catching on. Keith Olbermann tonight had several examples of this phenomenon, and said "Flying footwear... officially the new political equivalent of flipping the bird." The New York Times ran a story about an irate subway rider who attempted to throw a shoe at the M.T.A.'s chief executive. SFGate.com called it "the shoes...felt round the world."

I wonder if this will catch on. Personally, I don't care, but I'm not tossing my boots at some asshole--they cost a lot of money! But if people really want to do this, I say have at it. And I can't promise that if I were ever to confront Bush, I wouldn't give him the American verbal equivalent of throwing my shoes at him, either.

As far as al-Zeidi is concerned, I think he should be tried by an Iraqi court, found guilty, and charged the Iraqi equivalent of $5.00. Frankly, I'd like to shake his hand.

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