Bush Dodges Shoes Thrown By Journalist in Bagdad
What, no post on this yet?
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fv...
While this video doesn't quite show it all, I think the guy managed to throw each of his shoes at Bush, and dub-ya ducked each one in turn just before Secret Service and Iraqi security took the guy down. For the half a second after the first shoe was thrown, even the security guys were just dumbstruck.
VP - Workshop Dog
Oh man, that's crazy. Bush seemed to take it in stride. I guess a couple of shoes is nothing compared to being impeached or tried for war crimes..
They don't even know what to do with the guy since an insult of this magnitude against a foreign statesman is no longer an automatic death-penalty offense in Iraq. They have no law to cover it, so they're just holding him in custody and fretting it over.
I find the psychological forces at work quite interesting. Because imagine being angry and frustrated enough to enact this sort of gesture toward anyone, especially in a formal public setting. Then add to it that you're assaulting the ostensible leader of a nation.
That's a professional news reporter who no longer gives two shits about keeping his professional status or even what happens next in his life. He's somebody who's lost friends and family in countless skirmishes during American occupation of his country, he's seen lots of real bloodshed firsthand, he's spent time as a hostage of some of his own more radical countrymen, and now he's in a press conference where all good Iraqis play nice with the Americans... and he's at his absolute wit's end; he can't take it anymore.
Fascinating and wrenching.
And yes, no big deal for Bush compared to impeachment or a war crimes tribunal.
VP - Workshop Dog
Ha! Keep in mind that in Islamic culture, the foot is the dirtiest, most despicable part of the body. I can't believe he was able to throw BOTH shoes before he got tackled. Now if we can just get the fucker held accountable for everything he's done...
You all know I have a strong dislike for Bush, but I have to admit, I'm very impressed at his mad shoe ducking skillz. If he ever wanted to go professional, I'm sure he could. Howard Dean could do sound effects--every time a shoe is thrown, "Byah!" It could be a full out freak show. Bring Clinton on board with his "hide the cigar" routine. What fun.
I wish he'd been hit IN THE FACE. I hate George Bush and I voted against him twice. Worst US President ever. Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.
Franklin Pierce wasn't any bundle of roses either.
I find the psychological forces at work quite interesting. Because imagine being angry and frustrated enough to enact this sort of gesture toward anyone, especially in a formal public setting. Then add to it that you're assaulting the ostensible leader of a nation.
That's a professional news reporter who no longer gives two shits about keeping his professional status or even what happens next in his life. He's somebody who's lost friends and family in countless skirmishes during American occupation of his country, he's seen lots of real bloodshed firsthand, he's spent time as a hostage of some of his own more radical countrymen, and now he's in a press conference where all good Iraqis play nice with the Americans... and he's at his absolute wit's end; he can't take it anymore.
Fascinating and wrenching.
And yes, no big deal for Bush compared to impeachment or a war crimes tribunal.
I find the psychological forces less fascinating than you. I guess I just see it practical terms, like you point out this is no longer an automatic death sentence.
I'm not even sure what kind of career as a "news" reporter he might have had during the Hussein administration. I used italics for sarcasm. Not that I am being sarcastic towards your take on it. It's that I'm not sympathetic towards the shoe flinger much.
Maybe not an automatic death sentence, but apparently still something that can get you knocked around pretty good.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7785338.stm
I've got sympathy for the bloke, but mainly because it's kinda sad that someone should be reduced to this kind of protest - weak, ineffectual, a little bit slapstick. Unless of course he'd managed a direct hit.
It would have been cool if Bush caught the shoe and threw it back and hit the guy smack in the face. Booyah!
I think maybe they missed a trick by not properly planning what species of shoe to hurl. Try to imagine it with a jackboot or flipflop. Totally different signals.
I've never had a flipflop thrown at me that didn't lead to a splash fight.
I've never had a flipflop thrown at me that didn't lead to a splash fight.
From Gimp's link:
Dargham al-Zaidi told the BBC that his brother deliberately bought Iraqi-made shoes, which were dark brown with laces. They were bought from a shop on al-Khyam street, a well-known shopping street in central Baghdad.
I think we've Booyahed the Iraqis until they're all Booyahed out. Maybe we should quit with the fucking Booyahing already.
There's something to be said for this reading malarkay.
Earthbound!
Hey gimp. May I suggest a fraternal chest bump? Or some other such brevity-laced gesticulation?
Maybe we should playfully throw shoes at each other's heads? Like carefree chaps in the broken wasteland of a dictator's old playground. The guy in the clip made it look fun!
I've only got one pair of shoes. We could throw the same two back and forth like a see-saw of inanity, perhaps.
Can I watch?
One of the more comical moments to remember during the worst presidency EVER
I'd like to take a moment to thank all of the Television shows out there that helped to raise me
I think we've Booyahed the Iraqis until they're all Booyahed out. Maybe we should quit with the fucking Booyahing already.
I love that! It's my new sig!
Just like in Big Trouble in Little China!
He's not the WORST President.
that would make a good thread if we could make polls. Plus it could be filled with presidential trivia!
It's a shoe/bush chucking game. Server's pretty overloaded at the moment though.
As it's been noted, Bush's shoe dodging skills are excellent. It's like he'd been practicing for it his entire life.
It actually reminded me of a game on the wii fit where you hit soccer balls with your head and dodge shoes and panda heads (yes, panda heads). He'd totally dominate that game.
Good coffee is like drinking Rock and Roll.
Bush Shoe-Toss Immortalized in Games, Animations
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/12/bush-shoe-toss.html
I wish the shoes would have smacked his face and made him bleed and cry like the pussy he is....bastard
The shoe-throwing reporter screams out, in Arabic: This is a farewell kiss, you dog!
VP - Workshop Dog