Eh-hum # 268

"No shoes beyond this point"

This post is a bit late, but the whole incident still worth talking about as it pretty much sums up how Iraqis regard outgoing P.U.S.A. (President of the United States of America) George "Dubya" Bush. He shrugged off the shoe throwing fiasco by saying (as quoted by Time), that "All I can report is it is a size 10" and "So what if the guy threw his shoe at me?". Well, unfortunately for the President, if he knew what the shoe assault really meant, he would have perhaps wished it was an assassination attempt instead.


For the the Arabs, throwing your shoes at someone is an act of severe disrespect. Moreover, to liken someone to a shoe or feet means that the person or object is of no importance and is beneath you. Before Iraqi TV journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi hurled the first shoe to the President, he shouted, "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog." Of course, al-Zaidi is now in custody and punishing him has now become a real test to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (the journalist has gained massive support from anti-US clerics and the public). To set him free or to make him spend at most 7 years in prison, that is the question.

When this news was first released or broadcasted, my mother (pro-Obama) can't help but feel sorry for Bush. What a way to go in his last days as for the leader of the free world. As for me, I would like to know how/why the journalist was still able to throw his other shoe. Are the P.U.S.A.'s secret service NOT TRAINED to handle flying shoes? If this wasn't so sad, it would be extremely funny (imagine the other journalists following suit). This will go down in history as one of the most awkward moments in 2008.


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Can somebody please do something about this rather delusional individual? His people are dying of hunger (and recently, of cholera) and he proceeds to hold a feast? WTF?!?

This is like the time when the military junta in Burma gave away television sets and DVD players (instead of providing food, shelter and access to water and electricity) to those affected by the devastating cyclone last May 2008, only WORST.

Dear Lord...