Lucia

de Vernai

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December 17, 2008

The Shoe-Thrower Gets a Job Offer; And Bush is Overdue for a Long Vacation

Albert Einstein once remarked that, although he did not know what World War III will be fought with, World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. If he were alive today, he would surely add “shoes” to that list.

The outcome of President Bush’s visit to Iraq over the weekend was overshadowed by an audacious act of insolence by a 29-year-old Iraqi reporter, who hurled his shoe at Bush during a Baghdad conference. Despite the several layers of security through which Secret Service put attendees, the unexpectedly low-tech assault weapon caught them off guard. Both attempts of hitting the president failed, and while Iraqi Prime Minister al Maliki and Secret Service tried protecting the president, he waved them off. Damn, those Texans are fearless.    

The now shoeless Muntathar al Zaidi, an employee of a Cairo television station, was wrestled to the ground by another reporter and taken into custody in his socks. Thousands of Shiite Muslims immediately hailed him as a hero, marching the streets of the city with shoes on poles. Anything beats another day of watching the goats wander the market square, I guess.

The British newspaper the Times reported that, according to al Zaidi’s brother, the “shoe man” has a broken arm and cuts on his face following his second night in detention. Sigh. That’s what happens when you run around in your socks in those slippery prisons. It’s worth noting that in the Arab world, showing someone the sole of your shoe is the highest insult, and has cost American negotiators at least one peace process.

Al Zaidi’s employer, Baghdadiya Television, did not apologize for the incident but called for his immediate release. Likewise, Iraqi journalist groups have called for Maliki, up for election next year, to show clemency in light of the Shiite and Sunni Muslims who have united in protesting al Zaidi’s incarceration. My enemy’s enemy is my friend may not be the best foundation for a democratic society, but by now it should not surprise us that Iraqis are willing to work with whatever fate throws at them. (Pun unabashedly intended.)

Our lame-duck president gets less and less respect anywhere he goes these days. Maybe he should take a month-long vacation. Starting yesterday. He’s done more than enough. Maybe it’s time to go pick out tile for the new Dallas abode. Ironically as Bush is passing on his job responsibilities, al Zaidi may be taking on some new ones. A Lebanese television station has offered him a job, with pay starting when “the first shoe was thrown.” In case we needed further proof that being an idiot can get you places, there you have it.

The incident is proof that human hatred and desperation will use any means necessary and that disarmament, sanctions and uranium-enrichment-watching are not nearly as important in peace building as protecting human dignity and mutual respect. And that someone at the Secret Service no longer has a job.   

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