It’s too bad the reporter threw missiles at Bush and not just epithets, but the hurling of shoes is the worst insult an Arab can inflict on another person.
Throwing shoes is not a death threat nor even attempted homicide or assassination…it’s an extreme insult; nothing more.
The shoes thrown at Bush during a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki missed their mark, leaving Bush without a literal black eye to go with all the figurative black marks tattooing him.
In fact, there are so many figurative black and blue marks on Bush, and they overlap so much that not a square millimeter of skin shows.
While the shoes missed their mark and Bush will leave office in a hail-to-the-chief of utter shame and disgrace, the errant shoe-throwing journalist is languishing in an Iraqi hell-hole jail.
Or is he?
There’s rioting in Baghdad streets demanding the release of Muntather Zaidi, a correspondent for Baghdadiya TV, a satellite channel broadcasting from Cairo.
We’ll never know if Zaidi is receiving the “royal” treatment while in jail, because we don’t know if his jailers aren’t applauding his shoe-throwing escapade and hurling the worst Arab insult at Bush -- the showing of the bottom of a shoe; throwing a shoe; or hitting with a shoe.
“This is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” Zaidi shouted at Bush.
After the incident Bush cracked jokes and said he didn’t feel insulted.
Of course, if he really didn’t feel insulted, it’s because he’s too dense to know when he’s been insulted.
If he really didn’t feel insulted and that statement isn’t dishing more Bushcrap, then Georgie should definitely pardon the man and ask for his immediate release.
If you think that Bush isn’t pissed as hell and blowing a crapload of explicative deleted presidential farts at the journalist, you most likely have another think coming.
Rather than being forgiving, Bush is probably encouraging the Iraqi government to throw the book at Zaidi.
Author’s note: See David Swanson’s excellent take on this, which was appropriately main headlined today:
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