Who Throws A Shoe?

People around the world have seen seen Muntazir al-Zaidi of Baghdadiya Television tossing two size tens at Bush during a press conference in Iraq, where the President was attempting to justify his decision to invade the country. First off, that reporter has a cannon. He rocketed those shoes. Alas, he throws like Rick Vaugh in Major League, all velocity, no aim. Did you peep Iraqi President Nuri Al Maliki try to block that second shoe? It didn't quite look like he was giving it his all, lucky for Bush that his reflexes were so on point. Must have honed those shoe dodging skills in the Texas National Guard not going to Vietnam. Perhaps you also learned that getting whacked with the sole of a shoe is traditionally a strong sign of disrespect in Iraq. But what you may not have realized is something that I read on President of the Global Americana Institute, Juan Cole's blog. Cole reminds us that it was exactly five years ago yesterday that images of Iraqis' aggressive shoe related behavior first graced the pages and screens of media outlets worldwide.

On December 14, 2003, a BBC article reported that after hearing the news of Saddam Hussein's arrest, "groups of revellers ran into the streets, women ululated and crowds beat pictures of Saddam with shoes." For Bush this is the cherry on top of the icing on the cake. I cant help but think about the man's psyche. Does he recognize the symbolism, the historical significance? What must it be like to be actually by so many people? Because the dude seems completely unfazed by it. Is Bush really so perpetually out to lunch that, so coddled and surrounded by Yes-men, that he is incapable of envisioning his own sorry, pathetic, and destructive legacy? How does he sleep at night?

I'm sure him and Laura have nice matching twin beds a la The Dick Van Dyke show, and hes probably got some kick ass Christmas pajamas. But if there is any cosmic justice in this universe, which I believe there is, W must be tormented when the lights go out and the Yes-men are out of ear shot. Like Scrooge confronting the ghosts of Jacob Marley, and Christmas past, present, and future, Bush must at some point confront the ghosts of the World past, present, and future. Then again, Bush might just be simple enough to just let it go and dream of baseballs and cowboy hats and other things he might ask Santa for this year.