i have been on hiatus from blogging regularly. i don’t have all that much to comment on these days- not much has really changed and we are all in waiting mode. my personal thought- the holiday season won’t start until january 20, 2009. which brings me to today’s hot story- shoes. i read suzie q every day and i also read bob cesca- another contributor here at suzie’s blog– dare i say religiously? in light of the shoe throwing incident in iraq, bob took a dissenting view- and i do agree with him in theory- but you can’t rationalize emotions.
bob’s overall thought was that the shoe throwing was a violent act directed at the president of the united states and it should be treated accordingly. i agree- and my first thought was- ‘why did it take so long for secret service to intervene?’ now, i realize that it was only seconds- but the secret service are right there next to the president- and i just wonder at their response time. but i digress…
i guess i don’t need to explain to bob why so very many people worldwide are cheering for the shoe wielding journalist rather than bush. mr. al-zaidi knew the repercussions of his actions but stood and did what he did anyway-and it’s what all of us want too- to show bush that the entire world does not approve. it is 8 years of frustration for americans and 5 years of devastation for the iraqis packaged in 2 men’s shoes. and the fact that bush did not initially know what it meant to have a shoe thrown at you in an arabic nation- one we invaded and whose people we have horribly mistreated- well, it’s representative of the last 8 years.
still, bob goes on to explain about the office of the presidency being separate from the occupant- and he does a damned fine job- and again, i agree. politics aside- the office of the presidency should be held to a high standard and should be protected to the fullest- and as much as we may agree with mr. al-zaidi we cannot believe that violence towards an american president can be tolerated. but, i guess the iraqis are smarter than most americans give them credit for– they aren’t charging mr. al-zaidi with throwing shoes at bush- but at mr. al-maliki. we all know he was referring to bush as the dog- but this saves face for everyone and hopefully spares mr. al-zaidi. most iraqis look at him as a hero (and so does the left here in america) and many iraqis have good reason not to trust american politicians from the bush administration.
as for bush, well, apparently, he has good reflexes and remains good natured (at least in public) about the whole thing. he said that he thought it was a ‘sign of a free society’– and since america is still partially free- there are going to be several peace rallies in washington on wednesday– featuring, of course, shoes.
“and as much as we may agree with mr. al-zaidi we cannot believe that violence towards an american president can be tolerated. but, i guess the iraqis are smarter than most americans give them credit for- they aren’t charging mr. al-zaidi with throwing shoes at bush”
“CNN Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware reports that Muntader al-Zaidi — the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush yesterday during a press conference — “is being investigated for possible charges not connected to assaulting President Bush, but for doing it in front of the Iraqi Prime Minister and hurling the shoes in the Prime Minister’s general direction rather than at President Bush’s head.” After CNN host T.J. Holmes clarified that “just because the Iraqi Prime Minister was in the vicinity that might really be what gets him in trouble,” Ware responded, “Yeah brother, this is Iraq.” ”
Sorry, but he is in trouble and there are protests in the streets of Sadr City for him to be released. It is also reported he has been tortured and beaten badly and has suffered at least a broken arm, ribs and can’t walk at this time. That was as of last night about 10 PM EST. I haven’t seen any new reports this AM.
According to one report I saw all it would take is for Mr. Bush to say release him and it would be over, but since he thinks it was a big joke and didn’t take it serious he can’t or won’t do that.
Just need to make sure we look at all sides of this. While in our opinion Iraq may be freer than it was, they still don’t enjoy the freedoms we think they do. Besides, what would happen to you or I if we did that to our President??
When he isn’t drinking?
😆