The Second Shoe-ter
I'm not too impressed by the first throw, but am really surprised he got off the second one before the Secret Service guys got in front of the President. Say what you will about him, GWB still has pretty good reflexes for an old guy.
posted by QueensGuy @ 1:17 PM
10 Comments:
The Secret Service should be inspected closely and some major people should be fired for this.
This is why our troops have to stay and help train them. Iraqis can't aim for shit.
Right 43's clearly stuck in a reverse-Midas role. He needs to shut up and stay at home.
I'm just really, really glad the guy missed. The image of him getting clocked in the face with an Iraqi shoe could have been an absolute PR nightmare.
The other Iraqis journalists apologized for the guy, saying he doesn't represent the view of most citizens. Luckily, due to changes Bush helped bring about, someone can do something like this and not be killed or tortured. It also shows, unlike the executive board of the New York Times, there are differences of opinion in Iraq.
Bush's reaction was simply cool. His smile at the end looks totally genuine: not bravado, and not playing for the cameras.
Teddy Roosevelt still holds the title for the coolest president under fire, of course. But President Bush's coolness certainly outclasses Ford's and Reagan's! (Well, Reagan was badly hit, so that's an unfair comparison, I suppose....)
There are a number of cases of Presidents fending off attacks, but I don't know if anything beats Jimmy Carter and the killer rabbit.
Pictures tell the story-- in future documentaries and news summaries on the period, there will be pictures of Bush in leather jacket in front of the "Mission Accomplished" banner juxtaposed with clips of him ducking the shoe.
I don't think they'll be that silly in the future. Maybe they'll show the early, tough days of the fledgling democracy in Iraq, and the man who saw it through when everyone wanted him to quit.
It would be better if he were shooting himself in the shoe but its all part of the same theme.
Post a Comment
<< Home