Shoes and the presidency!

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:51 am

Probably old news to most of you but apparently Bush had shoes thrown at him by an Iraqi reporter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiUmkS7jOHk

Apparently he's going away for 7 years for this incident after a trial.

Others in america are saying it is a fitting punishment. Looking away from whatever anybody's feelings for Bush might be, is it just me or is that punishment outrageous.

if anything, that's attempted assault and maybe a civil suit for libelous statements and mental harm. It's silly to put the guy in jail for 7 years for throwing a shoe. He didn't even hit the man. He has poor aim on top of everything. ~_~

Talisman · Post by **Talisman** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:59 am

My sympathy is entirely with the shoe-thrower. It's attempted assault at worst.

Draco_Argentum · Post by **Draco_Argentum** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 8:29 am

He doesn't have poor aim, Bush dodged it. He probably has the dodge feat.

7 years is retarded unless the shoes were poisoned.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 8:39 am

He's lucky he hasn't been killed. Of course, right-wingers are saying that this incident shows how well we've done in Iraq that they feel safe insulting foreign leaders.

Of course, I doubt any right-wingers will be plotting to help him out, as they're now busy connecting him to terrorists.

-Crissa

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:29 am

Honestly, it's nothing an American wouldn't do if they could. In the middle east the shoe is considered filthy, completely irredeemably filthy, especially the sole, hell, people take their shoes off before entering mosques. So to show someone the bottom of your shoe is akin to flipping them off.

Now, just think what an American would do to some foreign leader they saw as an imperialistic conquerer if they could figure out how to rocket propel their hands...

Seven years is far too much, it's assault and battery, under our laws. But that's the problem, it's not our laws deciding things, it's the laws of the new free Iraqi people, and keep in mind, the Iraqi people preempted Saddam's lawful trial, and killed him. This is how they've decided their going to do things, and really, we have to let them if we want to stand up to what we've been saying these past 5(?) years. We made them free, we made them capable of making their own decisions, and they've decided to become a police state that disregards the ideal of "innocent until proven guilty" and just acts as judge and jury, and, executioner.

We did our best, we overstayed our welcome, but in doing so we did our best. We freed them from a despot, they killed him without due process. We helped them stand on their own and our wonderful president gave his speech, one man threw his shoes at him, saying something along the lines of "here's your farewell kiss!" The secret service stopped him and held him, and turned him over to Iraqi Law Enforcement, they savagey beat him.

Iraq is the rebelious, troubled youth of an abusive father. Social services helped him out of the bad situation on got him on his own, and he thinks that violence and abuse is the way of things. There's nothing anyone can do until the kid hurts another person.

That's it.

JonSetanta · Post by **JonSetanta** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:52 am

I wish the Iraqi succeeded.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 1:41 pm

how so? Do you mean you wish the Iraqi reporter had actually hit Bush?

JonSetanta · Post by **JonSetanta** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:33 pm

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:58 am

sigma999 wrote:Yes.

Why? It really doesn't accomplish anything. If anything, bush get smore martyrdom & saint points. Especially this close to the end of his presidency.

Draco_Argentum · Post by **Draco_Argentum** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:09 am

If he even thinks about trying to score martyrdom points out of some shoes he needs to be kicked in the balls then shown someone who actually got hurt out of the Iraq deal.

JonSetanta · Post by **JonSetanta** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:53 am

For all the pain that 'terrorist' physically suffered after being tackled, at least he could have accomplished it.
Nothing more than having failure rubbed in the face... with a boot.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 12:04 pm

sigma999 wrote:For all the pain that 'terrorist' physically suffered after being tackled, at least he could have accomplished it.
Nothing more than having failure rubbed in the face... with a boot.

he isn't looked on as a failure though.

Seriously they have street posters around Iraq with his face on it and they have street vendors and stores selling that brand of shoe. He's definitely gone down as being at least somewhat famous in Iraq and hte middle east.

Username17 · Post by **Username17** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 12:57 pm

He (the shoe thrower) is actually a better martyr because his shoe missed. As is, the actual crime he is guilty of is "attempted assault." It's a bullshit offense that warrants a fine. That the shoe thrower is still in prison and has apparently been beaten is way out of proportion to the crime he actually committed. That makes him a much better standard to rally around, because he actually is being provably persecuted for his political opinions.

If he had succeeded in hitting Bush with a shoe, and then he was prosecuted for that crime according to the letter of the law, and just happened to get a harsh but applicable punishment for that - then it would be much more difficult to rally to his banner. He'd be a criminal and the government would be able to treat him as such.

As it is, the government is in the wrong and Muntader al-Zaidi is clearly in the right. Being right counts for a lot when you can't be the strongest or the biggest.

-Username17

cthulhu · Post by **cthulhu** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 2:12 pm

The fact that orders for the type of shoe he threw has more than quintupled orders from the entire last year alone since he threw them is just comedy gold (according to bloomberg)

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:07 pm

A_Cynic wrote:Shoes and the presidency!

Is that a Firesign Theater Company reference?

Draco_Argentum · Post by **Draco_Argentum** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:29 am

cthulhu wrote:The fact that orders for the type of shoe he threw has more than quintupled orders from the entire last year alone since he threw them is just comedy gold (according to bloomberg)

Looked like decent enough shoes too, I'd wear em.

The Gaming Den

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