December 15, 2008

Did The Shoe Hit The Fan?


I don't remember if it was Stanislawski who said that if you go to the theater and see a shoe in act I, know that it will be thrown at the President in Act III.

But today was the day for which Angry Arab has been preparing himself for for at least three years. And finally, it happened!!!

A surprise visit by US President George Bush to Iraq has been overshadowed by an incident in which two shoes were thrown at him during a news conference.

An Iraqi journalist was wrestled to the floor by security guards after he called Mr Bush "a dog" and threw his footwear, just missing the president.

...In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," before hurling a shoe at Mr Bush which narrowly missed him. (BBC December 14, 2008)

Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! Muntadar al-Zaidi, I nominate you for the next U.N. Secretary General.

"Overshadowed"? What overshadowed? Never in the history of humanity have so few shoes expressed the sincerest feelings of so many to one who was so deserving of that expression.

Everybody now, repeat the refrain:
Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture.


Sometimes the cliche machines gets jammed in the BBC office, read this:
Al-Baghdadiya's bureau chief told the Associated Press that he had no idea what prompted Mr Zaidi to attack President Bush, although reports say he was once kidnapped by a militia and beaten up.
I mean, Gosh, what could prompt an Iraqi to such behavior? I couldn't come up with a plausible hypothesis if my life depended on it.



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