NEW YORK CITY ARCHIVES Iraqi journalist throws shoes at Bush
by Ward Harkavy
A go-away present during president’s surprise visit to Baghdad.
An Iraqi journalist threw shoes at George W. Bush during a press conference Sunday in Baghdad.
Loafers for the loafer.
See the video yourself. AP reported:
“This is a farewell kiss, you dog!” shouted the protester in Arabic, later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.
Bush ducked both shoes as they whizzed past his head and landed with a thud against the wall behind him.
“It was a size 10,” Bush joked later.
The journalist had apparently just come to the realization that the emperor’s new clothes were an illusion and decided to present some footwear to him on behalf of the Iraq people.
With tens of thousands of Iraqis already dead since the U.S. invasion in March 2003, there’s no shortage of previously owned footwear in Baghdad to donate to Americans.
Al-Zeidi is believed to have hurt his chances of landing a network job in the U.S.
I can’t think of any more smart-ass lines right now.