From A Journalist's Feet To Our Frustrations

Muntadar al-Zaidi, a journalist for the Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia TV, threw his right shoe at George W. Bush's head.


As he set the loafer aloft, he shouted, "This is a farewell kiss, you dog!" Bush ducked, narrowly avoiding impact. Al-Zaidi proceeded to throw his left shoe: "This is for the widows, the orphans, and those who were killed in Iraq!" The second shoe missed, as well, and al-Zaidi was wrestled to the ground and kicked and beaten out of the hall in which the press conference with Bush and Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki provided the scene for this dramatic act.

Al-Zaidi is still being held by Iraqi officials on unspecified charges. His network has issued a statement demanding his release and likening his continued detention to "the time of the dictator era when violence, random arrests, mass graves, and ignoring of general freedoms existed".

Al-Zaidi's shoes missed G.W., but they have hit the frustrations of millions around the world on the head. A symbolic action; a real and outraged reaction. This action resonates with the fantasies of so many, aggrieved and apalled by the catastrophes inflicted by one ruthless man's administration. I think a lot of us have wondered what we would say, how we could express adequately our contempt for this man, if we found ourselves in the same room with him. I've also often wondered how those who do find themselves in a room with him (like journalists) contain their rage. And if they couldn't, what could they say that would represent the magnitude of grief inflicted? Nothing would be enough. Shoes are as good as anything.

We'll be following al-Zaidi's case, adding our voices to the demand that he be released.

Sources for this piece are Democracy Now! and the NY Times.