Waiting for the other shoe to drop, I mean fly

(Copyright 2008)

The WALTHER REPORT

By Tony Walther

I’ve heard of waiting for the other shoe to drop, but President George W. Bush waited for the other shoe to fly, right past his head, and he didn’t have to wait long.

As bizarre and even comical as it was, it seems to me that the action was an assault on the president and certainly demonstrated a lack of security. I have little respect for Bush, but I do respect the office of the presidency.

And I don’t care if it is some type of Muslim custom to show disrespect (as compared to our middle finger salute), it seems to me that it was tantamount to a crime – I’d say act of war, but we’re already at war in Iraq (with whom, I’m not sure).

It probably was poetic. Bush makes his last appearance in Iraq, a surprise visit, and he gets surprised by a disgruntled Iraqi journalist who is reported to have yelled: “This is a gift from the Iraqis. This is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans, and those who were killed in Iraq.”

For his part, Bush seemed unflappable, smiling through the incident, and quipping right afterwards: “It was a size 10, I can tell you…”

During subsequent remarks, Bush shrugged and implied that he thought the incident was no big deal, just some guy trying to get attention (he did) and a form of free speech (just part of what we were fighting for, I suppose).  But, while I appreciate Bush’s appreciation of free speech, I think that if such an incident had occurred in the U.S. the shoe thrower would be charged with a felony, an assualt on the president. We even have a law, passed after the Kennedy assassination, that makes it a crime to even utter a threat against the president (even with the First Amendment, you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater — even if there is one? I’m not sure on that– and you can’t threaten the president (criticize yes).

It was strange to me that the video tape seemed to reveal that the reaction on the part of Bush’s body guards was a little delayed. I saw some come for him out of a side door. You’d think they would have swarmed over him for his protection immediately. I think I did see Bush wave off help several seconds after the second shoe was thrown.

I understand his press secretary Dana Perino got a black eye in the melee when the shoe-thrower was grabbed.

I think the U.S. itself has a black eye over the whole Iraqi fiasco.

More than 4,000 American combat deaths and thousands more gravely wounded and our president gets two shoes thrown at him.

Not exactly the rose petals thrown on the conquering heroes that Rummy Rumsfeld predicted.

I must say, though, our commander in chief looked brave – or was it dumbfounded?