If the Shoe Fits...

While I consider the throwing of shoes at outgoing President Bush to be more of an expression of rage than productive opposition, I cannot help but admire the courage and creativity of Mr. Al-Zeidi. As a journalist, his action was a marked departure from the media's ever-present submission to power in the post-9/11 world. I went to school with aspiring journalists trapped in the liberal vs. conservative/Democrat vs. Republican model, which implies that a journalist's job is to maintain the status quo and read the Washington Post/New York Times for her news. I have witnessed more than enough of the feeble attempts of the White House Press Corps to keep Dana Perino or any of the other presidential propagandists honest. I have heard the detached calls for "professionalism" and "objectivity" in a time when truth and boldness in pursuit of peace and justice are needed far more than formalities.

What this brave Iraqi man did sends the message that journalists are people too. It sends the message that journalists, too, have opinions and are not afraid to share them, even when it means risking their jobs, their freedom, or even their lives (from the reports I've read, he could have been beaten to death by Prime Minister al-Maliki's guards). Al-Zeidi is a hero to any journalist who has suffered through the countless lies and distortions of a Bush press conference without ever posing a real question. He is a hero to all Iraqis and Americans alike who whince whenever Bush erroneously claims that the United States is "winning" in Iraq or that the surge was "successful" or that the sacrifices are "worth it."

Of course, while his own news organization, Al-Baghdadia television, is publicly supporting his "free speech" and condemning his ill-treatment at the hands of Iraqi government forces, some of his colleagues in the room claimed to be humiliated by the bizarre spectacle. I say it is Bush who should be humiliated. Already unique in many ways, particularly when the subject is public (dis)approval, Bush can now claim to be the first president to ever have to duck a shoe at a controlled press conference, one that would have otherwise featured undue praise and scripted questions. Can anyone imagine something like this happening to Barack Obama or former President Bill Clinton?

But it's hard to have much sympathy for Mr. Bush. After all, he's only dodging shoes. Victims of his policies would surely welcome dodging shoes - instead of bombs and bullets.