"No one should read anything more into it than what it was, which was an individual throwing a shoe."-Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren, referring to an incident in which an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President George Bush during a press conference in Iraq.
The quote appeared in this article:
Secret Service Defends Shoe Response
I never expected to see the words "Secret Service" and "shoe response" in the same quote.
12 comments:
Perhaps "shoe response" will now enter the lexicon with "chewbacca defense".
Just wondering.
The Secret Serivce guys who were on that detail that day should be fired or at least suspended for a time.
Apparently Iraq is just like South East Asia in that if you show someone the bottom of your shoes or feet, it is quite an insult.
Oh Cormac and all you other people looking into the cultural meaning of the gesture, instead of just remembering that Bush is Amurkan, so only Amurkan rules count! The Secret Service said to stop it, so unless you want to end up being pelted with shoes at Gitmo, then stifle it!
I never expected George Bush to be pretzeldent, so there ya go.
word verification: auspo. Aussie police!
Randal, thank God it wasn't a pretzel thrown at him, huh?
DGuz, thanks for saying that so I didn't have to.
Cormac, it is. If you're sitting with someone in that part of the world you have to be careful not to cross your legs and expose the sole of your shoe toward them. Remember the Iraqis beating the Saddam statue with their shoes? Big time insult.
Dr MVM, actually, they did their job like they should. That press room was a "secure" area, meaning that all those present had to go through layers of security and metal detectors and searches before they even got in there, just like at the White House press room. All that security allows the agents to stay out of sight when the POTUS is speaking. Now, imagine the hilarity if an American reporter pulled a stunt like that.
Jess, hah. "All right men, I'd like you to work on your shoe response." "Hmmm...did you get that memo about the shoe response? It was attached to the TPS report..."
The BBC reported that al-Zaidi was beaten in a U.S. hospital. (h/t to toujourstan comment @ DCap's site.) Secret Service? I wonder. I'm still wondering how al-Zaidi's friggin missed.
after years of condi and shoes - this should be of no big surprise
After reviewing the video, I have a good thing to say about George W. Bush. "Nice ducking dude!"
Fortunately, it was not a pretzel as that would be a waste of one of one of God's gifts to humanity.
But the idea that it was just a shoe...it's kind of like saying the one finger salute is simply a gesture or flipping the bird is an alternative type lesson in ornithology.
Wasn't it two shoes? Good Lord -- this is as telling a moment as "Mission Accomplished."
It's sad that such a pitiful dunce of a man has been ordering troops into combat for the last eight years.
Security looked about as effective as Dallas marshals blocking Jack Ruby from attacking Oswald -- mercifully it was only shoes, no gun or poison tips or anything a la From Russia With Love.
Laugh, but it took five secret service agents to wrestle the shoes to the ground.
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