The Bottom of a Shoe to Two Tyrants

In the Poetic Justice Department:

Two events.

 First, from Bill Richardson’s Esquire interview about an encounter with Saddam Hussein during the Clinton years:

 Saddam had these small, black eyes. I started giving him my spiel, which was, “I want you to release these Americans as a humanitarian gesture, Mr. President.” I was very respectful. Then I made a terrible mistake: I was so tired, I crossed my legs and showed him the sole of my shoe. Saddam got up and left. I thought I was toast. "Is he coming back?" I asked. "He'll be back, but you must apologize for insulting an Arab with the supreme insult." I decided not to apologize — maybe he was playing a psychological game with me. He came back and I just continued making my point. His eyes got bigger and then his mouth started moving into a smile.

 Second, regarding the video below, my friend David Martin pointed out this excerpt to me  (in frustration with the lead graphs of the NY Times coverage of Bush's own shoe encounter) this morning:

"Hitting someone with a shoe is considered the supreme insult in Iraq. It means that the target is even lower than the shoe, which is always on the ground and dirty. Crowds hurled their shoes at the giant statue of Mr. Hussein that stood in Baghdad’s Firdos Square before helping American marines pull it down on April 9, 2003, the day the capital fell. More recently in the same square, a far bigger crowd composed of Iraqis who had opposed the security agreement flung their shoes at an effigy of Mr. Bush before burning it."

UPDATE- Apparently, the entire Arab world agrees with the journalist, who is facing seven years for the insult to the nation's occupier-in-chief.  Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to support him.

Comments

[david martin]

Bill, David here. Shouldn't it be the "Podiatric Justice Department?" Keep up the good work.

[Bill]

Jon Stewart should be good tonight.

Thanks for the excerpt, David.

Apparently, Bush thought that the screams of the journalist being kicked senseless by security outside the room were signs of free discourse. He referred to them, audible in the room as the press conference continued in the following way:

NYT:

“That’s what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves,” as the man’s screaming could be heard outside.

[Bill]

Jon Stewart should be good tonight.

Thanks for the excerpt, David.

Apparently, Bush thought that the screams of the journalist being kicked senseless by security outside the room were signs of free discourse. He referred to them, audible in the room as the press conference continued in the following way:

NYT:

“That’s what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves,” as the man’s screaming could be heard outside.