The proper way to shoe a president
Source: Daily Star, 18-12-2008
By Marc J. Sirois
In all the fanfare about Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush in Baghdad over the weekend, many of those who have commented on the incident - myself included - have neglected to mention that the act was entirely inappropriate to the man's profession. We in Lebanon know all too well what can happen when representatives of the media go from reporting or interpreting news to participating in it, so this is my apology to those readers who have rightly pointed out what I failed to.
In a way, Zaidi's very public failure to control his temper caused him to sink to Bush's level, however briefly, and that is truly unfortunate, because although his message might continue to resonate for some time, his reputation in the long run will have been sullied - and some of the usual suspects in the Western press are already exploiting his outburst to smear the Arabs as a whole.
Respect for decorum demands that we acknowledge the poor judgment Zaidi displayed, but it is not fair for him to be condemned by those who have not - yes, I'm going there - walked in his shoes. This is a man, after all, who has seen his country destroyed, and who among us, those with far less personal reasons to loathe Bush and his policies, has not harbored an occasional secret longing to fling something (a soiled diaper, maybe, or a copy of the Geneva Conventions with key passages highlighted in fluorescent yellow) at his head?
To criticize Zaidi's actions without recommending an alternative method of making his point, then, would be disingenuous and irresponsible. It should be something that would take advantage of the enormous publicity generated by the incident without endorsing the use of physical force of any kind, even if the level of "violence" in question was infinitesimal - especially when compared to that unleashed by Bush in Iraq. It must a strike a precise balance between agreeing with the content and even the style of Zaidi's sentiment, just not with his method of delivery.
My own suggestion is this: If you think throwing the shoes was a poor way to convey a good message, take an old pair of your own and mail them to Bush at The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC, 20500. The president leaves office on January 20, so there is plenty of time, and even if your package gets there after that date, I'm sure the Obama administration will have his forwarding address in Dallas and would be more than happy to see that he gets what's coming to him. Alternatively, you could mail a photograph of a shoe or two, or email it to comments@whitehouse.gov, but neither of these would contain the fitting aroma exuded by actual (smelly) footwear.
I know this is the kind of gimmick used to great effect by rabble-rousing talk-radio hosts in the United States, but that all is the more reason to do it: Those zealots have tended overwhelmingly to support Bush's bankrupt leadership, so why not use one of their tactics against him?
I'm also sure that some Homeland Security type will shortly be updating my file because of this subversive suggestion, but many of the proudest moments in America's storied history have involved some form of civil disobedience. In fact, incidents like the so-called "Boston Tea Party" - when American revolutionaries destroyed private property to protest one of many flagrantly unfair tax policies imposed by the authorities in London - have continued to define what the United States was supposed to be for more than 200 years. That same history has inspired individuals and groups around the world to believe that they too can throw off the yoke of illegitimate governance and put ultimate political power where it belongs: in the hands of the people.
Of course, all that that was before Bush made a general hash of the Middle East, shattered America's standing in the community of nations, and undermined the belief of his own citizens in the special nature of their country, but as Canadians like myself know, Americans are a resilient lot: When we torched their capital during the War of 1812, they returned the favor with such vigor that we decided to move our own seat of government to a remote fur-trading post that even the beavers avoided because it was so cold. Americans can get over what Bush has done to them, too, and lots of them would get quite a kick out a few shoes mailed to him as farewell gifts.
If my instincts are right, a few of them might even get in on the act.
By Marc J. Sirois
In all the fanfare about Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush in Baghdad over the weekend, many of those who have commented on the incident - myself included - have neglected to mention that the act was entirely inappropriate to the man's profession. We in Lebanon know all too well what can happen when representatives of the media go from reporting or interpreting news to participating in it, so this is my apology to those readers who have rightly pointed out what I failed to.
In a way, Zaidi's very public failure to control his temper caused him to sink to Bush's level, however briefly, and that is truly unfortunate, because although his message might continue to resonate for some time, his reputation in the long run will have been sullied - and some of the usual suspects in the Western press are already exploiting his outburst to smear the Arabs as a whole.
Respect for decorum demands that we acknowledge the poor judgment Zaidi displayed, but it is not fair for him to be condemned by those who have not - yes, I'm going there - walked in his shoes. This is a man, after all, who has seen his country destroyed, and who among us, those with far less personal reasons to loathe Bush and his policies, has not harbored an occasional secret longing to fling something (a soiled diaper, maybe, or a copy of the Geneva Conventions with key passages highlighted in fluorescent yellow) at his head?
To criticize Zaidi's actions without recommending an alternative method of making his point, then, would be disingenuous and irresponsible. It should be something that would take advantage of the enormous publicity generated by the incident without endorsing the use of physical force of any kind, even if the level of "violence" in question was infinitesimal - especially when compared to that unleashed by Bush in Iraq. It must a strike a precise balance between agreeing with the content and even the style of Zaidi's sentiment, just not with his method of delivery.
My own suggestion is this: If you think throwing the shoes was a poor way to convey a good message, take an old pair of your own and mail them to Bush at The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC, 20500. The president leaves office on January 20, so there is plenty of time, and even if your package gets there after that date, I'm sure the Obama administration will have his forwarding address in Dallas and would be more than happy to see that he gets what's coming to him. Alternatively, you could mail a photograph of a shoe or two, or email it to comments@whitehouse.gov, but neither of these would contain the fitting aroma exuded by actual (smelly) footwear.
I know this is the kind of gimmick used to great effect by rabble-rousing talk-radio hosts in the United States, but that all is the more reason to do it: Those zealots have tended overwhelmingly to support Bush's bankrupt leadership, so why not use one of their tactics against him?
I'm also sure that some Homeland Security type will shortly be updating my file because of this subversive suggestion, but many of the proudest moments in America's storied history have involved some form of civil disobedience. In fact, incidents like the so-called "Boston Tea Party" - when American revolutionaries destroyed private property to protest one of many flagrantly unfair tax policies imposed by the authorities in London - have continued to define what the United States was supposed to be for more than 200 years. That same history has inspired individuals and groups around the world to believe that they too can throw off the yoke of illegitimate governance and put ultimate political power where it belongs: in the hands of the people.
Of course, all that that was before Bush made a general hash of the Middle East, shattered America's standing in the community of nations, and undermined the belief of his own citizens in the special nature of their country, but as Canadians like myself know, Americans are a resilient lot: When we torched their capital during the War of 1812, they returned the favor with such vigor that we decided to move our own seat of government to a remote fur-trading post that even the beavers avoided because it was so cold. Americans can get over what Bush has done to them, too, and lots of them would get quite a kick out a few shoes mailed to him as farewell gifts.
If my instincts are right, a few of them might even get in on the act.
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