If the Shoe Fits

I think that by now most Americans would have seen the video of Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi's 'shoe attack' on President Bush during a news conference he was holding in a surprise visit to Iraq with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki this past weekend. According to witnesses, what Zeidi shouted translates roughly to "It is a goodbye kiss you dog." The tossing of the shoes is considered one of the gravest insults you can offer a person in the Middle East. The fact that two shoes were thrown in this case speaks volumes; at least in my mind it does.

Now people are already jumping on the Secret Service accusing them of being 'lax' in their security measures and not being on hand to 'take the bullet'...er... 'shoe' for the President. People are talking about how if Zeidi had a gun it was possible that we could be talking about the assassination of a President rather than an insult literally flung his way. Now I counter those arguements by reminding most readers that having attended a Presidential speech a time or two in the past there has been plenty of security and Zeidi apparently underwent similar security screening this time as well. He wasn't found to be carrying a weapon and if we think that he shouldn't be allowed to remove his shoes without Secret Service sweeping in to stop him then we are going to have major problems every time somebody does something mundane like scratching their noses.

But again, that's not the issue. The issue to me is the fact that President Bush, the head of our country, the representative of our nation to the world has been insulted like this. Whether you like him or despise him what bothers me is that apparently the standing of George W. Bush and hence the Presidency of the United States is looked upon with such dour eyes around the world that to me it means the standing of our country has also been reduced. Now Bush may dismiss the 'attack' flippantly by mentioning that the shoe was a size ten or that he's not bothered but it sure as Hell bothers me. I remember when we were lauding the fact that statues of Saddam Hussein were being hit with shoes in the streets of Bagdhad when the city was liberated. Now forgetting that we make jokes about how baseball teams are thinking of signing Zeidi to their bullpen?

Is anybody else seeing that this is pretty significant? Perhaps we need to see it translated into terms Americans are familiar with and think of what the reaction in our country would have been to someone flipping Bush the middle finger and shouting a profanity-laced tirade in his direction. The reaction may have been much the same but still, I think people would then realize a little more what the situation means. It's just further proof to me that the standing of our great nation has deteriorated to such a point that some see Bush as being worthy of the same insult as Saddam Hussein. You can say that maybe it is limited to the one reporter but when almost every single poll is showing Bush's approval ratings competing with the drops in the Dow Jones Industrial Average then that tells you that perhaps the feelings of disapproval aren't limited to our country.

Whether I support him or not, the fact that he is the representative of my country overseas and that he is being insulted in this manner opens my eyes to the fact that we as a nation have a lot of work to do to restore the good name of our country in the eyes of the world. The attacks of September 11th garnered a lot of support for our nation around the world and even now there are still some sympathetic pockets but it isn't what it was shortly after 9/11 or in the years prior. Sure we've had Presidents being protested in the streets and effigies being burned on occasion but never has a reporter stood up and done so blatant an insulting attack aimed at getting his message of displeasure across so clearly. Wake up America! It's not a joke.