Laura Bush Talks About Shoes

From Laura Bush ‘wasn’t amused’ by shoe incident by Kristi Keck:

First Lady Laura Bush said that although she “wasn’t amused” when an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at her husband, she sees the incident as a sign that “Iraqis feel a lot freer to express themselves.”

Earlier this month, an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at President Bush during a news conference in Baghdad. Bush ducked, and the shoes, flung one at a time, sailed past his head.

“It was an assault. And that's what it is,” the first lady said in an interview that aired Sunday on “Fox News.”

“And the president laughed it off. He wasn't hurt. He's very quick. As you know, he's a natural athlete. And that's it. But on the other hand, it is an assault, and I think it should be treated that way,” she said.

Dubya was amused, why wasn’t Laura? Do you find “Iraqis feel a lot freer to express themselves” to be an extremely arrogant expression? I do. Do you find it to be extremely insulting? I do. Do you find it to be delusional? I do. Laura Bush is effectively saying that Iraqis should be thankful that we invaded their country, killed and maimed many of their civilians, and bombed them into the Stone Age so that they could throw their shoes at President Bush. She wants them to be thankful that she and her idiot husband gave them freedom. (How free are the ones who are dead, Laura?) And yet, when one of them chooses to express himself using this wonderful freedom, Laura Bush doesn’t like it. Freedom. Does Laura Bush even understand the meaning of the word?

I have a question for Laura. If throwing shoes is an assault, what do call what your husband did to Iraq? If Muntadhar al-Zaidi is to be held accountable for his actions, shouldn’t George W. Bush also be held accountable for his actions, as well? Let's remember that Muntadhar al-Zaidi did not kill anyone. He didn't even injure anyone. What kind of assault is that? Assault. Does Laura Bush even understand the meaning of the word?

Perhaps we should have invaded Iraq with an army of shoe throwers.

Perhaps someone should have given Laura Bush a dictionary for Christmas.

Here is more on the topic of the shoes of Muntadhar al-Zaidi by Bruce A. Jacobs.

And so Bush, feckless and clueless as ever, makes his final victory lap, and the shoes fly. And, thankfully, in another month we will be airlifting him out of Washington.

Oh Laura

From White House does the unthinkable; media look away by Deep Harm:

Those who depend on legacy news media for information are not likely to know that the White House yesterday risked derailing international efforts to provide help to the people of Myanmar. After a cyclone struck the southeast Asian nation on Saturday, tens of thousands are reported dead or missing, and many thousands more are without food, water, shelter and medical care.

One must look hard to find the full text of comments made at a White House news conference held yesterday by Mrs. Bush. But, do look.

In their entirety, the comments display a callousness toward Myanmar's situation, no little hypocrisy, and appear to deliberately antagonize the Myanmar government at a time when the UN and other international entities were conducting delicate negotiations to persuade reluctant Myanmar officials to let disaster relief teams into their country. Thus, the White House risked provoking Myanmar's junta into rejecting ALL external assistance offered by other countries and relief organizations.

The White House seemingly believes that one can convince people to accept help by first publicly humiliating them; is oblivious to the hypocrisy of criticizing another nation's response to a cyclone two years after its disastrous Katrina response; sees no moral barrier to treating people in peril as political pawns.

Culpability for Monday's press conference extends beyond the White House. As Congress waits for term limits to remove a clearly incompetent presidency, the death toll rises -- in Myanmar, in Iraq, and here at home, where the healthcare system is failing. For the millions affected by White House policies here and abroad, January 20, 2009, seems as remote as the rice paddies of Myanmar and the pre-Katrina streets of New Orleans. Sadly, many will not live to see that day.