The layers of symbolism in this incident are really poetic. On the one hand, getting a shoe thrown at you at a farewell press conference is the ultimate embarrassing punctuation on a failed policy. On the other hand, that guy had thrown a shoe at Saddam, he'd be a martyr, not just a folk hero.

I hate Bush as much as the next guy, but throwing shoes at the man is an insult also to the Presidency of the United States.  Granted, this president is a total fuck-up, but there are a myriad ways to show your distaste for the guy.  Not appropriate at all, and to me certainly not as funny as many view it.

This guy IS a hero. Its time someone did this, as it reflects the feeling of the entire world. It also gives us a great talking point: a Republican was the first President to have a shoe thrown at him. The GOP: the tossed shoe party.

There's nothing satisfactory about this.  The subject is being tortured in an Iraqi prison as we speak, and the fallout absolutely has the potential to end any cease-fire being observed by the Sadrists.  In unstable societies, a small spark can cause a lot of pain.  There have already been demonstrations demanding his release, and if his torture is connected to the Maliki government you're going to have chaos.

Most people seem to agree that Bush demonstrated great reaction time.

I said to my dad, "Can you imagine McCain trying to dodge that shoe?"

He responded, "Yeah, but Barack, he would have caught it!"

"What if it had been Hillary?" I asked.

"She would have thought she was under mortar fire."

A funny guy, my dad.

&*^*S  this shoe throwing clown..

I agree with what was written above: the presidency of the United States does not deserve to be insulted.

People need to realize that the President represents the United States. We may disagree with him (soo much) but he represents us...

Good for Buch for handling it well.. imagine if he'd gotten hit?

I mean a way of looking at this: do you agree when people chant "Death to America" in the Middle East?

I'm amazed by some of the comments here, as if Bush truly is above the law because he occupied the office of president and therefore must be respected regardless of the damage he did, and damage he attempted to do.

By your measure, simply because Hitler occupied the office of Furer, he also must be respected, and that's just crazy.

Sorry, I don't care WHO you are - respect is earned, and clearly Bush is leaving office as nothing more than an ugly blot upon our national history - Nixon II.

It IS funny. That's my opinion. You have as much right to yours as I have to mine. The Presidency is still manned by a human being. He does not become deified. Bush is a liar. He does not care about anyone who is not rich (And invariably white.). That's is what I believe. Therefore, this man who was taking out his frustration at this liar on behalf of the upwards of 1,000,000,000 Iraqi men/women and children who were killed in our illegal invasion of their country IS justified. Further, the 4000 American military personnel killed, and the 30,000 injured deserve to have a shot at this pig also. Make no mistake,the presidency is what the MAN who mans it makes it, and unfortunately this MAN made a shitpile of it.

...such as this buffon deserves no sympathy on any level.  The man is covered in blood.  So, there are some that say this Iraqi journalist actually made them feel sorry for him?  Look at Bush's reaction to all of this.  Flippant and non-chalant.  This man gutted the country of the man throwing the shoe by killing thousands of innocent Iraqis and smashing their infrastructure into oblivion.  He is responsible for the deaths of American military presonnel who is not to question policy but to serve all the while shattering surviving American families lives with a legacy of pain that is unimaginable.  He instituted the CPA's infamous article denying jurisdiction over all American personnel who are accountable for nothing and immune to Iraqi law thereby implying Iraqi citizens are not quite equal to American lives.  What a shit.  

And some are upset a shoe was hurled at this delusional maniac?  You've got to be kidding.  Dante's 9 circles of hell aren't even adequate enough to contain the entrails of this reprehensible human stain. He actually believes he is some kind of hero.  He is only a "President" on the whims of an ideologically right wing supreme court without the benefit of electoral legitimacy.  He certainly does not represent me or my country.  He is there only by the grace of a backboneless opposition party who cowared in his presence for reasons that even now remain inexplicable. They share the shame of Iraq with him.  A shoe?  How pathetic in contrast to what he has done.

Trumandem

Yea, great post, it was almost like Bush practiced the dodge-- the second one he seemed like, got any more?  Funny shit.

Nothing to laugh about...

I'm not really happy about it because it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change all the deaths that have resulted from the Iraq war. It doesn't change the fact that our economy is in the toilet. It doesn't change the fact that New Orleans is still in disarray. It doesn't change the fact that thousands are losing their jobs every day.

It's just another embarrassing moment in an embarrassing presidency. Everyone is applauding this, and I ask, "Why?"

Why do you applaud the fact that someone has driven the office of Presidency to such a disrespect that journalists are driven to throw their shoes at them, a sign of huge disrespect in their culture? You may say, "Huzzah!"

Instead, I'm saddened not that this happened -- but rather because it was made possible because of our lowest international standing perhaps ever.

So don't applaud this symbolic, useless act that is great fodder for cable news networks and the Daily Show. Instead, work to make sure that we repair our country so this never happens again.

In my opinion, Bush has done so much to denigrate the office of POTUS, he should no longer be given the privilege of the standing of the office.

The shoe guy threw a shoe at a complete ass-clown who destroyed his country, and probably was responsible for the deaths of many of his friends, and possibly family.

I'm glad the shoe didn't hit bush, but the situation was a powerful symbol of the damage bush has done over there, and to the reputation of the U.S.

because I don't support assault and battery.

Condoning this means that when you feel "justified" you can throw a shoe at someone. We have prisons full of people who believe that, I am not one.

I hope the show thrower is prosecuted to the fullest extent of their law.

This incident may not be the equivalent of tossing a bomb at the president, but neither is it equivalent to waving a sign and shouting protests.  The fact is that the man attempted to do violence to the president.  He should be locked up for a very long time.

I ordinarily like to think that we, as liberals, represent the heart and soul of America and, further, that we also represent the majority of Americans.  When I read comments like those in this thread, I wonder really how out of touch we are.  There are acceptable ways to protest.  This wasn't one of them.  Period.

Apparently, IRAQI LAW disagrees with you. Contrary to what you my think , it is unknown as to what will happen to him as much of Iraq supports him. Fact: The journalist faces no charges with regards to throwing shoes at Bush. He faces charges with "Assaulting the Prime Minister."