The Shoe Heard 'Round The World

I almost couldn't believe my eyes when the story of an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at our president hit the wires yesterday.

Perhaps inevitably, TPM reports that Muntadhar al-Zeidi is now so popular in Iraq that crowds are demonstrating for his release from custody, as presumably they too would like to throw things at George Bush. While I struggle to think of a context in which throwing your shoe at someone isn't rude, it is a mark of particular disrespect in Arab societies. Presumably, also, this raises questions about Presidential security, and musing on the potential convergence between the experience of boarding an airplane and interviewing the President is diverting.

There is a certain irony to the fact that, in his final weeks in office, President Bush has finally managed to find a way to unite much of the Middle East around a common cause.

*UPDATE* 17 December 2008
The NYT Opinion Page has stolen my headline! Durr!