By: Pat White
By now you have had numerous discussions about the infamous (or famous) hurling shoe – the shoe that was thrown at the President. I want to know if you think its ok to laugh at the incident. A shoe being hurled in mid air is just hilarious to me (if no one gets hurt in the process of course.)
However, its seems some take offense to people having a good laugh at the matter. Take away the President from the equation for a minute, would you laugh then? However, in all honesty the President being the target, combined with him ducking adds to the craziness of this picture.
I guess it all depends on how you feel about the person on the receiving end. Some Hispanics who were scowling at the fact that people were laughing at the incident, would probably do the same if it were Castro instead of Bush on the receiving end. If it were done to Obama for instance, it would probably be seen as a hate crime. There are many facets to this incident – some humorous and some not so humorous.
Anyway, to Bush’s credit he made light of the situation, which is even more reason why its ok to chuckle or have a good hearty laugh about it. The second part of the story is the security issue. From what I understand about secret service men, their main purpose is to protect the president and keep him out of harm’s way. If there is an incident, their initial response is to cover the president (or whomever they are protecting) and remove him from the harmful environment. There was a secret service man that approached the president, but he brushed him off with an “I’m ok” gesture. Its not practical to have secret service men in every row of every audience, especially at a news conference. They would more likely be close to him to cover him and remove him from any potential harm.
Last but not least, is the message behind the hurling shoe, which is not so funny at all. This was a representation of how many Iraqis feel about Bush and his Administration. They hold him in very low regard. They have little or no respect for him and their feelings border on loathing. The Journalist is now seen as a hero by many in that country. What is sad is the president’s comments, “I don’t know what his beef is.” If you think the Governor of Illinois suffer from narcissism, take another look. It seems he feels he has done nothing, and can’t do any, wrong.
Some might take offense to people laughing at this incident, but I say, better we laugh about this, than be sad or shocked about something that could have been worse.
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Pat White
Community Blog: Pat’s Pet Peeves Daily Blog. Sometimes Controversial – Sometimes Humorous – Always Thought Provoking.
