Painless Free Speech

President George W. Bush addresses U.S.military and diplomatic personnel Sunday, Dec, 14, 2008, at the Al Faw Palace-Camp Victory in Baghdad, following his meetings with Iraqi leaders and the signing of strategic and security agreements. White House photo by Eric Draper

Cross posted at The Next Right

As Tim Blair points out in his Daily Telegraph Blog, the Iraqi shoe thrower was able to do what he did and live to tell about it precisely because President George Bush and the U.S. military took out the guy who the shoe thrower never dared to breathe a word against--let alone throw a shoe at.

"Toby Harnden salutes serene shoe-avoidance:

"'Barack Obama may be the new Mr Cool on the block but you have to give President George W. Bush his due for a supremely self-composed and dignified reaction to the Baghdad shoe thrower.
"Not only did he duck two fast-moving and pretty well aimed pieces of footwear but he discreetly waved away his lead Secret Service agent, who was ready to bundle him out of the room.'

"You’d imagine some Secret Service agents might themselves be “bundled out of the room” for letting journalist Muthathar al-Zaidi get off two unobstructed shoe-shots at the President. Incidentally, Iraqi shoes rarely flew during previous years:

'Ask yourself this question: How would al-Zaidi have fared if he’d hurled a pair of shoes at Saddam?'

"That question earlier occurred to Caroline Overington:

"'Would an Iraqi journalist have ever thrown a shoe at Saddam Hussein, and if so, would he have ever again needed two shoes?'"