State Dept. spokesman: In 50 years, no one will remember the shoe-hurling Iraqi journalist.
State Dept. spokesman: In 50 years, no one will remember the shoe-hurling Iraqi journalist.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack politely scolded the media for reporting on the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush. “You guys make decisions about what you cover,” he said, claiming that in 50 years, history is not likely to recall the shoe-throwing incident:
McCORMACK: Well, look, you guys make decisions about what you cover. I suspect – just a guess – that three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years from now that the fact of the President making that visit under those circumstances will probably overshadow any memory of this particular gentleman and what he did.
Q: That’s a pretty – that’s a pretty interesting prediction.
McCORMACK: Come back to me in 50 years; we can talk about it.
Q: Would you care to bet? (Laughter.)
McCORMACK: Try and collect on it 50 years from now. (Laughter.)
Watch it (beginning at the 8:30 mark):
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In the meantime, lets make the most of it!
December 18th, 2008 at 4:13 pmThis will be told and retold for hundreds of years as one of the defining moments of Iraqi history. This idiot won’t remember his own name in fifty, even if he’s still around.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:16 pmWanna bet?
December 18th, 2008 at 4:17 pmBush’s legacy will withstand the aging of time. Why even the Whack-A-Bush game will still be selling 100 years from now. It’s as good a game as Trouble, the Pop-0-Matic game by Koner.
I forsee statues of al-Zaidi going up all over the Arab world and plazas being named for him. The man is a hero in the Muslim world, and has many in the west(myself included) applauding his action.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:20 pmSorta like when Khrushchev pounded his shoe on the table at the United Nations, some images transcend time….
December 18th, 2008 at 4:21 pmMore remote in time is this little speech by Neville Chamberlain in 1938:
“My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:26 pmI believe it is peace for our time…
Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.”
State Dept. spokesman: In 50 years, no one will remember the shoe-hurling Iraqi journalist.»
– - Uh huh. And 30 years from now we’ll all have a great opinion of Bush. These people insist on living in the future since the reality is they’re so utterly incompetent in the present.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:28 pmThere is an interesting contradiction when the right-wing starts talking about Bush’s legacy and what will be remembered 50 years from now. First, they want to claim that the universities are all socialists (especially the East Coast IV league ones) and controlled by the “liberal elite”. Well, if that is the case, who do you think will write the history books? His legacy is what we make it.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pmEven if it won’t be spoken of in 10, or even 5, years – the fact that the journalist is said to have been beaten up multiple times and apparently in peril of being charged with an assasination attempt is relevant now and deserving of reporting.
If the reporter was just asked to leave and he left, then I might agree with the State Dept. But if the USA’s handpicked democracy is going wacko in prosecuting this, it **IS** and **WILL BE** big news.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pmThe Repubs certainly have been repeating these counterintuitive, Bizarro World memes endlessly. This must be what they mean by “rethinking conservatism”–declare your failures successes, in preparation for repeating your mistakes all over again someday.
Condi says she’s tickled pink they invaded Iraq. GWB is patting himself on the back about ditto. Cheney says GWB will be beloved in 30 years. We’ve all heard this stuff, our jaws dropping.
Everywhere you look, some top Republican reshaping reality into the most distorted forms–always entirely self-serving. The right has duly considered the matter…and decided they were right about everything all along. This is why we call them wingnuts.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:38 pmPerhaps they will not remember the journalist. But it would not surprise me if it became a metaphor for disrespect of the Bush’s of the world.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:39 pmI like how he starts jumping up in orders of magnitude and just keeps going: 3,4,5,10,20,30,40,50… The point is eventually people will forget it. Maybe 500 years, 600, 700, 800, OK a thousand years. 2000, 3000, 4000…
December 18th, 2008 at 4:42 pm50 years from now, historians will be examining this 8 year nightmare in our history and asking the question that many of us have been asking: What the F**K were you thinking?!!
December 18th, 2008 at 4:46 pmWhat is this “don’t sweat the small stuff” attitude? I might be able to go along with it if they took care of the “big stuff”, but they never have.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:49 pmIf the shoe fits, throw it!
December 18th, 2008 at 4:55 pmIf we can still remember Kruschev banging the desk with his shoe at the UN 48 years ago, Bush’s dodge of a size 10 has a chance too. However, if the shoe incident is not remembered, history will always regard Bush 43 as the biggest heel in U.S. history..
December 18th, 2008 at 4:57 pm50 years from now the truth will be known about their Pearl Harbor event.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:58 pmShoe throwing should be adopted by “Pop” culture . Americans should embrace shoe throwing and never attend a political event without 2 or 3 as props for self expression in connection with political figures !
December 18th, 2008 at 5:00 pmI propose a million march on Washington and throw their shoes en masse over the fence at the white house and cover the entire lawn deep in old shoes .
Tomatoes seem to have gone out of fashion !
December 18th, 2008 at 5:01 pmI may not be around in 50 years to tell the tale (and bring up the YouTube), but my sons will certainly be around — and they will carry on for us.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:02 pmThe Borgen Project has informative statistics on addressing global poverty.
$30 billion ends world hunger
$550 billion is the US Defense budget
This organization has the ability, resources, and policy-makers to suppress the threat of global poverty by enacting legislation here in the US, which is tied to the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. Please support organizations such as The Borgen Project so that we may rid the world of poverty.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:03 pmMcCORMACK: I suspect – just a guess – that three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years from now that the fact of the President making that visit under those circumstances will probably overshadow any memory of this particular gentleman and what he did.
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Wrong. If anybody remembers this particular visit by Bush at all, it will only be BECAUSE of the shoe-throwing incident.
Much in the way that the only reason anybody remembers Super Bowl XXXVIII is because of Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction”. Only true football nuts (or Bostonians) could tell you who won that game, let alone which teams played.
Yes, it’s true that Bush was there regarding a timetable for withdrawal. Had that been any other president, people in both countries would be rejoicing, and it would be prominently detailed in history books for generations — like Appomattox. But this guy’s credibility is so shot, nobody pays much attention anymore.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:03 pmfreeman Says
December 18th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Americans should embrace shoe throwing and never attend a political event without 2 or 3 as props for self expression in connection with political figures!
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Oh, great — now we’ll get “shoe-screened” and frisked in addition to having to go through the metal detector at political events!
December 18th, 2008 at 5:04 pmNo worries ,stick to sandals ,they give you a bohemian aire and are easy to discard in an emergency.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:07 pmCondi rice’s closet is an arsenal of dissent .
December 18th, 2008 at 5:09 pmOh, great — now we’ll get “shoe-screened” and frisked in addition to having to go through the metal detector at political events!
LOL I can see it now. A big pile of shoes at the entrance of a stadium.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:15 pm50 years from now, hmmm. I wonder who will live to daringly portray a so-called reversal of fortunes for an undeniably corrupt administration — Bush’s parole officer?
December 18th, 2008 at 5:17 pm50 years from now, everybody will forget about Bush. Heck, I even threw out a funny “Bush Countdown” calendar because I refuse to be reminded of this cretin in any way. Satan cannot be president under the constitution, so Satan was not my president these last eight years.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:22 pmI suspect the Iraqi people will remember Bush and the journalist who threw his shoes for a thousand years.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:26 pmOnly slightly OT, but: I am so sick of this right-wing meme to dodge having to confront their obvious failures by “predicting” what history is going to make of it.
You have failed. Unless you fix it, it will be considered a failure.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:26 pmSo, let me get this straight. No incident should be covered by the news media unless they’re pretty sure it will still be remembered in 50 years? That would certainly cut down on paper costs. “No newspaper today? What? Nothing happened that anyone will remember? Rats. I wanted the funnies.”
December 18th, 2008 at 5:27 pmShoes are going to be one of the icons of Boy George’s reign. He will be haunted by shoes the rest of his life.
Yesterday in traffic I waved the sole of my show at a guy driving with a W04 sticker on his bumper. From his reaction he obviously knew immediately what I was saying. Any other gesture would have left him wondering, “Did I cut that car off? Did I forget to signal? What is it?” But he knew in a New York minute.
I like this shoe thing.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:44 pmEverything will be remembered.
These undeniable fools act as if the world will be nuked and for some reason chimpy will come up a hero.
chimpy will be blamed for all hell that he caused for centuries to come.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:45 pmAre the Yankees going to offer the shoe thrower a minor league contract? He has potential.
Seriously, I’d like to see him get a light sentence and I wish Bush would step up for him. Both are unlikely.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:46 pmI may not live 50 years but, in the years I have left I’m going to carry an old shoe/sole to display in place of raising my middle finger.
And I too sincerely hope that this guy’s life is not ruined due to a momentary lapse of decorum.
December 18th, 2008 at 5:51 pmThat’s the State Dept.s dream. Now to facts as pictures of Saddam’s statue being brought down and Iraqis hitting the heel of their shoes to show their hate. Next page George W. Bush having two shoes tossed at him with the hate the Iraq people feel for him. Now the US History books might spread the lies but the World will tell the truth. Right now the Republicans are wishing that the 8 years of horror and crimes will go away while putting the blame on Bill Clinton and now Obama.
December 18th, 2008 at 6:19 pmSo the standard for reporting is now what will be remembered in 50 years? People will remember the visit, but the shoe throwing incident will be hazy. Riiiiight.
Remember Squeeky Fromm?
December 18th, 2008 at 7:40 pmSeanny boy, I’m gonna pass those pictures to my grandchildren, when I tell the the tale of the worst president the country ever knew.
December 18th, 2008 at 8:25 pm… Shoe-Fly , Don’t Bother Me …
December 18th, 2008 at 9:14 pmThose shoes should have their own monument in about 15-20 years time when Bush’s policies are run through the historical wringer as complete horse crap.
I believe it would be fitting to have a work detail with prisoners, some from the Bush administration, helping lay such a foundation for this monument.
December 18th, 2008 at 11:30 pmMeanwhile in the rest of the World, Muntazer Al-Zaidi is percieved as a hero!!!!!
December 19th, 2008 at 3:45 amI don’t think so. Throwing shoes will be immortalized as the ultimate diss. Lots and lots of permutations on this theme will become a lasting icon, similar to the smiley face, but with only opposite and disgust as the theme.
December 19th, 2008 at 10:16 am