Like daddy before him, Bush exits in comedic style
Al’s
Loupe Read Spanish Version
Like
daddy before him, Bush exits in comedic style
By
Alvaro F. Fernandez
alfernandez@the-beach.net
President
George W. Bush may have missed his calling. He may have made a good
boxer or even a dodge ball player. As president, well, let’s just
say most of the country can’t wait until January 20th.
The
president showed agility and a sense of humor when he dodged two
shoes thrown at him by an Iraqi journalist during a press
conferencing while visiting this week the country he invaded in
search of nonexistent weapons of mass destruction. The Iraqi
television journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, stood up and shouted, “This
is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” while hurling a
first shoe at Bush, which narrowly missed him. A smile of surprise on
his face, Bush then waved off a second shoe hurled at him by
al-Zaidi. “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed
in Iraq,” yelled al-Zaidi before being tackled.
Later
on during the press conference, Bush joked about the incident by
telling reporters, “If you want the facts, it’s a size 10 shoe
that he threw.” Showing someone the soles of your shoes and calling
him or her a dog is a sign of contempt in Arab culture. Bush took the
insults in stride.
Thinking
back over George W’s eight years, I came to realize late at night
as I wrote this piece, that amazingly, Bush’s quick reaction when
avoiding the shoe smacking him in the noggin may have been what has
most impressed me about our president during his stay in the White
House.
Heck,
we should tip our hats to the Bushies. They sure have a way of
exiting the presidency, I suppose… Remember President Daddy Bush
puking on the Japanese Prime Minister in 1992? That was the last time
I laughed so hard at any politician — until George W’s dodging
incident. And Daddy Bush had better aim than the Iraqi journalist.
