Usually rude protesters who disrupt events by throwing objects at state leaders don't earn media celebrations, but instead of being embarrassed by their Iraqi media colleague who, as he spewed venomous hatreds, dangerously threw his shoes at President Bush on Sunday in Baghdad, ABC and CBS on Monday night championed his popularity amongst Iraqis. ABC put “Folk Hero?” on screen as fill-in anchor Elizabeth Vargas trumpeted how Muntathar al-Zaidi has “become an instant celebrity to many of his countrymen” while CBS anchor Katie Couric hailed how “many Iraqis are calling him a hero” before reporter Elizabeth Palmer snidely concluded: “Al-Zaidi should do jail time, said the Iraqi bloggers, because he missed.”
From London, ABC's Jim Sciutto maintained: “Shoes have become a new symbol of anti-Americanism in the Arab world. And the Iraqi reporter who threw them, Muntathar al-Zaidi, a folk hero.” Sciutto touted how “more than 100 lawyers volunteered to defend him. It was a heroic way to say goodbye to Bush, said one Iraqi.” Though Sciutto at least noted how “some Iraqis are embarrassed,” he countered: “Still, in news coverage, on new fan Web sites, in Arabic text messages, the overwhelming sentiment: giddy satisfaction.”
CBS Palmer, also from afar in London, asserted “al-Zaidi's become an instant hero. Today, thousands demonstrated for his release.”
ABC's World News, as transcribed by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth:
ELIZABETH VARGAS: In the meantime, the man who threw his shoes at the President is in jail now facing charges of insulting a foreign leader. He could be sentenced to two years if he's convicted. And, although President Bush has made light of the incident, his attacker has become an instant celebrity to many of his countrymen. Here's our senior foreign correspondent, Jim Sciutto.
JIM SCIUTTO: One day later, shoes have become a new symbol of anti-Americanism in the Arab world. And the Iraqi reporter who threw them, Muntathar al-Zaidi, a folk hero. In Iraq today, thousands marched in support of his release, and more than 100 lawyers volunteered to defend him. It was a heroic way to say goodbye to Bush, said one Iraqi. Hitting someone with a shoe is a severe insult in the Arab world, suggesting the person is as low as dirt. It's how some Iraqis defiled Saddam Hussein's statue the day Baghdad fell in 2003. It's so insulting, in fact, that some Iraqis are embarrassed. "We Arabs are known for our hospitality," this man said. "Bush was a guest, and guests should be respected." Still, in news coverage, on new fan Web sites, in Arabic text messages, the overwhelming sentiment, giddy satisfaction. A Saudi man offered $10 million for the shoes.
JIHAD AL KHAZEN, AL HAYAT NEWSPAPER: He's the most popular person in the Arab world today. This is his 15 minutes of fame.
SCIUTTO: Al-Zaidi's act of defiance tapped into wider resentment in the Muslim world against the Iraq occupation, the war on terror, and the U.S. President they blame for it all. Tonight, al-Zaidi's brother put it this way: "Americans have been disrespecting and killing Iraqis for five years," he said. "It's time we paid them back." The shoe thrower himself hasn't lost any relatives, though his family says he was kidnapped once by militants. His cameraman said that just before he got up he handed him this note saying, "It's glorious to die a martyr." He survived, of course, and his story may live on as well. Jim Sciutto, ABC News, London.
CBS Evening News:
KATIE COURIC: President Bush is back at the White House tonight after visiting Iraq and Afghanistan over the weekend. A memorable trip, to say the least. In an image seen over and over on TV and the Internet, Mr. Bush had to duck twice during a Baghdad news conference when an Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at him. That reporter is behind bars tonight, but many Iraqis are calling him a hero. From Baghdad, here's Elizabeth Palmer.
ELIZABETH PALMER: Deep in Baghdad's Green Zone, the last thing President Bush expected was an air assault. The shoe thrower shouting "this is your good-bye kiss, you dog!" The President shrugged it off.
PRESIDENT BUSH: If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe that he threw.
PALMER: But in the Arab world, Muntathar al-Zaidi, who was quickly dragged away by Iraqi security guards, is huge news. In the Middle East, there's no bigger insult than hitting someone with a shoe, a dirty object worn on the lowest part of the body. By showing the kind of contempt formerly reserved for Saddam Hussein to President Bush, al-Zaidi's become an instant hero. Today, thousands demonstrated for his release.
Muntathar al-Zaidi is a local journalist for Iraqi television. He'd been arrested before, in error by American forces. That time he was let go. This time his family's been told he faces years in jail. "May God protect him" prays his sister while his nephew threatens retaliation against his jailers. There was more support on a Baghdad call-in show from Iraqis furious with President Bush in what they see as a botched U.S. occupation. On the Internet, shoe humor went viral. Al-Zaidi should do jail time, said the Iraqi bloggers, because he missed. Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News, London.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
This should be known as
December 15, 2008 - 22:41 ET by katainkentThe Reverse 'Joe the Plumber' Effect.
"part of what I'm hoping to introduce as the next president is a new ethic of [government enforced] responsibility" - B. Obama
That's exactly right
December 15, 2008 - 23:12 ET by the strugglerThat's exactly right kata.They're gonna MAKE this guy a hero.They're gonna MAKE this story.Would they think it was heroic if someone threw a shoe at their daughter during her wedding?
He's a folk hero for
December 15, 2008 - 22:42 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveHe's a folk hero for basically saying that he preferred to remain under the tyranny, rape and murder of Saddam than to have a decent shot at freedom? What strange times we live in.
If he had thrown the shoes at Saddam (or any other Middle East dictator), he'd be dead.
That Stockholm Syndrome is pretty scary stuff.
If I recall correctly, didn't the statue of Saddam get savagely beaten by Iraqis weilding their own shoes?
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
How low the American media has sunk
December 15, 2008 - 22:51 ET by DaMavImagine that they are glorifying a physical attack on the President of our country by a foreign national. They are filth.
Filth? They are the enemy.
December 15, 2008 - 23:00 ET by NL207Filth? They are the enemy.
You said it for me, NL....ENEMY INDEED!!!!
December 15, 2008 - 23:08 ET by Cape ConservativeA PROUD member of the Oogedy Boogedy branch of the GOP!
24 Hours
December 15, 2008 - 23:04 ET by oilcanAnd counting. I bet the press will keep this story going for at least another 48 to 72 hours so they can drown out all the Blagobuzz.
I wonder if the MSM thinks all those anti-American [foreign and domestic, take your pick] folks who burn our flag or our president in effigy folk heros?
Did any MSM raise the point that Obama only took four questions at his energy cabinet presser today? And only one question focused on the Blagogate and Obama's not so quick release of his investigation?
Or, did any of them catch on to the fact that Obama stated "there was no inappropriate contact by my office" and how it contradicts his statement from last week when he said he had NO contact?
The catch word is "inapropriate" which I take to mean as there was contact, but just no inapropriate. Somehow, I feel like Obama lied last week, but oh well, let's give him a pass shall we, we got shoe soles to cover!
I felt bad when I heard Brit Hume laugh tonight
December 15, 2008 - 23:12 ET by Cape Conservativeabout the fact this had been shown so many times and then went on to show it and discuss it more. He even stated that he was saddened that this would overshadow the agreement signing - yet they showed it again and again.
'twill be interesting to see how long Obama's honeymoon last - the TOTAL absence of his Chicago connections coverage is appalling!
A PROUD member of the Oogedy Boogedy branch of the GOP!
I commented elsewhere that
December 15, 2008 - 23:19 ET by motherbeltI commented elsewhere that I saw a clip online of a FoxNews report on the incident, and the video that they were showing was just a loop of the guy throwing the shoe and Bush ducking over and over again, the entire time that the reporter was reading the copy on the story.
Disgraceful.
So what?
December 15, 2008 - 23:04 ET by Agrarian-DecentralistNewsBusters commentators would have a lot less to write about if they would stopped assuming that reporters are automatically exhibiting liberal bias when they report facts that conservatives don't like.
So what were the reporters in question supposed to do? Pretend that a substantial number of people in the Middle East don't have problems with Bush? That they don't take a certain satisfaction in the shoe-thrower's act? Facts are facts, whether or not they throw a bit of cold water on conservatives' preferred image of Bush the selfless democratic liberator who merits the undying gratitude of the Iraqi people.
You asked, "What are the
December 15, 2008 - 23:15 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveYou asked, "What are the reporters supposed to do?"
Report the FACTS. You're right, facts are facts. But the media have gone beyond reporting the facts and are now making this man a "folk hero." Why? Because it fits their preconceived notions that the Iraq War was a mistake and is a failure. The only news out of Iraq the MSM has cared to report about is all the BAD news.
Haven't you noticed there has been virtually no news from Iraq since the surge began to take effect...until this reporter threw his shoes. And there has been loads of GREAT news to be reported out of Iraq during the past year or so.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
Fact is.......
December 15, 2008 - 23:49 ET by connman..............if not for the shoechucker, MSM wouldn't have even reported the POTUS visit to Iraq.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
-Aristotle
Right, AD, wait till one of your precious, disgruntled Arabs...
December 16, 2008 - 02:40 ET by R D Helm...throws a shoe at PEBO.
LOL-Bet you lefties pee in your pants over it, too.
-Dave
Will work for beer.
MSM says:
December 15, 2008 - 23:08 ET by ghost of Mary Jo Kopechne"We hate you (conservatives), your President, and everything you stand for. BUT please watch our broadcasts, read our newspapers, magazines, and support our sponsers."
F*** you!
Support Our Troops. God bless the military.
http://adoptaplatoon.org/new/index.htm
Keep cancelling those subscriptions, conservatives!
December 15, 2008 - 23:15 ET by Cape ConservativeIt feels SOOOO good when you do!
And why does it NOT surprise me to read that a senior Time Mag exec is leaving to be Joe Biden's advisor???? During the entire campaign, the magazine NEVER ONCE published a positive story on any other candidate than 'the one'!!!!
A PROUD member of the Oogedy Boogedy branch of the GOP!
And Blago still has an 8% approval rating
December 15, 2008 - 23:12 ET by jondelwicheYet, the media isnt painting him as a folk hero with a cadre of
supporters.
Why is there "shock" that rude people have supporters?
And why does the media only highlight those that lash out at Republicans? Somehow Pelosi's opponent (Sheehan) was never the media darling she was at the Bush ranch.
Bias Bias Bias
Sheehan was USED, plain and simple!
December 15, 2008 - 23:18 ET by Cape ConservativeI hope she's happy - she dishonored her son's life and service to our country and she will have to live with that for the rest of her life. She deserves nothing but scorn for so doing!
A PROUD member of the Oogedy Boogedy branch of the GOP!
I agree
December 15, 2008 - 23:57 ET by jondelwicheShe was used to bash Bush, but she couldnt get a speck
of media coverage in her House race against Pelosi this
fall.
Yet, her media treatment easily highlights the massive MSM bias.
Cape Conservative, on a
December 16, 2008 - 11:06 ET by ConservativeRexCape Conservative, on a related note. There is a real nice memorial in Ft. Hood, Texas with Casey Sheehans name, and all the rest of the brave soldiers of the 2-5 of the 1st Cav. that died in that ambush on 4 April 2004.
That was my sons company at the time.
Actually it is fitting
December 15, 2008 - 23:16 ET by MidAmericaActually it is fitting that a member of the media committed this assault because it emphasizes the warped view that the media has of itself that their job is to express opinion and shape opinion not report news. It used to be a mark of non-professionalism for the reporter to interject himself into the story. Now, our so-called journalists want to be celebrities.
THAT is an excellent
December 15, 2008 - 23:17 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveTHAT is an excellent point. Well said.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
Thank you
December 15, 2008 - 23:29 ET by VonuMaybe I missed this elsewhere, but your post is the first I read that calls this an assault, which it is, of course. The President of the United States of America was assaulted twice. You'd think that would make the news. The world is collapsing. buy gold - if you can.
Freedom is a vital component of human effectiveness and fulfillment.
Oh indeed it was an
December 16, 2008 - 00:00 ET by MidAmericaOh indeed it was an assault. The mistake the media is making here is that obama by his mere presence will bring back the dignity and respect for the office of President of the United States. The media will try. Obama will be the first President to have nearly all the media outlets as unofficial Press Secretaries. But obama cannot please both US interests and foreigners interests. It is only a matter of time when he will have to make a stand and then he will become the recipient of the low behavior that the media has excused when it was directed at George Bush.
imagine obama getting a shoe thrown at him ...
December 15, 2008 - 23:21 ET by pmohbuckthe media ought to put the shoe on the other foot (pun intended). unless obama convinces our nation to become a muslim state, the same people ABC gleefully reports as "celebritizing" the shoe-flinger will applaud humiliating obama as well. unfortunately, elizabeth viagra is too stupid to realize that the middle-east crazies hate her as much as bush ... but she's a mere fill-in anchor and doesn't warrant as much attention.
what would obama do? i'll bet he'd be slow on the draw, miss the opportunity to duck and would get thwacked ... moments later cruise missiles would be launched at some thatch-huts located in random mid-eastern villages. of course, if lucky enough, obama would duck and the ever-present biden mouth would be an ample target ... easy pickin's... we can only wish.
For the MSM this is a MUCH
December 15, 2008 - 23:27 ET by GregEFor the MSM this is a MUCH bigger and more important story than the success of the surge.
Amazing.
CNN coverage was the worst
December 15, 2008 - 23:34 ET by afuelwith the shoe toss incident today. America hating BDS reporter M. Ware was reporting from Iraq, with looping video and Ware happily bashing Bush. He coincidently left out the fact that this Iraqi shoe thrower was from a Sadr City paper controlled by Sadr and company. No agenda there. Maybe he will get a year of Iraqi justice....
No Representation in NorCal
MSDNC wasn't too far behind
December 15, 2008 - 23:47 ET by kevcadMSDNC wasn't too far behind CNN. They are both agog with perverted glee.
I must say that I get extremely angry when during a segment, the "b-roll" of this, or any event, gets repeated again and again. Enough already!
Start each day with a smile, then get it over with. - W.C. Fields
The media is a pack of traitors!
December 15, 2008 - 23:46 ET by needleBy exulting in people vilifying Bush and doing everything possible to destroy his authority the media is actively diminishing and ultimately destroying our country.
And they are achieving results.
The media is a pack of traitors! They are working for the benefit of tyrannies and terrorists.
And, of course, the media as part of it mission has succeeded in training quite a large number of “Americans” to agree with them, such as Agrarian-Decentralist above. When America is no longer a credible deterrent to tyranny and terrorism, are people like Agrarian-Decentralist really going to like and approve of the chaos they helped to bring upon the world?
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.
Stop being so completely wrong!
December 15, 2008 - 23:55 ET by respectfulconservativeYou guys are missing the elephant in the room:
THE VAST MAJORITY OF IRAQIS LOVE THE SHOE THROWER AND APPROVE OF HIS ACTIONS. REPORTERS COULD FIND HARDLY ANYONE WHO DISAPROVED.
Do you all want reporters to lie and claim Iraqis love President Bush and hate the shoe thrower? It sounds like you do. That is not conservative. That is just plain dishonest.
There's an elephant in your
December 16, 2008 - 00:03 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveThere's an elephant in your statement: "REPORTERS COULD FIND HARDLY ANYONE WHO DISAPROVED." (sic)
Keep in mind the media reports what it wants us to hear...so if they are looking for people to back up their view, they will find them and trumpet their "findings" whilst ignoring all detractors.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
Wrong....
December 16, 2008 - 00:09 ET by connmanthe elephant in the room is the fact that a journalist pulled this off and the MSM refuse to acknowledge that it could never of happened without US Liberation of Iraq!
"THE VAST MAJORITY OF IRAQIS LOVE THE SHOE THROWER AND APPROVE OF HIS ACTIONS".
Got a link respectful con?
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
-Aristotle
Yeah, yeah, yeah....
December 16, 2008 - 02:29 ET by JerryYeah, yeah, yeah.... reporters couldn't find any information on Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, or Jeremiah Wright either. Does that mean they didn't exist? They couldn't find anyone who liked Bush either, yet he won 2 elections. For a "conservative", you certainly support the liberal perspective on most matters.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
Respectfulconservative, here is dishonest:
December 16, 2008 - 09:34 ET by needleThe Washington Post reported Dec 15:
Iraqis demonstrated in the streets Monday [photo supplied] demanding the release of the journalist who hurled two shoes at President Bush during a press conference on Sunday, as Arabs across the Middle East hailed Bush's assailant as a hero who reflected their anger at American policies.
It is not until the 9th paragraph that the Washington Post reports that the only ones protesting in support of al-Zaidi are the followers of anti-American Iranian-backed extremist Muqtada Al-Sadr who holds a minority of influence in the Iraqi Congress. The Sadrist block holds only 30 seats in the 275 member Parliament.
The rest of the WaPo's report talks about the response in foreign anti-American regimes and a few individuals on the street in Iraq. In other words, typical anti-American WaPo propaganda.
The above is adapted from Gateway Pundit; RTWT here
BTW, I contend most disrespectful behavior towards Bush, his administration, and America in general is the result of an eight year vilification campaign by the Democratic Party and its media. I wonder how much they (and you?) are going to enjoy the long term affects of it.
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.
What WILL...
December 15, 2008 - 23:57 ET by MightyMouth..Saturday Night Live have left for material after Bush is gone? They can't make fun of the Messiah! Of course Biden will be there to play Obama's Dan Quayle...so all is not lost!
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
Uncalled For
December 16, 2008 - 00:19 ET by Doodles93This is sickening. Arabs applaud this type of thing and Americans who are laughing at this are agreeing with them and supporting their views on how the President should be treated.
George Bush saved them from Saddam Hussien unlike previous presidents who could've done it ages ago (like Bill Clinton for example) and this is how they thank him?
hmmm.... suppose there
December 16, 2008 - 00:24 ET by MidAmericahmmm.... suppose there was a video of a prisoner at Abu Ghraib having shoes thrown at him. I wonder if this would be a cause for mirth by our 'journalists' and would our soldiers be refered to as heroes for doing it.
Well now...CNN of course is
December 16, 2008 - 00:36 ET by bigtimerWell now...CNN of course is with the other networks...I just got done listening to 360 Cooper...and good old Mark Halperin just expressed his views...they were so lovely let me tell ya...I'll naturally be paraphrasing here...but it went something like this "I think the Prez should have been more sensitive to what the man's issues were"...blah blah blah...
Isn't this sweet...if this happened to The Chosen One...on my goodness, we would never hear the end of it...
I can't take this for four years...just do not see how.
Should have been more SENSITIVE!!!!
These ungrateful, brain-dead, agenda-driven enemies within...what I would love to do with them...and of course we had the sit and spin for O/Blago-gate scandal....
The leftist lovefest continues....
mb....store the duct-tape...we are going to need to go on the buddy plan to help each other with the cost....that is if we can take it.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Hero's
December 16, 2008 - 02:14 ET by ScrapironThe Lame stream Media's pick of hero's could explain why they are in the death throes. I think I hear them drawing their last breaths, but it could be the sound of them pulling their head out of the democrats butt so they can catch the next bus to the unemployment office.
Now that we know Hussein O is a bold face liar they should be asking him, why. Oh, never mind.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
In all honesty most of the
December 16, 2008 - 02:20 ET by ConservativeRexIn all honesty most of the Iraqi people don't have a clue as to what freedom means to them or their country.
What the American press misses, is the fact that this stunt could not, would not, have been tried against Saddam or anyone else for that matter. That this reporter did not end up ventilated is due to the restraint of President Bush and nothing more.
Apparently, President Bush gave the secret sign to the secret service to not plug this fella full of holes.
That the shoe thrower had the living crap beat out of him before the secret service got to him is a testament to how many of the local reporters disapproved of what this butthead did.
Now to watch American media treat this as a good thing should be further proof that the media and any who make excuses for them are indeed the enemy of Conservatives.
I have no issues with the media and their syncophants being my enemy. In their thinking, I have always been their enemy.
Now the question is, when does the housecleaning begin? How much more are we as Conservative willing to put up with? It's only our country and our way of life at stake.
I'll tell you something...I
December 16, 2008 - 02:20 ET by bigtimerI'll tell you something...I can't help it...I don't think I have ever seen anything be replayed so much as the shoes being thrown at our President...nothing like the repeats on all networks have I ever seen back to back...and these people are reporting this with such relish.
I am sickened...
We may have a gal who has nothing but her name coming into the Senate, along with a washed up, sick in the head comedian...Matthews may not be far behind... and by the way, a bought off Illinois Senator, plus a so-called Prez who is not a legal citizen of the USA.
I just shake my head...I hope to heck people wake-up before it it too late, but I fear it is.
I really feel like I am starting to see the Left Behind Series come to a theater near you.
For any of those here who read them, you will know what I mean...I think.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
These People Make Me Wanna Puke!!!
December 16, 2008 - 03:01 ET by Asian ConHey guys,
I haven't posted in a while. It could be due to PED (post election depression). I think, however, it's more likely PEA (post election apathy). You know, it disgusts me to even refer to the members of the MSM as Americans! As far as I'm concerned, when you provide aid and comfort to the enemy (NYT) or root against the national interests of your own country, you forfeit any right to call yourself a patriot! It's one thing to disagree with a person over his decisions or his ideaology but, when OUR president gets attacked and insulted on foreign soil and you actively cheer the culprits, you are no longer an objective bystander reporting the news. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are a propaganda peddling tool for our enemies and should be treated as such. Send them to GITMO, line 'em up against the wall and take them out St. Valentines style. Talk to y'all later.
"For The First Time In My Life, I Am No Longer Proud Of My Country Because It Seems Like, Socialism Has Made A Comeback"
Another Weapon
December 16, 2008 - 11:49 ET by LynnI am stunned at the glee that is coming out of this incident.
This fool could have thrown knives at President Bush. Or pulled a small gun out of his pockets. Everyone was caught off guard. That is how these assassinations happen.
What is so funny? I was heartbroken to see my president humiliated this way.
Journalism's narcissism, at its worst
December 16, 2008 - 12:41 ET by Mary Louise TurnerThe shameful cheerleading by the MSM in response to the ugly shoe-throwing incident proves the extreme narcissism of today's journalistic profession. Just because one idiot reporter threw his shoes at a President the MSM hates does not make him a hero, except in the eyes of reporters with BDS.