Emerging Media Comparison: Protester Throws Shoe at Hillary Clinton

April 11th, 2014 8:18 AM

Remember when President Bush had a show thrown at him by a "journalist" in the Middle East? The media covered that as "more bad news for Bush" and the unpopularity of the war on terrorism. CBS even compared Bush to Saddam Hussein.

On Thursday in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton had a shoe thrown at her by a protester, which she dodged. We'll be working today on how this may be ignored, or portrayed as another Poor, Brave Hillary moment. The assailant in the video is a female, so they won't cry sexism. (See video below).

Among the media accolades for the shoe-tosser:

"Sock and awe. How the Iraqi shoe-thrower is now being hailed as a hero and drawing thousands of supporters....It's being referred to as the 'toss heard around the world.' In fact, many Iraqis are showering accolades on the journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush."  -- CBS's Harry Smith on The Early Show, December 16, 2008.

"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, [Muntathar] al-Zaidi's become an instant hero....Al-Zaidi should do jail time, said the Iraqi bloggers - because he missed." -- CBS's Elizabeth Palmer on the December 15, 2008 Evening News.