As the great British super-spy, Austin Powers, once said, “Who throws a shoe? Honestly!”
Apparently, a potential future member of the Iraqi parliament, that’s who.
Does the name Muntadhar al-Zaidi ring a bell? He was the Iraqi journalist who threw not one, but two shoes at President George W. Bush during a 2008 press conference in Iraq.
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President Bush dodged the flying loafers while Zaidi yelled out, “This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”
He forgot to say thank you for Bush’s help in ridding Iraq of the murderous Saddam Hussein family, but maybe he sent a follow-up card later.
The shoes had barely left Zaidi’s hand before he was tackled by security guards. He was sentenced to three years in jail, but served only nine months. He became a celebrity in the Arab world. The company that made the shoes tossed at Bush renamed that particular style the “ByeBye Bush” shoe.
After his release from prison, Zaidi moved to Beirut and eventually to Europe. Now, a decade after his failed shoe assault, the 39-year-old footwear enthusiast is back in Iraq. He feels the time is right for him to run for an Iraqi parliament seat. He says the horrors of the Iraq war are still on his mind and that someday he’d like to run the country.
What would he do if he was in charge of Iraq? He says he would hold President Bush accountable. He told CNN, “I don’t have any issue with America or Americans. My only issue is with the former president George W. Bush.”
Meanwhile, you’d better believe Zaidi will be using that shoe-flinging footage to rally votes.
As for former President Bush, he seems pretty philosophical about the whole incident now…
This article was originally published on GlennBeck.com.