In Defense of Shoes

The following comment appeared in Missouri’s The Source blog—followed by my response. I highly doubt they will publish my comments. I thought the readers of MWC-News might enjoy the following interchange: 
Bob Boldt 
 
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“The Sole of a Thankful Nation” is a farewell to Bush, and is rife with comparisons to dictators like Pol Pot and Hitler. Boldt certainly has every right to dislike Bush, and to voice that dislike. The way he does it is irresponsible and ugly. Fortunately, in this democracy, men like Boldt are free to be ugly, but he should ask himself what would have happened to him had he wrote such a thing under Pol Pot or Hitler.  
Boldt also plays fast and lose with several facts. For instance, any “thug justice” Iraqi journalist and shoe-tosser, Muntazer al-Zaidi received was from Iraqi security, not “Amerikan” hands. Most sources say al-Zaidi received “minor injuries,” not broken bones.  
For Boldt to call Bush a “criminal and mass murder” is ridiculous, and he probably knows it. Bush is Commander in Chief, but every stage of the Iraqi war was approved and funded by Congress, as well as being planned and executed by the appropriate military structure. Just because you don’t like the war, Mr. Boldt, that doesn’t make the participants criminals. To say so is to malign not just your president, but every soldier serving under him.  
Finally, for Boldt to “fervently hope and pray” that harm will come to Bush is an insult to all who worship God Almighty. Prayer is not a weapon.  
The Source asks, in the name of democracy and the spirit of Christmas, this post be removed from the Internet. Maybe our loyal readers can pipe in as well.  
http://thesource.typepad.com/thesource/2008/12/fired-up-firing-blanks.html 
 
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Dear Source, 
I want to apologize for not responding to this post in a more timely manner. My Google search seems to be running a little late this year end. Let’s just jump right in and attempt to set a few things straight concerning my “Sole of a Thankful Nation” commentary. 
 
Source sez: 
“..what would have happened to him had he wrote such a thing under Pol Pot or Hitler.” Forgive me, but these comparisons always give me a laugh. To attempt to condemn legitimate criticisms by saying that the critic should shut up and just be thankful that he/she lives in a society that permits freedom of speech is pretty clichéd by now. Actually things have become far graver since Bush’s abolition of Habeas Corpus and various other rights that Americans have always assumed to be their birthright. Under Bush/Cheney we have moved far closer to the inhumane practices of Hitler and Pol Pot than at any other time in American history. My hope is that Obama and the Democratic Congress may begin to restore our civil and human rights that have been so perilously eroded under Bush. 
 
Source sez: 
“Most sources say al-Zaidi received “minor injuries,” not broken bones.” 
I’m sorry if that is the impression you got. I would suggest perhaps you spend a little less time with Fox News and try reading a bit more. Most sources I have read say just the opposite. This excerpt from the Guardian pretty well lays out the details as they have been reported by most of the major news sources: 
“The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President George Bush was viciously beaten after being taken into custody, according to a police officer who accompanied him to prison.  
Wrestled to the ground and then buried under a frantic mound of security officers, Muntazer al-Zaidi was last seen being dragged into detention. Controversy has since raged over what treatment was meted out to the man hailed a hero in many parts of the Arab and Muslim world for his protest against the invasion of Iraq. Yesterday there were further demonstrations in the Middle East calling for his immediate release.  
Witnesses to his arrest and imprisonment have told the Observer Zaidi was badly beaten, during and after his arrest last Sunday, and that he risks losing the sight in one of his eyes as a result. 
His family, who have been denied access to him, have claimed he suffered far more extensive injuries and was subjected to a prolonged and vicious beating, suffering a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding. The allegations appear to be borne out by those who have seen him since his arrest.  
One police officer, who accompanied him to prison, said the journalist, a Baghdad correspondent for the Cairo-based Al-Baghdadia TV, had been subjected to violence throughout the journey. The officer, who asked not to be named, said he witnessed security forces beating Zaidi in the car with such force that his ribs were broken. \\\\\\\"I felt sorry when I saw them beating him. His mouth was badly injured and he did not utter a single word throughout until one of the guards hit him in his left eye with a gun. Then he cried out that he couldn\\\\\\\'t see, and I saw blood inside his eye. I am a police officer but even I have to say I felt proud of what he did.\\\\\\\"  
A doctor called to examine Zaidi said his right arm had been broken and he had haematomas - indicative of internal bleeding - all over his body, particularly on his left leg, shoulders, face and head. The doctor, who also asked to remain anonymous, said specialists called in to treat him warned security guards that they must make sure his eye was protected for fear of a further hemorrhage which could cause him to lose his sight.”  
© Guardian News & Media 2008 
Published: 12/20/2008 
Minor injuries? Only to someone who couldn’t tell the difference between waterboarding and a college fraternity prank. 
 
Source sez: 
“..any “thug justice” Iraqi journalist and shoe-tosser, Muntazer al-Zaidi received was from Iraqi security, not “Amerikan” hands.” 
Did I say “Amerikan hands”? I know careful reading is a lost art, but please try to reread my comment a little more carefully and see if there is any possible interpretation besides the one you forwarded: 
Boldt Said: 
“Al-Zaidi received summary Amerikan thug-justice for his spontaneous act.” 
I suppose I should have said “Amerikan-style thug-justice.” The adjective “Amerikan” modifies “thug-justice” and does not necessarily mean the justice was administered by actual US security or our military forces. In light of the alleged subsequent beatings that took place within the Green Zone however, I suspect we (US security and mercenaries) may have had some part. Of course one of the reasons the Maliki government and their homicidal police force still remains so despised is their close association with Bush and the US occupation forces and their brutal techniques. Also, in light of our behavior around the world, the expression “Amerikan thug-justice” (that has so come to define particularly undeserved, heinous and brutal violence) will probably take a generation or more to live down. 
 
Source sez: 
“For Boldt to call Bush a “criminal and mass murder” is ridiculous, and he probably knows it. Bush is Commander in Chief, but every stage of the Iraqi war was approved and funded by Congress, as well as being planned and executed by the appropriate military structure.” 
Your Republican sensibilities will probably be relieved to hear that I do not hold Bush&Co solely responsible for crimes. I do agree that the weak Democratic Congress (Especially our new VP-to-be, Joe Biden) bears a great deal of responsibility for not sufficiently opposing this illegal action and for a willing and enthusiastic swallowing whole of the lies and fabrications concerning Saddam’s threat. Perhaps there is a certain amount of remission that can be granted to creeps like Biden for their crime of omission. Nevertheless, the lion’s share belongs to those, who from the first week of the Bush presidency, plotted the violent, illegal overthrow of a foreign head of state with whom we were not at war and posed no threat to us. 
 
Source sez: 
“Just because you don’t like the war, Mr. Boldt, that doesn’t make the participants criminals. To say so is to malign not just your president, but every soldier serving under him.” 
This has nothing to do with any personal like or dislike I may have for the war or our ethically challenged head of state. The UN Charter, the canons of international law and the US Constitution were all violated by the Iraqi incursion. Its framers and participants right down to the last soldier are all criminals to some degree or other. This illegal activity maligns everyone of rank serving on this illicit Iraqi enterprise and has nothing to do with my support or lack of support for the soldiers. Once again the old canard is dragged out implying—that to question the war and the service of the troops is somehow un-American. Believe me Bush himself has maligned our soldiers far beyond my ability or desire to do so. 
 
Source sez: 
“Finally, for Boldt to “fervently hope and pray” that harm will come to Bush is an insult to all who worship God Almighty. Prayer is not a weapon.”  
Prayer is not a weapon? That’s good to hear. But rather than lecture me over my offhanded use of a popular expression, you had better tell the Christians who have traditionally prayed for the death and dismemberment of the pagans and indigenous peoples, prayed for God’s justice to be visited upon the unbelievers and prayed for the defeat of politicians they oppose, not to use their own prayers as weapons. In fact, I am pretty tired of always hearing fundamentalist preachers precisely referring to prayer as a weapon. Sinner, remove the A-K47 from thine own eye. 
 
Source sez: 
“The Source asks, in the name of democracy and the spirit of Christmas, this post be removed from the Internet. Maybe our loyal readers can pipe in as well.” 
“…in the name of democracy and the spirit of Christmas..?!” How about Mom and Apple Pie? Well, I guess it is too late for the spirit of Christmas, so how about asking it be removed in the name of, ignorance and narrow-mindedness and in the spirit of ostriches everywhere? I would love to have the minions of Source’s dittoheads \\\\\\\"pipe in\\\\\\\" on this debate and get a little of the “old (democratic) what for,” if they have the courage. 
 
Thanks for your attempt to argue these largely indefensible points. I only wish you had done a better job of it. I barely broke a sweat. 
 
Peace, 
 
Bob Boldt

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