Bush gets the shoe in Baghdad
AMERICAN PRESIDENT: The work hasn’t been easy, but it has been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope and world peace … I’m just so grateful I had the chance to come back to Iraq before my presidency ends. … The war is not over.”
IRAQI JOURNALIST: “This is the end! This is a gift from the Iraqis, this is the farewell kiss, you dog!â€Â
Working on other things, I’d sworn off political punditry til the new year.
The frame from the video clip that the Times shows here illuminates the characters of Maliki and baby Bush.  With the second shoe incoming, the Iraqi leader is calm as he instinctively does the right thing. But the American? Cringing and shrinking like a baby that has never had to take care of himself or anything else.
Maliki’s expression as the first shoe flew is perhaps even more interesting and likeable. The face of a weary leader who has seen it all and knows these things happen.
It was long ago clear that Bush could no longer be sent out to work the world stage. Perhaps this will bring down the curtain.
And perhaps arab journalists in Washington will now be required to tender their shoes at a security desk before proceeding into press conferences.
“This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!â€Â
