Remember the "shoe-throwing guy"?

Of course you do. We all do. His name was Muntadhar al-Zeidi and he threw his shoes at then-President George W. Bush as protest over his--W's--attack on Iraq. It seems there's a report out right now that shoe-throwing has become more common, since he first came up with the incident and it's been repeated by others, as their own protest. Since that infamous Baghdad press conference on Dec. 14, 2008, shoes have flown at the prime ministers of China and Turkey, the chief justice of Israel's Supreme Court, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, a Ukrainian politician who favored joining NATO, and a string of Indian politicians. Just this month, shoes flew at Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and the top elected official in Indian-controlled Kashmir. And you know what? Much as I'm against anarchy and I am about respect and respect for authority, this got me thinking. I have to say, I'm a big fan of Mr. al-Zeidi's. Here's why: First, he had an original thought. Honestly, not that many people do, I don't think; Second, he acted on it and that took courage; Third, he was prosecuted (persecuted?) for it as surely he knew he would be. He was willing to pay for what he thought was right--and it was right, given that W's unprovoked attack on Iraq was and is, still today, against both internal, national law, here in the US, as well as international law. Finally, Mr. al-Zeidi left Iraq afterward and went to Switzerland (clearly a smart man) and began a charity. Admittedly, I don't know what the charity is for or what they do but it's a charity so I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt that he's somehow helping humankind. So, all in all, I think I give the guy kudos, all 'round. As I said, I'm not for either anarchy or disrespecting leaders but in this case, I have felt strongly and for some time--since the Iraq invasion in 2003--that "W" deserved what he got (and a whole lot more, too, of course) when he had those 2 shoes dis-respectively thrown at him. Link to original post: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/throwing_shoes