Secret Service Shows Unusual Restraint in ‘Bizarre’ Shoe Incident

Clearly this was an insult. Where were the secret services? I think they all should be fired. Clearly, they did not protect the President. I am apalled that this idot would throw a shoe at our President. If I would have been there, it would have been HELL to pay.
I mean no one disrespect our President.

That guy should never have been able to throw the second dhow. Journalists stand up to ask q’s, I can understand one shoe getting off…but the secret service didn’t even MOVE until the second shoe had already been thrown. DISGRACEFUL.
The secret service is a team that NEVER gets a second chance, and no, they don’t get a break. I expect them to be 100% perfect, ALL THE TIME, for Bush, for Obama, for Clinton, for their wives and children, for whoever they are assigned to protect.

Een though I do not like President Bush it was not good that the secret service did not act immediately. It’s a disgrace. I don’t care if you like him or not, what if he had gotten hurt or God forbid killed?
I agree with MJ…I expect them to be 100% perfect….especially in these times.

Interesting… Bin Laden used a terrorist
disguised as a reporter to get close enough to and kill (his camera had a bomb in it) his main rival in Afgan….
This could have easily been MUCH worse….

So CH…..if I don’t like Obama’s politics and disagree with something he does, you wouldn’t mind if I were to throw my shoes at him?
You obviously don’t THINK any better than you can spell.

This really was an insult to the United States as a whole.
While the Secret Service cannot predict every action an indiviudal may make in a closed room, they certainly should have reacted more quickly to the second shoe and stood in front of the President.
The reaction time seemed too slow. The reporter in front of the shoe thrower reacted more quickly than any security personnel.

That “journalist” did what a lot of people wish they could (ch). He should have been shot. That was an assault on our President.

So will Democrats be okay with it if some crazy Republican pops Obama in the jaw with a thrown boot because he disagrees with him?
Somehow I expect the answer will be that the shoe thrower should be gunned down by the Secret Service.

Even though the S.S. was slow to react, Bush was certainly fast. Unusually so, could have been all the supposed hatred he has been sensing of late. Seriously, this incident is very unfortunate for us all. Maybe he deserved some of the bad press, maybe not.

Hey, they are not hired to protect his dignity. They probably did learn a lesson from this experience and will make changes to their procedures, though.

Fine. I expect the same low protection for Obama then!
Ironic that the Iraqi reporter would be dead right now had he thrown those shoes during the Hussein government.

The Secret Service should have been in closer proximity to Bush and there should have been agents interspersed in the crowd. Known dissidents should never have been there in the first place. Finally, there was a reporter who pushed the “journalist” to the ground before Bush’s personal agent even responded at all. Watch the video again.
There was also a 5 second response window there after the first shoe was thrown. It was not 2 seconds.

I think they should make journalists remove their shoes before presidential press conferences, like they make us unwashed masses do before going through airport security!

Perhaps the journalist who threw the shoes should be treated gently, with no more punishment than he would have received if he had thrown his shoes at a guest of Saddam Hussein while the latter was in power.
In the meantime, we should all be thankful that no one was harmed… when I first heard of the story, I was afraid Helen Thomas was doing a strip tease, which would undoubtedly have forced all men in the room to claw their eyes out, at the very least.

“Watch the video again.
There was also a 5 second response window there after the first shoe was thrown. It was not 2 seconds.”
Oh no, not ATT commercial again….
1:00 first shoe flying
0:58 second shoe flying
0:57.5 SS agent responding from right and behind
0:57 perp hits the floor
0:56 SS agent hands on perp
YOU watch it again…

With comments like the one from Barb who says she can understand it because she hates Bush, it is no wonder that our country has become what it is today. If we don’t respect our own people others won’t either. I can’t stand Barack Hussien Obama but I would not want him to be disrepected and not protected.
I have also been around for many years included Reagan, Clinton, Carter and I don’t believe and never will believe that Bush is the worst of the bunch.

Apparently Barb was not around for Jimmy Carter

“You RESPECT the OFFICE regardless of his politics. But Liberals only seem to believe freedoms apply to themselves and those who they agree with.”
Apparently they don’t teach that in school anymore.
I know no end of people who think this is okay, and don’t manage to connect it to themselves at all. They simply don’t grasp the concept.

In Ann Compton’s write-up she states that after the incident three Secret Service agents “took positions directly in front of the President.” In fact, they didn’t. To be directly in front of Bush they would need to be between the podium and Bush. His upper body was exposed the entire time even after the attacker was tackled leaving Bush open to further attack. I know he waved them off from removing him from the scene, but they didn’t put their bodies between him and other potential attackers.
I’m surprised that there are so many commenters who aren’t ashamed to admit that they were fine with this attack on Bush. How sick. Yet, I’m sure they’ll be the first to scream if anyone does this to Obama. It doesn’t matter if you like someone or not, no one deserves to be attacked and this attack was as much on us as citizens as it was an attack at Bush. You ought to know better.

I’m not fine with it no matter who the target was and it just as well could have been something more lethal than a shoe.

For all of you who think the SS responded slow let me ask you a question! How long does it take for your mind to register a surprise going on around you? Most humans it would have taken a good 10 seconds. This guy got two shoes thrown in less than 3 seconds if you watch the clip! The SS acted in about 6 seconds which is faster than most of you could have reacted.

The guy that threw the shoes has a history of publicity stunts including his own kidnapping. He should have never passed the security screening.
And anybody who would applaud this is simply a moron with no common sense. Whatever you think is fair for Bush, must be fair for Obama. Unless of course your fevered psychopathic brain doesn’t understand the real world.

The First thing I said was where the Hell where the Secret Service? I think they need to WAKE UP

Shoes for the tongue-tied.

It was a SHOE! Get some perspective people. I’ve never seen such a lot of overreacting in my life. Politicians always used to get things thrown at them- eggs, tomatoes etc. It’s not meant to injure them, just send them a message. You’re all being ridiculous.

It’s good to know that’s it’s ok with the libs and bambi KADs to throw objects at their boy from a close distance.

It was sad to see a president nearly hit by a shoe… embarrasing. Where the hell was the security guys? didnt they notice the second shoe?

U.S. Secret Service officials in Washington say they are satisfied their agents responded with “the appropriate level of reaction”
WHAT REACTION ? The other Iraqi reporters are the ones that tackled him !

This is great, Barbara. I think a key thing to do with blog posts, comments, or statements by politicians is to only read what comes after “however” or “but” or “on the other hand” or similar lines. Here’s the case: “Normally I would say that the office deserves respect no matter who is President. However…” She also started off with a “Normally,” so, I guess she’s not normal at the moment. It’s no surprise. Democrats only apply this “politics stop at the water’s edge” and “salute the office not the man” to their people. There’s no “our” president, anymore with such people, and it’s a shame. I didn’t like seeing Clinton burned in effigy in Greece, and my whole family comes from Greece. I don’t like seeing this, but honestly, who cares? It’s a stupid shoe. Dumb baby. Americans love dogs, and we don’t give two hoots about SHOES. It’s a dumb insult, and we don’t freak out of insults — say, like, everyone in that part of the world who thinks this is a big deal. The good news is, we’ve killed tens of thousands of people who think like this guy and planted a Democracy in the middle east. I’d take that legacy over being “a guy who threw a shoe.” Nice that he had shoes, though.

You know… The individual that threw the shoes was sitting down. If he had loafers on, the fact is I can slide my loafers off without being noticed. You can’t see feet in a sitting crowd unless you have an agent lying on the floor looking under chairs. Then they would be accused of looking up dresses.
He chucked a couple of shoes within seconds. No human be it secret service or not can respond that quickly. You would think by the comments here that the secret service should have been able to outrun the bullet that hit Reagan.
They are human and showed a large amount of restraint and I compliment them.

The Secret Service acted (or should I say didn’t act) disgracefully. I watched this video with my mouth hanging open wondering where the hell they were. The President was lucky it wasn’t something lethal. Those agents should be fired. And Tom Hopes, the point isn’t that it was a shoe – none of us are that obtuse. The POINT is that the Secret Service wasn’t doing their job ,they weren’t watching the crowd and they were extremely slow to respond. And with regard to your statement about politicians having tomatoes and eggs thrown at them – this wasn’t just any politician. This was the President of the United States. The shoe is not the point. And Chuck maybe the average person wouldn’t react that quickly, but these agents are trained to protect the life of the President and they are trained to be fast. They aren’t amateurs. When Regan was shot his detail was lightening fast.

I consider myself a Liberal/Centerist. However this has no political bearing. The President must be protected at all costs, no precedent can be set where it is appropriate to attack the person, no matter the disagrement. That is why we have elections and options such as impeachment. Any advocacy or support of violence is naive and uneducated hatred and has no place in this country. Having observed the assault, I feel that the Secret Service response was inadequate. The President should have been covered and removed from the room, the throwing of the shoes could have been a distraction, followed by more serious actions. A review of this situation is required and some type of disciplining is in order.
FYI, this is an opinion from someone who has been around since and saw Harry Truman and thinks Bush is the worst president certainly in my lifetime.

I am disappointed that the shoe did not hit the Bush nose. He has murdered millions of Iraqi by waging the war against Iraq.

Personally, I don’t want a f**king shoe in my face at all. It says a lot for Bush (even though I NEVER voted for him) to have stayed in his President mode and not gone into TEXAN mode and bet the hell out of the little Iraqi who threw a shoe.

What would have happened to the reporter if he did that to Saddam? At least he had the freedom to express his anger. But, he should be sent out to report on the mass graves in Iraq that have been found. Plenty of shoes there to throw.

Instead of shoes, the guy should’ve thrown a surprise birthday party.

It just goes to show you how ungrateful these people are. –Niki
———————-
Ungrateful? No reasonable person is suggesting that Saddam Hussein was a great leader or that the Iraqi people deserved him, but the United States invaded this country and have occupied it for nearly six years. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, millions have been displaced.
When you live under occupation for five or six years and see your neighbors and family members killed, then I think you might be in a position to make your observation, but not now.

I suspect that had the Secret Service agents come out with guns drawn, some of the same critical people would have been critical of there “overblown response.”
It was a shoe. A shoe. The room and all of the individuals in it had already been properly searched (that is to say that they knew that there was no bomb in the shoe). Make no mistake, for NONE of the agents to have jumped up and thrown themselves into the podium, it was likely the correct response. If this had been a less secure crowd, we would have seen a different response.
Secret Service Agents are not bouncers who thrive on over-reactions and bustin’ heads to let off steam.
In interest of disclosure, I have the highest amount of respect for the Office of the President, even when I don’t necessarily have the greatest respect for the person who occupies the office. I had major problems with Clinton (and yes, I voted for Bush) and now I have some major issues with Bush (I voted for Obama), but I am an American above any partisan label.
I don’t believe that Bush being attacked by a shoe is funny. But at the same time, I would not want to see the Secret Service spray bullets across a room to protect the President from a flying shoe. They have better training than that.

Here’s the deal. The secret Service is trained to do what? To watch the president get killed???? I don’t think so. The fact that the guy could throw both shoes really scares me. And i can tell you right now. If it was Obama, ever single person would be outraged. Just cuz Bush did some stupid things does not mean he deserves to be treated wrongly. Anyone who thinks he did and would be outraged if it was Obama needs to get a clue. Every single person in the secret service who was there should be fired immediately. That’s all i got to say.

I wonder why this guy never threw his shoes at Saddam Hussein.

Dirty little secret the Secret service doesn’t like to admit: Never in its 160 year history has it prevented an attack against the President. They just clean up afterwards. Gerald Ford got shot at – twice – by Manson cultists. John Hinkley walked right up to Reagan and the only reason the President didn’t die was the explosive bullets malfunctioned. Kennedy was shot in an open car in Dallas.
They discourage the saner ones from trying. If you don’t mind getting gang-tackled and hauled off to jail afterwards you can usually get close enough to the President to throw a shoe or an egg or even something lethal. The President is a *political* leader and that means he has to occasionally appear in public. If the Secret Service had had its druthers he would have held a video teleconference from the White House instead of physically going to Iraq. They wouldn’t have minded putting up a bulletproof shield between the podium and the press.
I find it kind of interesting that most 60+ year old men would have gotten beanbagged. It’s a tribute to President Bush’s physical condition and training regime that he moved faster than the shoes. Look at the video again: the assailant didn’t lob slowballs at Mr. Bush yet he easily avoided both of the shoes hurled at him. Many men half his age would have walked away with a size 10 imprint on their faces.

I wouldn’t have jumped in front. No way.

I didn’t know that Nikita Krushchev was still alive!

For once Bush almost had someone else’s foot in his mouth. He’s just lucky the guy only had two feet.
I guess for future press conferences journalists will be required to check their shoes at the door.

Bush was looking down at the podium in the preceding seconds, he’s lucky he looked up right when the guy was winding up..I think the guy yelled out..which caught George’s attention..very lucky gw

MNEagle – You are right democratic presidents are also guilty. Sanctions sponsored by the US under Clinton in the 90s killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Albright said it was worth it. Now Bush and co. have invaded, and the ensuing environment has made it possible for hundreds of thousands of more Iraqis to perish. Is this justification for the shoe incident. If there ever was a reason, I would say yes.

Thanks Ben for your warm words. Another blame America first liberal I presume? Why don;t you and Chris and Ch and MM and all the peace loving Iranians you so warmly embrace go to Mecca and hit yourself in the heads with sharpened machetes like the lunatics you support do in the name of religion. Take a look at their faces when the blood flows down their foreheads while they swarm like madmen and ask yourself—why are you defending them when it is so obvious they cannot be dealt with in a rationale way. Your peacenick ways have never worked—see, e.g. Carter and Iran (long before Bush and reagan). These people understand one thing only-blunt force trauma. While you are having a peaceful sleep in with Chris in San Fran, don;t forget to get in the fetal position and kiss your ass good bye if we don;t destroy these lunatics before they destroy us. Wake up.

Robert – Good point. This should extend beyond partisan spin. American profligacy is to blame. American exceptionalism spread through militarism is the real problem we have. Ron Paul was and is correct on foreign policy. As our economy weakens so goes our military might. Too bad we have spread so much hatred that will remain.

jrc903 – ” no true weapons were in play ” Your kidding right ? What if he threw a camera or swung one from the camera strap ? What if he took a tripod or monopod and swung it or threw it like a javelin ? Dont be so Naive.

gonzo411 – The SNL skit will be a good one.

20 Years down the line, the world will remember Bush as a patriot and a good human being. Because 20 years down the line the war between Islam and the rest of the world(which does not want to be ruled by a fundamentalistic Islamic Caliphate) will be over, and in that war the Rest of the world that is the freedom loving people and countries and America will win, and fundamentalist Islam will lose, for the good of all humanity and with God’s blessings. The real reason to be in Iraq is clearly to be in a strategic location in the middle east for such a war. Clinton refused saying it was a political risk in 1997, 1998. Bush took up the challenge not bothering about a bad name. American presidents dont plan wars for the FUTURE, it is someone else whose name canneot be revealed, presidents only say YES or NO.

Jon:
The difference is that GWB has had way more practice dealing with feet in and around his mouth.
The man clearly takes after his pop, GH’silver foot in his mouth’WB.

Bush deserved the shoe thrown at him. He destroyed lives and created orphans in Iraq.
Those who support Bush and regard him as “my president” have no heart. This man throwing a shoe is just a clear indication of what the Iraqi’s really think of Bush.

You know, I am NOT a fan of Bush – But NO ONE throws SHOES at our PRESIDENT – not even THIS one!
If this had Happened to Barack – I’d be ready to bomb them!

I think people are missing the point and this brave journalist was simply speaking truth to power. I believe we should encourage this sort of behavior and this incident provides us with a perfect opportunity.
As the “Iraqi Journalist” ‘broadcasts’ from Egypt (obviously for fear of the Bush puppet regime) we should “encourage” him to throw a shoe or two at his host President, the democrat and freedom fighter Mr. Hosni Mubarak.
I’d like to see where that gets him. (;

Just like everything else nowadays – their response was less than adequate AND for those of you who were fine with it .. your boys up next – so be careful what consider “adequate” protection. It was a disgrace and they should be canned!

Regarding the speed at which this jerk managed to throw two shoes in rapid succession: the guy’s wearing loafers or loosened, unlaced shoes; surreptitiously pushes them off with his opposite foot; reaches down, grabs and throws both in a few seconds.
There is now an argument for having agents stand close by, on either side of the podium.

It isn’t bizarre, except to someone who has no clue about middle eastern culture. Bush was talking about pulling out of Iraq, instead of imposing his will with an iron fist.
This was taken as weakness and then he was insulted… they knew he wouldn’t do anything about it, so this is what happened.
In Arab culture, responding to insults/attacks with quick violence is seen as strength, in american culture its seen as a personal weakness. These cultural miscommunications are the cause of many of our difficulties in relations with the middle east.

If this shoe throwing at the president will be a new fad, President Obama will have to make special preparations for his news conferences. One way would be,that all news reporters take off they’r shoes, and leave they’r shoes outside at the door. Or build glass protected podiums, that would stop any shoe thrown at it.Or president Obama should were a strong football helmet.

The Secret Service agents looked totally confused, and of course arrived too late. In such a situation, the President has no business waving off his protection. The office of the President is what should be protected; the image a particular President wants to project—”hey, I’m cool with that”— is secondary. Clearly, the President by making light of the matter, had no idea he was being deeply insulted. No cultural awareness. And he’s been to Iraq how many times?
The shoe thrower was taken down by fellow journalists, not the SS.
In my view, the President is way too forgiving of shoddy government performance such as in evidence on the tape (my viewing from the BBC yesterday supports the 4-5 second time lapse). No heads rolled after 9/11, either.

Not one of those agents was willing to take a “shoe” for the president. They responded slowly, not realizing that a shoe could have some plastic explosive, which could have truly injured our president, if not killed him.
Yet, it was so unexpected; sort of that infamous day, 11 September 2001. Who would have thought that you could use our own airliners as weapons?
Next time, a quicker response on the part of our Secret Service.

Goodbye and good ridden, bush.

Even though I am not a fan of Bush, I am a citizen of this great country. It is distressing to see this man had time to throw not one, but 2 shoes at the President. If he had a weapon or an explosive device in the shoe, Bush might be dead. This is unacceptable. The SS need to be a little closer to the President. I hope Obama’s team is a little closer and has a quicker reaction time.

This was a total act of disrespect toward our president. We should respond by taking those people down a notch — pulverize their country, kill a 100,000 or so of them, and maybe then they’ll learn resp….oh, wait, we already did that. Guess respect has to be earned, not inflicted.

marcus. it must feel good to be a keyboard warrior. does it help your self esteem? lol

finally our president got a messege from the iraqis :)

I am a US citizen and I do not take this as an insult. I am also proud that the Secret Service handled the situation the way they did. Your never going to prevent these type things, but what you can do is make sure nobody gets hurt. Applause to Bush as well for standing Tall this this Shoe Throwing idiot!

I see that GWB used his pilot training and cat like instincts to survive his first ever trial by fire, or flung shoes as it were. In light of his unflinching stance at the podium, displaying the highest commitment of the executive branch and the state department at the very highest level, I personally recommend George Walker Bush, POTUS, for the Corndodger with V to be awarded immediately, as an interim to consideration for the Congressional Cornholer and Receiver Medal like you ain”t never had one. I think every right thinking American knows he deserves something, maybe this. But from me to you George, goodbye, good luck, hand me the lysol.

Ok, I may not like Bush a whole lot but that is still MY PRESIDENT! What the heck? Seriously? I am not one of these “let me defend Bushs’ actions at all cost” but I am a “I may not like him but he is still my President so don’t mess with him” girls. If anyone is gonna throw a shoe at him- it better someone how can actually vote for him.

On second thought, I think maybe you guys are all correct after all. We should execute this guy for disrespecting our president. We would never disrespect his, now would we?

Hi Ray, I bet you and I are probably the only 2 on this forum that knows what a Dhimmi is.
Becoming a Dhimmi is the goal of the liberals as they mistakenly believe this will save their lives in reward to having disarmed the USofA.

This frustrated and irate Iraqui journalist is simply conveying his feelings to President Bush to ” put himself in his shoes.”

Why Danny Boy,
I think you figured it out. The journalist was just suggesting that Georgie might want to walk a mile in his shoes.

BUSH wanted a FREE LIBERATED IRAQ….
MISSION PARTLY ACCOMPLISHED..
This shot should definately placed in his library

People can criticize GWB and our efforts in Iraq and apperrently a portion of the Iraqi people don,t want us there either. If it weren’t for the USA the Iraqi citizens and their press would not even know what it would be like to openly voice their opinions unless it was to praise Saddam. If a shoe was thrown at Obama our news stations led by MSNBC would be calling for nuclear war instead of making light of the matter.

Had Saddam been speaking the man would be dead by now.
Thank God for George Bush who had the guts to take down the dictator and give freedom of speech (within reason) to the people of iraq.
To those who are happy with the shoe incident: Would you give your blood for my freedom, like our soldiers are giving for the iraqi people or just complain because we are not popular in communist and socialist countries.
Again, Saddam would have had that man killed and his family.
Those who forget that oppresive regime, your cowardice turns my stomach.

Patriot-
You’re right, there is a difference. We trump up phony intel, bend it to fit our wishes, then go to war as if we’re the righteous ones. (Of course I’m not speaking of all US citizens, mainly just the hypocritical better-than-thou Bible-banging neocons.) I, for one, would prefer the shoe.
As far as the American people voting Bush into office, they did not. The US voters voted for the Dems. The Electoral College voted Bush into office. Thanks to the power of the incumbency and a weak Dem ticket, Shrub was able to prevail and pull in both the popular vote and the EC vote on his second time around. It almost makes me wish for a third term eligibility just see him thoroughly trounced by both parties this time around. No, not you neocons out there, I know y’all still think he walks on water.

Pink slips aplenty on this one, I hope.

The arab world sees a flying shoe as an insult. I think wearing shoes is smart. Some of the arab world thinks strapping an explosive vest to your child is ok. Educated people don’t see that. Some people are stupid, and in dire need of an education. Killing the stupid ones helps, but without an education, what about the other billion people? Is there hope there? Will they build a nice quality car; something we as Americans have forgotten how to do. Will they build airplanes of high quality and reliability? Will they figure a way to help solve world hunger? Will they do ANYTHING that doesn’t require blowing somebody up? How bout finding something more than oil, because we all seem to need lots of oil (for now).I can do without a tank of gas. Can you do without food? Well, good luck with that one…

The world would have been a better place if the Arabs had used shoes instead of suicide bombers to express themselves and the Americans had not put Bush into power…. similar religious nuts! (Don’t know why. The ABC News doesn’t allow me to post this on their site. Can only post in the blogs.)

CBS_Bull – Agreed, that way we could where shoe resistant clothing and steal their oil 24/7.

Well gents,
It’s been fun, but the wife is calling on my shoe-phone and I must answer to the higher power.
TTFN

The SS agent should have been BETWEEN the reporters and the President.
As to the significance of the sacred arab shoe throwing. YOU MISSED BOZO! You can’t execute a simply shoe throwing? You are the laughing stock of the Western World, where it really counts.

If the shoe had been thrown 8 years ago, this guy would have been toasted by Hussein, and whomever he was hosting.
Bush impressed me with his dodge, and the host tried to deflect the next shoe.
The press guy looked like a 4 year old to me….. Someone not wise enough to understand that he has poor impulse control.

NortonPete – Admit it. He did throw it pretty well. It was a good duck by our bomb happy president, but the throw was decent to say the least.

Corey – Absolutely, how dare these people stand against our killing of their loved ones. Sanctions in the 90s – 500,000 Iraqis dead. Latest preemptive war – several hundred thousand dead. How dare they throw shoes. We should nuke em all. Yeah!

Wow! People on this blog are actually angry at the shoe thrower. Get real. Bush sucked every day in office. Not everyone can be a robot who blindly follows this moron. The shoe thrower is a hero. You Bush lovers are just pathetic losers who helped an idiot bring the entire world down.

Bush is faster than anyone there.

Spinmeister Bush says it wasn’t an insult. Oh. Ok.

I am glad that someone is bringing up the real issue here. Its not that some dumb reporter is now a folk hero to some very nasty people in the ME. No, its that this creep got both shoes off and hurled them both at our President!!
That he got one shoe off and was able to launch it is shocking enough. But both??!!
I never thought I would see the day that our Secret Service would fail the President so embarrassingly for all the world to see.
Did they get lazy? Were they too trusting of technology? Would this story be so funny (to some) if one of the shoes had struck the President and injured him? To me there is nothing funny either about the insult itself or the way that the Secret Service men looked like fools. So much for their reputation in the world. I wouldn’t doubt that most of what has kept our President’s so safe in the past is due to the intimidating reputation of his security people. Now, not so much.

While I’m not a Bush fan AT ALL I have to say two things: #1) for a 61 y/o man he showed surprisingly good reflexes at calmly avoiding both shoes. He didn’t over-react or flail about wildly. He showed nice economy of motion and avoided the hit. #2) The secret service, however, was entirely too slow. Once that first shoe hit the wall that agent should have been between the president and the guy who threw it. No, I don’t think drawing weapons and locking down the room would have been appropriate, but a little hustle on the part of the guy whose job it is to take a bullet would have been nice to see. The president shouldn’t have better reflexes than his body-man.

I am still thinking it was a good toss. Glad it missed I suppose, but it was pretty accurate. A shoe isn’t a baseball. The SS were slow. I watched the video, and they were standing around.

While a part of me is a little giddy at this whole incident. I am a little bit offended that someone could be able to get away with this. I’m left wing through and through, but I worry about Obama’s security before and especially after this incident. I do think it is an affront to the US, but I also think what we, as a country have done to the nation of Iraq and its people. So a shoe throwing incident is sort of a minor “chicken’s coming home to roost” incident. Let’s hope the major one isn’t following. That being said…probably the only compliment I will give this current (worst.president.ever) is that he certainly showed some nimbleness and agility from dodging that show. Must be from all the practice he has from dodging and weaving journalists all these years.

I immediately felt that the Secret Service was too far removed from Bush. There should have been an agent on him the moment the stir began and at the very, very least immediately after the first shoe. Why was there no one behind Bush and why was the closet agent 10 or 12 feet away? I’ve never been a fan of Bush, but he’s the Prez irregardless and the Secret Service did a shoddy job, I don’t care what they say. My goodness, the president was in Iraq, wasn’t he?

Bush should telecommute. What kind of carbon footprint does this waste of time use up?

To Bush: if the shoe fits wear it. This is what the world thinks of your preemptive war.

This guy was just trying to make Bush look like a jackass. Duck and cover or run from a shoe. He has done the best he could with what he had to work with. How many of you could do any better? Or, would you pack it in and go home after 9/11? I hope Obama does a good job. But I don’t think he could or would’ve been able to fill Bush’s shoes up to this point.(Parden the pun) Anyone who says any different is a true jackass. Hail to the chief!

ABC says:
At headquarters, it is a given that video will be reviewed over and over again, and become part of the Secret Service training — on what NOT to do.
I think they played it perfectly. The secret service are not superhumans. What were they supposed to do, leap across the room and catch the shoes. The guy was 15 feet away!! And as far as Bush “declining to be hustled out of the room” I watched the video. A guy walked up to him where he said “I’m alright” What is with these so called “journalists” at ABC? You guys really do think you come off as unbiased don’t you. You’re insane….literally. And I thought Bush had great reflexes. You could tell he wanted to kick that guys ass after the first shoe. But of course BO would have just caught them and then hit the guy wouldn’t he? ABC, YOU…ARE…A…JOKE!

That’s a great point by ‘starboardhelm’ at 10:59:48. I guess democrats don’t play by the same rules. Just like the terrorists. hmmmmm

The guy that through the shoe should of went up an kissed Preident Bush because President Bush and our soliders gave him that right if Saddam was still in power he would of lost his head. Freedom does not come cheap a lot of our founders paid for our freedom with their lives. It is sad people forget that.

I don’t agree with some of the Bush administration’s policies, but he represents this country as President of the United States.
I was proud of the way Mr Bush ducked the shoe and came right back to a standing position with eyes on target and no sense of fear in his face.
I think we should all come together when anyone (Chavez) attacks the office of the President of the US.

SS did fine. President Bush called off the SS agent that was going to take him out the pre-designated escape route (the door the SS agents were seen coming in seconds after the incident). For that type of situation in a small room I think they did just fine. Im sure they will use this as a learning experience. God Bless the President of the United States Past, Present and Future and the men and women that protect them.

WHY DID ABC NOT SAY THE HOLE STATMENT FROM THE SHOE THROWER IN IRAC THEY LEFT OUT WHERE HE SAID THE SECOND SHOE WAS FOUR THE ORPHENS AND WIDOWS OF IRAC.ABC TELL THE HOLE STORY!

This act was an insult. Secret Service should have taken the first shoe. This was the President of the United States. The leader of the free world. 500 bilion dollar and a lot of our young people have given their life for the Iraqi people, some respect was needed.

I find it dangerous that the service, who’s sole mission is to guard the president, reacted too slow and was NOT PREPARED for an out there situation. The lead agent always has to be on guard and the fact that he took that long to get to the president is a MAJOR PROBLEM. The reporter on the left next to the guy that threw the show and to his right were also problems in that they did not try to stop the shoe man. Those reporters should also never be allowed at a Presidential press conference ever again just for their inaction . With all the training these men go thru and the detection equipment used to protect a President it is now time that the service starts thinking outside of the box for all possible if not likely scenarios. This is a very serious breach in the security bubble that surrounds a President. Another notice…looking at video there was not an agent to left of Bush and they had to come in from a back door…..VERY BAD…..Bush did a better job than the secret service agents did at protection of his person. Reassignment ALASKA…NOW

For his contribution,President of the free world, gets the gift/shoes of the free world!

i may not agree with bush but he is my president that shoe swinging creep should have been shot on the spot.
i also did not vote for obama but i would be outraged if the same thing happened to him. he is my president elect.
it disgusts me that the liberal media is enjoying this. this sets a dangerous precedent, and the cheering liberal media is leading the pack.

The shoe throwing is not an insult. It’s a statement. If another evil dictator had conquered and killed your family and fellow citizens, a shoe would be one of many things you would throw!

Where were the Secret Service positioned in the front row, ready to jump up and take a bullet, or a shoe nonetheless, but basically protect with their lives, which is their JOB. None showed up until he was already assassinated…too late! This is simply another training video for Al Queada on how to get to the President. What a shame that our country has come to this weak moment…again…. Where’s the proactive thinking that is needed to survive?

I respect Pres. Bush more for this incident when he looked at it as a freedom of expression for Iraqis. I would respect him even more if he would make a clear forgiving statement to this journalist specifically and request the Iraqi Government to release him.

Oh come on folks…..you don’t see the Secret Service guys on the tape at first for a reason…they don’t sit in the front row for a reason. They are not to be on camera, for a reason. That was a secure room, all the people in it had been vetted and were approved. Is the Secret Service supposed to worry about shoe throwers? NO. They did their job, as they should have, under guidelines for that scenario, ie: a secure room with a protestor, not an open situation with an assailant/terrorist. Big difference folks, and sometimes these SS guys also do….drumroll please….undercover work! Has anyone EVER seen an interview with a former member of a president’s detail who wasn’t part of an historical event such as an assasination or attempted one? NO. That’s because they do more than just protect the Pres, they are federal agents, AND they investigate counterfiet cases for the govt. So, when it comes to a press conference such as this in a secure position, there is nothing wrong with their reaction time or positioning in the room.
However, it is a factual certainty that this scuffle will become a training exercise for new agents, and an excuse for a departmental review and what not….but they all know they did their jobs that day. You guys should too.

SHOE-THROWERS OF THE WORLD UNTIE!!!
LOL

Yes, Iraqis don’t respect Bush because liberals bad mouth him so much. Really, what planet are you Bush apologists living on? They don’t respect Bush because he took over their country and is occupying it for no good reason. This was an insult to our country? What about the insult of building a wall through Baghdad to keep people we don’t like trapped in their own neighborhood? Put yourself in their shoes: A foreign country invades your land because they don’t like the way you’re running your country. They stay for more than five years, and none of their justifications for war turn out to be true. So you get mad and throw a shoe, and these foreign invaders whine that you have insulted their country. No wonder everyone hates Americans so much. Look in the mirror.

As Ed Sullivan always said, “We have a really big shoe tonight!”. Seriously, I think tackling the guy would have been worse than the way they handled it. It was only a shoe! Everyone went through security and maybe even had to take their shoes off. The guy maybe didn’t put his back on and no one noticed. Taclking and beating him to a pulp would have made the people there even more angry with the US. I think they handled it fine and the President took it in stride. He put the assisting agent at ease and stayed put at the podium. You might not like his policies but you have to respect his handling of this shoe thing!

I wonder what you guys want the Secret Service to do. Turn into “Fantastic Four” and extend their elastic hands to deflect the Shoes?
They did all that was humanly possible. Nobody envisaged that Shoes could be used as weapons against the President.
If Shoes were not allowed in, Pens would, Midgets would and Notepads would. These could be used as Weapons too.

1. the secret service failed in protecting our leader. don’t care if it was a shoe or pen or tape recorder.
2. i do wonder what will happen to that shoe? ebay? museum? secret service files?

It is said that a certain journalist threw shoes at president bush
But what he said was ignored and not telecasted by most agencies!
“This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”
This man has been taken into custody…undountably to be ‘questioned’
Isn’t this the spirit of democracy?
Freedom of speech?
I don’t condone the action with the shoes – but the message shouldn’t be lost, should it? How is Bush different from Hitler?
Or is this a democratic farce?
Please forward this to everyone you know who believes in the freedom of speech.

Every single person that has responded to this has missed one thing the most important thing We are in two wars in some other people country trying to solve their problems by killing them how would you like it if russian troop suddenly invade our country and tried to fix our economy (russian cars hahah ) anyways allof you dumb assess you cannot give me a legitament reason why were fighting two war and spent 587 bill on killing innocent people . the goverment is know for cover ups but their specialty is war “uh they have big big big guns so were gonna go over their and take their guns because we should and they might use them”. america has the biggest guns so why are we so worried about terrorism one terroris attack is equal to the amount of people that die everyday in america anyways nobody mourns them.ask your self this do you have power no why becuase they took it all from us the end

Shame! The head of a state can be insulted in this manner.
He is the one who liberated their nation and this is what he gets.
They will never be satisfied because no matter how much you give them they always seem dissatisfied and want more.
Give them Palestine, they will still continue violence, give them Kashmir they will still terrorize India.
Basically they love violence and want an excuse to start it.

happended lol so mad my spelling suffers

Secret Service appeared a tad slow and lackluster. The President of the United States (or any other head of state) should never have had to duck a second shoe.

What Muntathar Al-Zaidi did was a savage and shameful act that does not represent any educated Iraqi citizen. Iraqis are good people and never treat their guests in this way. That journalist is from Sadir-city in Baghdad, where Anti-American young cleric, Muqtada Al-Sadir has a lot of influence. So, he might did so on behalf of the non-Iraqi enemies of the United States.
In Iraqi Kurdistan we received Americans with flowers and so far no American or coalition soldier was killed or insulted in Kurdistan.
Once again, what that person did against President Bush does not represent the majority of other Iraqis (especially Kurds)who very much appreciate liberating Iraq from dictatorship. President Bush is hailed as a hero by many Iraqis.

I wonder if Saddam Hussein’s bodyguards would have shown the same restraint. I guess there now is a little “democracy” in Iraq.

The Secret Service failed badly. Even if they don’t pull weapons, they should be close enough to shield the President with their bodies. Security officials have apparently forgotten radical Islamists posing as reporters assasinated General Ahmed Shah Masood, the leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, the day before Sept 11th.

I think the secret service acted approximately. They did there job. I am in the military and sometimes you have the unforeseen you have to deal with. Deadly force or the escalation of force is something you have to be trained in. Given the situation it seemed to me that our secret service members did the right thing.

Some of the “reporters” were, in fact, security. Weapons were carried concealed for this press meeting. Armed agents were off camera, in the perimeter. They had the capability to execute an “L” shaped ambush of anyone who drew, or assumed a deadly force posture. If someone were to jump up shout, advance on the president, ball up fists, etc., they would have reacted accordingly. They would have restrained them, shooting only if he, or others escalated the threat level. They were off camera for a reason.

“nobody envisaged planes flying into the world trade centre either”
Nobody except NORAD before 9/11.
“WASHINGTON — In the two years before the Sept. 11 attacks, the North American Aerospace Defense Command conducted exercises simulating what the White House says was unimaginable at the time: hijacked airliners used as weapons to crash into targets and cause mass casualties.
One of the imagined targets was the World Trade Center.”
Which brings us back to President Bush and the Secret Service at Booker Elementary.

hahahaha…this is history”The Iraqi Shoes and the USA president!”
Hope they will make a big movie out of it after Bush is done in January.
If Bush will go to Philippines,sure they would throw him sandals also,the sandals of former first lady mrs. Imelda Marcos and President Gloria Arroyo!

It was a failure of security — period. One shoe — yeah, but not the second. They need to look into hiring that reporter who finally grabbed him. He was the guy who got him.
Think “outside the box” Secret Service. This is 2008 — you can’t just do stuff the way you always have.

(Pardon me if I am repeating similar sentiments. I didn’t read all the posts.)
What a move! The POTUS could have be a stunt-double for Chuck Norris! For all his shortcomings, Mr. Bush is a man’s man. Without cameras, I bet he would’ve dropped a Texas-sized boot on the reporter. For the first time, I am proud of him.
He correctly assessed a situation, reacted calmly and surely, and prevented an overreaction. To top it off, he lands a perfect one-liner!
…if only he had done this half a decade ago…

Don’t criticize the Secret Service. Not until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. And how would you feel if the shoe were on the other foot? Finally, I wonder if we’ve heard the last about his incident–or is another shoe about to drop? So much for my shoddy comments.

I wonder if the idiot that threw the shoe understands that it is because of that man, Our Pesident and the blood of our brave men and women, that he had the freedom to even think of throwing a shoe. Under Saddam he would have more than a couple broken ribs.
Let’s hope the Secret Service moves a bit quicker when something is hurled at BrObama’s head.

george bush is verry stupid because hi is laughing after the accident.
george bush you are so stupid!!!!!!!!

Next time I hope someone throws a chair.

Shame on the Secret Service. The shoe thrower should have been dead within 5 seconds.

It’s a testament of Bush’s success in Iraq and bringing freedom there — if the shoe was thrown at Saddam Hussein that journalist would have been executed before sundown.
Yes, the secret service detail should be fired… unexcusable and embarrasing…

Wow!…These guys screwed up! Like Bush or not, these guys really screwed up! Something tells me a certain security detail has just been tasked with parking cars at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.!

Note to Barb.I suppose if Pres. Bush had sex in the oval office he would be a great Pres. on the order of Bill Clinton.

Those SS agents should be fired,not Peter Principled or Dilbert principled but FIRED.
All press should be 50ft back of the US President behind a bullet proof shield and all press barefoot.

Aaaah! A shoe!

The reporter should be taken out and hung by his testicles in the town square. No, wait a minute they can’t the brutal dictator Sadam Hussein and his two sadistic, cruel, trashy sons are dead!

Jeez-Louise-to the boneheaded few that think that smugly beleive the Secret Service had security forces planted within the press, as well as people around POTUS standing off camera and to the witless Americans who are not culturally sensitive enough to know what 1 or 2 shoes mean, the fact is that the Secret Service allowed the viewing public to perceive that they allowed this to happen….classic insensitive Americans….Bush’s immediate ludicrous insensitive remark……..first Americans kill-destroy and maim people and then somehow justify that shoe incident is an example of democracy so then it is ok?

If you win a war you are a hero. If you lose you are a war criminal. Since there is no win or lose with the Iraqi War that leaves Bush somewhere in the middle – except to the Iraqi people.

TimW-your right he does not represent 100% of Iraqis. More like 70%. End of war? We are staying there for years to come. Just watch.

Grand Old Party:
He was severely beaten according to several news outlets. At least that is the report. Probably by our SS no doubt.

Seriously…Regardless of who is President…one should review this tape frame by frame…it is totally unacceptable that SS was not in front of the President within 3 sec…not 6 sec……if the shoes had been weapons the president would not have made it.
This is NOT protecting the President…and the enemies of the US WILL study this….and God help us if they react before the secret service does.

You got to love these republican necon types on this blog. They do love their cowboy Bush.

The Agents were not in a spread defense. The first shoe never should have happened. Remember the movie ” Bodyguard ” Having done this detail for President Clinton, Federal Agents lack common street sense because they have no experienced trainers. Sorry to say it that way.

I can see one shoe maybe but for 2 thats crazy the S.S. drop the ball here and made the us look like Big Ass
I am no S.S. but if i would have been there that man would have been eating the Rug!
the lot of them should be let go even when they came in the room they didnt look like they new what was going on.

It’s obvious–the Secret Service was in on it! Why else would they be standing around with their thumbs up their butts while letting the attack continue for a second shoe-throwing round??? They are a disgrace to their profession and to Americans in general!!!!

as much as we like it or hate it. it was an act of GOD’s (ALLAH) will.
No SS detail can prevent unthinkable/umimaginable unless you get the audience dead naked which in itself will be humiliating! With what our country has done in the name of protecting US citizen and still doing, what more to come, who knows. During Prhphet Abraham days, Nimrod had an insect in his head. solution? his only solace was that his aides keep hitting him with shoes as the story goes in Muslim world. ALLAH knows better .
Ahmed

George W. Bush: Worst. President. Ever. Yet, even I am saddened by the shame that spectacle brings to the office. Bush loudly disobeyed two central premises of effective government: first, that although it is best to be loved AND feared, fear is better than love; and, that you must unite your allies and divide your enemies. The failed Bush Iraq policy revealed US weakness and provoked deep resentment in the Arab world. As a result, we are neither feared nor loved, while simultaneously we have divided our allies and united our enemies. Throw in wildly incompetent domestic policy and there you have it: Worst. President. Ever. We should all feel bad about it coming to this.

Those secret service agent sould be fires ASAP, and maybe they should be given a job taking care of elderlies.

what nonsense did you see how long it too secret service to shield the prez…they were ridiculously slow