The 2nd-funniest thing out of Iraq this week

No doubt you've seen the video an irate journalist throwing both of his shoes at President Bush. And, in case you haven't, it's definitely worth it. The man apparently yelled, "This is a farewell kiss, you dog!" just before hurling the shoes, neither of which--regrettably--found its intended target. But as gleefully absurd as this little incident was in its own right, and make no mistake: things this good are usually fattening, it's actually a related point to which I'd like to call enhanced attention:

It happens that, over the past two days, a large and diverse assortment of reporters, anchors, news-talk hosts, and miscellaneous minions of the mainstream press, have been going way, way, way out of their way to explain to us that, in "Arab cultures" it is considered the height of disrespect to throw a shoe at somebody's head. This impulse started out genuinely well-meaning, since it is both true and conceivably interesting that certain cultures reserve the display of the sole of a shoe for especially marked acts of discourtesy. But friends, that isn't what our typically lazy and credulous wire-plagiarizers have been saying. Oh no: They've been saying that it's considered impolite to throw a shoe. At someone's head. In certain cultures.

I don't know about you, but I think I'll die a happy man without having visited any more cultures where throwing a shoe at the other guy's noggin is an accepted means of saying hello. After all, I've already spent one week in Boston.

Dave O'Gorman
("The Key Grip")
Gainesville, Florida