If An Arab Throws A Shoe And You Don't Consider It Insulting Is His Dog Barefoot?

Shoe Insult Against Bush Resounds In Arab World

A day after an Iraqi television journalist threw his shoes at President George W. Bush at a news conference here Sunday, his act of defiance toward the American commander in chief reverberated throughout Iraq and across the Arab world. [...]

Hitting someone with a shoe is a deep insult in the Arab world, signifying that the person being struck is as low as the dirt underneath the sole of a shoe. Compounding the insult were Zaidi's words as he hurled his footwear: "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!" While calling someone a dog is universally harsh, among Arabs, who traditionally consider dogs unclean, those words were an even stronger slight.

Whatever blows their hair back.

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Tim Russert Dead At 58

NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert Dies at 58

Russert, host of top-rated Sunday talk show "Meet the Press," reportedly died of a heart attack. He was 58.

A noticeably shaken Tom Brokaw made the announcement live from New York, saying his colleague collapsed and died early Friday afternoon in the NBC News bureau in Washington.

Brokaw said Russert had just returned from a trip to Italy with his wife, Maureen Orth, and son, Luke, to celebrate Luke's graduation from Boston College.

Believe me, I yelled at the screen more than once when watching him interview people. He had a decidedly liberal bent for which he made no apologies. Still, that didn't stop him from holding a politicians feet to the fire regardless of what side of the aisle they were on. The world will miss his sharpness, pointed questions and no-nonsense style.

My condolences and prayers to his family.

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Amnesty, Soccer, and the Metric System

Apparently the New York Times considers the term "most Americans" to mean only those who live on Manhattan. Ann Coulter takes them to task:

On Sunday, Times readers learned that despite this year's historic revolt of normal Americans against amnesty for illegal aliens: "Some polls show that the majority of Americans agree with proposals backed by most Democrats in the Senate, as well as some Republicans, to establish a path to citizenship for immigrants here illegally."

Was the reporter who wrote that sentence the Darfur bureau chief for the past year? By "some polls," I gather he means "a show of hands during a meeting of the Times editorial board" or "a quick backstage survey in the MSNBC greenroom." [...]

It is against my best interests to mention how utterly out of touch Times editors and reporters are with any Americans east of Central Park West and west of Riverside Drive. I enjoy watching the Democratic presidential candidates take clear, unequivocal positions in favor of driver's licenses for illegals and then denouncing those very positions a week later (after the real polls come in).

Some people love watching the trees change color every fall. I enjoy watching the candidates' positions on immigration change. [...]

Using the Times' calculus, "most Americans" have also enthusiastically embraced soccer and the metric system.

The New York Times...all the irrelevant, erroneous news that's unfit to print.

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Dan Rather May Seek To Depose President Bush In Lawsuit

And that's the real reason for the lawsuit, folks: Bush Derangement Syndrome

Former "Evening News" Dan Rather choked back tears on several occasions today when discussing his decision to file a lawsuit against CBS and he left many audience members with a sense that he may call President George W. Bush as a witness should the lawsuit proceed to trial (and Rather said he hoped it would).

When asked by Carol Joynt, host of the "Q&A Café" held at Nathans restaurant who worked with Rather at CBS in the 1970s, whether "he'd like to" call President Bush as a witness in the trial, Rather said "I'd like not to answer the question," leaving both Joynt and audience members wondering whether the newsman has Bush in his sights." Joynt later told Yeas & Nays, "From the look in his eye -- and he gave me a definite Ratheresque look -- I got the impression he will call the president as a witness. Possibly both of them: 41 and 43. He implied the suit is not against them, but what the suit is about stems directly from his antagonistic relationship with them."

The poor man just cannot accept that he was wrong, that the story was false, that he deserved the ass-kicking he got for such blatant partisan lies.

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Let It Go Dan... Just Let It Go

Poor Dan Rather just can't get over the ignominious end of his career at CBS.

Rather: Government Influencing Newsrooms

Dan Rather said Thursday that the undue influence of the government and large corporations over newsrooms spurred his decision to file a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and its former parent company.

"Somebody, sometime has got to take a stand and say democracy cannot survive, much less thrive with the level of big corporate and big government interference and intimidation in news," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live." [...]
Rather narrated the September 2004 report that said Bush disobeyed orders and shirked some of his duties during his National Guard service. It also said a commander felt pressured to sugarcoat Bush's record.

The story relied on four documents, supposedly written by Bush's commander in the Texas Air National Guard, the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian. Critics questioned the documents' authenticity and suggested they were forged.

A panel selected by the network to investigate the story determined that it was neither fair nor accurate. CBS fired the story's producer and asked for the resignations of three executives because it could not authenticate documents used in the story. Rather was forced out of the anchor chair he had occupied for 24 years.

On CNN, Rather dismissed the panel's review, claiming it was not impartial.

"This was in many ways a fraud. It was a setup," he told King.

The poor man still believes the National Guard story meant to tarnish President Bush during the 2004 campaign was true, although now he claims to only be the narrator and not the hard hitting journalist he's always portrayed himself to be. It's quite sad, really.

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The New York Times: Helpful Hints For Hezbollah

Not content to merely sabotage national security, the New York Times is now giving tips on how terrorists can best attack the United States...

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The Old Gray Lady Fades Some More

The New York Times is shrinking. Maybe this means they can leak less national security information to our enemies.

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