Shoe-Thrower: Who Says He Hasn't the Right?

Rachel Maddow, on her December 16, 2008 show, said that one stage of her reaction was that the shoe-thrower did not have the right to lob his footwear at the President because despite everything, he still is the President of her country and, "I don't care who he is, that's out of line, you don't throw shoes at an American President."

Say what?!

Even if she changed her opinion thereafter, that is not only shocking, but also callously disturbing. People like Laura Logan and Michael Ware could argue far better than I could, but that is a ridiculous attitude considering what Americans – and the American President – have done to the nation of Iraq. Ok, imagine Russia invaded America, waging a war of "liberation" resulting in untold numbers of dead, and an upheaval/loss of one's stability and security in daily life. Would an American have a right, after more than five years, to throw a shoe at the Russian leader at the time?

To hear a Progressive spit out an opinion so non-progressive and unempathetic (to create a new word) towards the reality and plight of the Iraqi people is nauseating. That sentiment of country before humanity is precisely what progressives ought to be fighting against. Indeed, as we have learned of the Bush administration's desire to go to war with Iraq even prior to 9/11, Dave Chappelle's satire of a black Bush may well carry the same sentiment as Maddow: you can't do that to my daddy!

Could it be that Muntader al-Zaidi's actions will help galvanize the American public behind Bush after all? Did he unwittingly stoke the "my country, right or wrong" feeling at the core of Americans? I don't know, but it is telling when someone as well informed as Rachel Maddow sides with the President and the state over humanity; when she sits in a cozy studio in judgment of a man (and the nation he represents) who has seen first-hand the ravages of America's war of liberation, and can no longer bear the cacophony of emotions it has brought with it.