Air Marshals Stop Alleged 'Shoe Bomb' Attempt On United Jet to Denver

All there is right now.

Federal air marshals subdued a man who authorities say attempted to "light his shoes on fire" on a United flight from Washington Reagan to Denver Wednesday night, federal law enforcement officials told ABC News.

Authorities say an explosive team is on the way to the airport, and that while the presence of explosives has not yet been confirmed, they believe it was an attempted "shoe bomb."

The suspect was identified by authorities as a diplomat in the Qatar embassy in Washington, Mohammed al Modadi. The FBI said the man had full diplomat immunity as the 3rd secretary and vice-consul.

UPDATE: Per a reader just now: According to a CNN report, this is a midlevel Qatar diplomat who may have been smoking in the bathroom. This was a total misunderstanding.

Huge Dickhead Update-

A federal official said that the man went to the bathroom to smoke a cigarette, and was confronted by air marshals on board the plane. The passenger understood he had diplomatic immunity, and made sarcastic comments that the marshals took as a threat, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Hey Kids! Getcher Proud Gun-Totin' American Mccain/Palin Keds Shoes!

By GottaLaff

Tired of the same old walking shoes? Feet get pinched by Nikes? Need a new spring in your step? Then these are for you!

(click on images to enlarge)

Today, Keds has a myriad of fun, fresh styles from the classic champion sneaker and sportier sneakers, to ballet flats and wedges. The future for Keds will continue to bring fashionable styles that are stylish and sophisticated and that have innovative advancements in performance, materials and prints.

Nothing says fun and fresh like advertising lethal weaponry on your feet! And who better to associate with stinky sneakers and death than... ? Why, yes! Death Panel Barbie and J Sid, that's who!

H/t: hmbascom

PhotObama: The next Big Outrage

By GottaLaff

Original post.

Gasp! Socialist!

Sarah Palin's Red Naughty Monkey Heels

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

Paddy says the bidding is at about $600 now. What a bargain in this economy, especially for used footwear-- with hearts on the soles worn by a nincompoop with neither heart nor soul.

Secret Service arrests shoe-thrower

By GottaLaff

Ahh, the good ol' days.

I'm not sure what the thrower was expecting to hit, but Bush is even ducking shoes, even if figuratively, on his way out:

The Secret Service has arrested and is questioning a 30-year-old man for tossing a shoe this afternoon over the South fence of the White House. [...]

Hill has been charged with disorderly conduct. He's still undergoing questioning, but it's likely he won't be held, sources said.

You think Georgie guessed this guy's shoe size?

Compassionate Progressivism: Biden feels "badly for Bush"

By GottaLaff

"Compassionate" conservatism, you had your chance, and you failed miserably. You want compassion? Here's your compassion:

Vice President-elect Joseph Biden said in an interview that while “it’s presumptuous to feel sorry for another man,” he does feel “badly” for President Bush, especially after an Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at the president earlier this month.

Biden said the incident was “unfortunate” and “uncalled for” during an interview on CNN’s Larry King Live set to air Monday night.

I have to disagree. It may have been unfortunate for Bush, but it wasn't uncalled for. BushCo is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. I think this degree of anger is absolutely called for. I'm no proponent of violence, to say the least, and Shoe Guy should have refrained, but I can't seem to muster up any compassion for the target.

“I think President Bush and, unlike Vice President Cheney, is, upon reflection beginning to acknowledge some of the serious, if not mistakes, misjudgments that he made,” Biden said.

Oh-h-h, suh-nap! Take that, Big Dick.

Biden also said in the interview that international expectations for President-elect Obama's administration are “overwhelming.”

Biden said he is not as worried about the “exceedingly high expectations” for Obama domestically as he is internationally.

“I have been contacted by so many world leaders,” Biden said. "Their expectation for Barack's presidency is overwhelming. They are hungry to have an American leader who they think has a policy that reflects our stated values as well as one they can talk to.”

International scorn for the current president is in such stark contrast to the high hopes for the future one. No wonder Biden feels "badly" for Bush.

Turkish shoemaker of "Bye-Bye Bush Shoe" gets 300,000 orders

By GottaLaff

Bush. Shoe. Mike Meyers. 16 seconds.

Flying sole-lo:

The shoe hurled at President George W. Bush has sent sales soaring at the Turkish maker as orders pour in from Iraq, the U.S. and Iran.

The brown, thick-soled “Model 271” may soon be renamed “The Bush Shoe” or “Bye-Bye Bush,” Ramazan Baydan, who owns the Istanbul-based producer Baydan Ayakkabicilik San. & Tic., said in a telephone interview today.

“We’ve been selling these shoes for years but, thanks to Bush, orders are flying in like crazy,” he said. “We’ve even hired an agency to look at television advertising.”[...]

Baydan has received orders for 300,000 pairs of the shoes since the attack, more than four times the number his company sold each year since the model was introduced in 1999. The company plans to employ 100 more staff to meet demand, he said.

There's the answer to our tanking economy, right there. "Bye-Bye Bush" shoe factories. President Obama can call the upswing the "Bush Shoe Economy". The "Shoo, Bush!" economy?

“Model 271” is exported to markets including Iraq, Iran, Syria and Egypt. Customers in Iraq ordered 120,000 pairs this week and some Iraqis offered to set up distribution companies for the shoe, Baydan said.

A company in Maryland ordered 4,000 pairs. See? Instant upswing.

H/t: TPM

Saturday Editorial Cartoon

The irreplaceable Luckovich.

Protesters shake shoes at US Embassy in London

Some people may not think it's the most embarrassing presidential moment, but it does seem to be catching on.

LONDON – Protesters shook their shoes at the U.S. Embassy in London on Friday in a show of support for a jailed Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference in Iraq.

Up to 50 demonstrators, some carrying shoes mounted on sticks, protested the arrest of journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi and called for his release.

(snip)

The protest ended when demonstrators dumped their shoes — including high heels, sneakers, and slippers — into a box in front of the U.S. Embassy at London's Grosvenor Square.

White House Shoe Protest

Shoe-In

By GottaLaff

Bush's laces have been untied for years:

About 20 people have protested the war in Iraq by tossing shoes at a fellow demonstrator wearing a prison uniform and mask of President George W. Bush outside the White House.

The group yelled, "This is a goodbye kiss from the people of America!" They also arranged along a curb about 120 pairs of shoes tagged with the names of Iraqis who have died as a result of the war.

Medea Benjamin, of the national peace group CODEPINK, says the protest was organized as a show of solidarity with Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi (MOON'-tuh-dahr ahl-zay-EE'-dee), who was jailed after throwing his shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday.

The protesters on Tuesday delivered a letter to the Iraqi embassy calling for al-Zeidi to be released from jail.

The shoe episode is the image Bush is stuck with now. How fitting for someone who walks all over his own country.

So who was the shoe-thrower?

By GottaLaff

I'm sure they're treating Zaidi very well since the incident, because, you know, Iraq is a model of freedom and democracy now that Bush's war has knocked some sense into them. Here's a little insight into who he is:

Muntathar Al Zaidi is a 29-year-old Iraqi reporter for the Cairo-based Baghdadiyah Television. According to friends, Zaidi covered and was "emotionally influenced by" the American bombings of Sadr City in Baghdad earlier this year and was also kidnapped by Shiite gunmen in 2007 and held for three days. "This is a goodbye kiss, you dog," Zaidi shouted as he threw his shoe at Bush. He shouted "killer of Iraqis, killer of children," from the bottom of the secret-service scrum that engulfed him, and then, "my hand, my hand." Zaidi's television network demanded his immediate release.

I guess this is expresses how he felt after Bush sent people to his town to kill his friends and family. In their society, per Thom Hartmann, this is considered a non-violent way to hurl an insult (literally) at someone.

Shoe-thrown at Bush is "signal moment in Middle East"

By GottaLaff

Bush can brag all he wants about that "free society" he bombed into Iraq, but he may encounter some strong disagreement:

According to the Associated Press, Muntader al-Zaidi’s shoe-throwing display of anger at George W. Bush is becoming a signal moment in the Middle East. The AP reports that Palestinian journalists are asking each other who’s going to throw their shoes at Condoleezza Rice. A jokey text message going around Saudi Arabia tells recipients that yesterday was the International Day for Shoes in Iraq.

What’s not funny is that back in Baghdad al-Zaidi is being interrogated, which probably means he’s being tortured. Iraqis are demanding his release, and for good reason: he’s not been charged with anything. Citing official sources, the AP reports that he’s being “tested for alcohol and drugs,” and I’d guess that the Maliki government is floating such un-Islamic behavior on al-Zaidi’s part as a way of preventing Iraqis from venerating him into a national hero while the government puts the screws to him.

Reactions in the Middle East include:

“Al-Zeidi is the man,” said 42-year-old Jordanian businessman Samer Tabalat. “He did what Arab leaders failed to do.”

Hear that, President Dawg?

Sole Man: Epitaph of the Bush years

By GottaLaff

Bush can attempt to rewrite history, but three-quarters of us know better:

"If Bush ever hopes to have the history of his presidency revived, a la Truman, it's going to start with success in Iraq. That's why it must have been that much harder for him to deal with the fact he had shoes thrown at him in his final visit to the country before he leaves office. It's bad enough in our last NBC/WSJ poll that 79% of Americans said they wouldn't miss him -- but at least no one is throwing shoes at him stateside. In that same poll, we asked respondents to judge Bush on his greatest achievements and failures. Not surprisingly, Iraq was at the top (or near it) in both lists. Removing Saddam Hussein was seen as Bush's second greatest accomplishment, but going into Iraq and starting a war was seen as his greatest failure. Iraq is THAT complicated for Bush and his legacy. This economic downturn in the last year of his presidency probably serves as the exclamation point on a public judgment of a below-average presidency for him. But Iraq has always been viewed as Bush's last chance at historical redemption. The good news for him: He's taking this with humor and, as he points out, journalists could not have done that in Iraq eight years ago. But yesterday's shoe-throwing incident -- the showing of the sole of a shoe is a great insult in Arab culture, NBC's John Yang points out -- might very well be the epitaph of the Bush presidency."

The obvious joke: Bush is a heel. Oh wait. That's wrong. The obvious joke is Bush himself. A really, really bad joke.

Elitist alert! John Sidney McFerragamo is being presumptuous!

By GottaLaff

Barack Obama is the elitist? Oh really? Hmmm. I think it's awfully presumptuous of John Sidney McBeerWealth to ramble on and on about Obama's so-called airs when he's striding around in these:

Salvatore Ferragamo 'Pregiato' Moccasin [Neiman Marcus]

He has worn a pair of $520 black leather Ferragamo shoes on every recent campaign stop — from a news conference with the Dalai Lama to a supermarket visit in Bethlehem, PA. The Calfskin loafers, with silver-tone "Gancini" buckles, are imported from Italy.

In response to Barack Obama's foreign tour, McCain spent much of his energy last week emphasizing his focus on domestic issues. What better way to show his American pride than to tour the country in Italian leather?

Arriving in the loafers at Bakersfield, CA

July 20: John McCain began his week in the $520 Ferragamo "Pregiato Moccasins" in a golf cart with George H.W. Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine.

July 21: He wore them again onstage with a less well-dressed child during a campaign stop at the Maine Military Museum in South Portland, Maine.

July 24: The silver buckles on John McCain's Ferragamo shoes glistened in the light onstage at the Livestrong Summit with with Lance Armstrong and Paula Zahn.

July 28: McCain wore the shoes again while visiting the Red Ribbon Ranch Oil Lease in Bakersfield, CA. While workmen walked the terrain in hard hats and construction boots, McCain got a tour of the rig in his Italian loafers.

Nothing says "authentic" like fancy-schmancy shoes that cost more than much of America makes in a week. One might say he's dressing as a president would dress. How uppity of him.

H/t: Commenter Clancy

(Note: I skipped a photo or two, but please visit Huffington Post for the complete set.)