I was all excited about the news that Obama may not legally be eligible to be president, then the Iraqi shoe throwing hub bub broke. I'll save the Obama thing for later (we have at least 4 years to get back to it). While I don't think W has been the greatest president we've had, at least he's no Richard Nixon. The reason this episode bothers me is a matter of personal perspective I guess. He wasn't throwing his shoes at W, he was throwing them at the United States of America, me and you. If you're to believe most news outlets there's only a few of us that think the war in Iraq wasn't that bad an idea. I for one like the idea of being proactive and killing terrorists before they kill us. I know, I'm a hawk. I joined the Air Force and went into EOD in the 80's because of the Achille Lauro and TWA flight 847 and a whole list of Wikipedia entries of terrorism. I remember how angry and helpless I felt when Leon Kinghoffer's body was dumped overboard. I still see Robert Stedham's body hit the tarmac with that flat ugly thud. I used to think that the t-shirts they sold in Soldier of Fortune magazine were funny. The one that said "Hey I think I stepped in some Shiite" was particularly funny, especially after the Beirut bombing. I guess it's a softening that comes with old age but I don't subscribe to Guns and Ammo anymore. I find myself being more tolerant and politically correct than I used to be and I don't get a kick out of the new Paladin Press t-shirts. But even with all of that, as nice as I seem now there's still a part of me that holds to the "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" school of thought. Really the only reason I hope we get done in Iraq is so we can send more troops into Afghanistan. I remember Mike Farrell (BJ Honeycutt himself) proclaiming Afghanistan was the next Vietnam. Richard Gere suggested we not invade the country after 9/11 (and got booed off stage in New York City). Now everyone likes it for the go to war spot. Even Obama wants to go there, or I should say send our troops there.
I heard this afternoon on Paul Harvey that the "martyr" that threw the shoes is asking for a pardon. Pussy.
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