Friends, I know that the U.S. is fond of seeing itself as a beacon on the hill but in fact the real beacon on the hill for the world is the man who threw his shoes at Bush.
The picture of Bush cowering as the harmless but deeply symbolic, derogatory missiles sailed over his head plus the knowledge that the assailant was simultaneously calling Bush a ‘dog’ will live in my memory forever!
According to Al Jazeera today, it appears his sentence has been reduced from three years to one and that means he could be out of jail by December this year and even earlier if his good behaviour is recognized. Sanity has finally prevailed in Iraq and hopefully the man will be made a national hero as he deserves.
This man, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, has shown to the world what individuals can achieve if they have the courage of their convictions. His act of defiance and bravery sent shock waves around the world. It made leaders everywhere experience a shiver of fear as they saw that this act by one man symbolized a weakness in their seeming control of the masses.
The truth is that the authorities cannot control the masses using force. We outnumber them. They cannot put 6.5 billion unhappy, rebellious people in jail.
If we all expressed ourselves as Muntadhar did, then we, the people, can take our world back from morons like Bush, extreme governments, corporations, banksters, clerics, media moguls, and the robber barons and turn it into a place that looks after everyone, not just the cunning, the wealthy, and the unscrupulous!
This news item is good news for the world. We, the people, have real power.
Let’s use it to make our earth a better place!
al-Zeidi sort of reminds me of the Tiananmen Square tank man, truly heroic and spontaneous. But we will never know who the tank man was. Maybe when the time is right sheeple will become more spontaneous in their actions against the masters of the universe. It wouldn’t take many people to do something like this before others followed their actions in droves.
I remember the final days of the Bush administration, the American public actual had a blow up doll of bush on the pavement out front of the White house and people were lining up to thrown shoes at the doll as if it was bush himself, they (a thousand people) were having a great time, even encouraging people passing by to have a go and see if they could hit him in the face. The Secret Service got involved by collecting the shoes (that went over the fence), putting them in a Truck and dumping them back at the crowd for reuse. One SS guy even acknowledged that all the protesters had won.
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I read an article that claimed there were actually 6,000 people at the very top of the economic/power peak, whose actions ran the world. Seems such a small number, and even if their lackeys and minions totalled another 50 million, it’s incomparable to 6.5 billion. The problem is how to harness that potential energy of mass population, how do you direct its force, in what manner is the change to occur? As long as sufficient crumbs from the Master’s table keeps them content, I think the sheeple will remain the docile little beasts they’re so fond of being. Only truly catastrophic change will suffice to wake them. But we can hope for the best…
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Hey David,
Finally some good news! Its great to hear of al-Zeidi’s jail time reduced to 1 year. Its people like him, Hugo Chavez and George Galloway who make me go to bed with high hopes that we, the people, can turn the tide around for the benefit of humanity! After all, the world is for ALL OF US!
Irfaan
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Kemosobi, Coyote and Irfaan, it is great to be able to celebrate a bit of good news for a change. The inspirational potential of what this man did must be broadcast far and wide.
On release, he must be lauded for standing up to one of the most disgraceful, pathetic leaders the world has ever seen. Sure he got beaten, served a bit of jail time, but, undaunted, he spoke loudly for the masses, showed them the way to express both dissent and disdain.
He is a true hero!
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While I grieve for the gynocologist who lost his three daughters to the terrorist Israelis during “Cast Lead” I’d rather see Muntadher get the Peace Prize.
The simplicity and spontaneity were inspirational, he lifted the spirits of the downtrodden of the whole world, he lifted my spirit immensely and he has my gratitude.
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What purpose is served by his being a day longer in incarceration?
Maybe to set an example for others to not throw shoes?
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Ken, the purpose is for the American stooges in the Iraqi Government to show their Masters that they are upholding the ‘status’ of imperial America! As far as democracy goes, Iraq is a farce! Cheers.
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