Iraqi shoe thrower couldnt stand Bush's Icy Smile

Donkey

Donkey

Active member
Check out this story, it's not the entire point of this post just something that got me thinking.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29273263/

See what I find interesting though is that had this man even considered to do this to Saddam or one of his sons he would probably have been killed. I'm almost willing to bet his entire family would have been tortured and killed.

It's just amazing to see that they are given the freedom to express themselves yet they look at it as a bad thing.
 
Well, he got his arms broken instantly, if this helps your worries about too much freedom to express yourself?

Rattler
 
I will note that as long as you stayed in line Iraq wasn't a bad place to live. At least there was electricity. At least there was no civil war. Starting a mess like this war doesn't help democracy; it hurts it. The people long for stability after six years of violence; easily provided by a dictator, harder for a president to provide. Look at the aftermath of the English Civil War. After a time the King was re-instated just to get stability. It's how Napoleon became emperor.

The smile, meanwhile. He kept it on, even in national disasters. Even when talking about war. You can't smile and talk about war, unless you're fighting a conventional war and you're kicking *ss! A smile, that may have been intended to say, "I'm calm in time of danger and fear," instead came off as, "I have NO clue what's going on."
 
The Other Guy said:
I will note that as long as you stayed in line Iraq wasn't a bad place to live.
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you are kidding...right? How about how the Kurds and how they were gassed? How about the Kuwaitis who were lined up and shot against a wall after Iraq invaded. I know because I saw the bullet holes in that wall as I trained for war. Lets not forget the videos of Iraqi police throwing suspects off second story buildings with their hands bound and their crime was being suspected of speaking out against Saddam. Need you forget how Saddam's sons would go down the road and pick out young women to be rapped. Their families would be killed if they spoke out. How about torturing the Olympic soccer team for losing. Do I need to show you the pictures of Saddam's personal horse stable where the horses drank from marble fountains and lived in Marble stables while the Iraqi people starved? Related are the dozens of places and more that were constructed between the gulf wars.

I guess I convinced myself. Iraq wasn't a bad place if you toed the line.
 
I always thought George Bush's smile was more in line with the "What me worry" look of Alfred E. Newman the comic book character from Mad Magazine .
 
Yeah but Eltee, they had electricity. You forgot to mention the certain buildings in Baghdad that have meat hooks hanging from the ceiling, tubs and vats for acid "baths" etc, and blood spatter on the walls that still bleeds thru the paint.
 
I know it is a little off subject, but since you are talking about the electricity in Iraq, .... weren't there a few of our soldiers electrocuted because of faulty electricity? I thought I read where at least one was electrocuted in the shower...
 
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AB_Shorts_Momma said:
I know it is a little of subject, but since you are talking about the electricity in Iraq, .... weren't there a few of our soldiers electrocuted because of faulty electricity? I thought I read where at least one was electrocuted in the shower...
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They don't really have electrical codes or people trained to inspect and enforce any codes they have.

There is a couple articles written on this including a cover story in the most recent EC and M.
http://www.ecmweb-digital.com/ecmweb/200901/

While yes these installations where mostly done by American Contractors (KBR) I can tell you I see plenty of major code violations in daily life in the US alone.

The issue seemed to be one with very bad grounding practices, something else that is also a very common occurrence in the US. Though if I can find the picture I saw of a meter from ground to a water stream from a faucet showing 100 something volts I was rather amazed.

However this is all very much off topic-ish..
 
Bush, whose support of Israel and decision to invade Iraq in 2003 to oust Saddam Hussein made him passionately disliked in the region...
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I guess Al-Zeidi must not have been a reporter when Saddam was overthrown. I remember the statue coming down and the Iraqis celebrating!
 
Bush's arrogant smirk was his method of showing contempt for people who disagreed with him. Which at the time of the shoe-thrower, was almost everybody.

Was Saddam a rotten apple? Yes. but there are lots of rotten apples in the world are we going to bomb them all or just the ones that have large oil supplies?
 
mmarsh said:
Bush's arrogant smirk was his method of showing contempt for people who disagreed with him. Which at the time of the shoe-thrower, was almost everybody.

Was Saddam a rotten apple? Yes. but there are lots of rotten apples in the world are we going to bomb them all or just the ones that have large oil supplies?
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Saudi Arabia next then!!
 
mmarsh said:
Bush's arrogant smirk was his method of showing contempt for people who disagreed with him. Which at the time of the shoe-thrower, was almost everybody.
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I never thought of Bush's smile as anything more than his "public face". Perhaps some didn't like it, but I'm guessing it was meant more of a reassurance that all would be ok than intending to be a smirk or condesending.
 
AB_Shorts_Momma said:
I never thought of Bush's smile as anything more than his "public face". Perhaps some didn't like it, but I'm guessing it was meant more of a reassurance that all would be ok than intending to be a smirk or condesending.
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The public face never changed. He showed emotions similar to an Irish Setter. The same blank, dim-witted grin at all times, no matter what the situation.
 
The Other Guy said:
The public face never changed. He showed emotions similar to an Irish Setter. The same blank, dim-witted grin at all times, no matter what the situation.
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Public Face... no matter how you describe it he kept the same expression. Whether you call it "blank, dim-witted grin" that "never changed" or "arrogant smirk" or even "the 'What me worry' look of Alfred E. Newman" it all amounts to he had the same smile, same expression, no matter what the situation. It wasn't meant to be superior, condescending, or even icy. He had the same expression for 8 years. And as much as people want to complain now that he is out of office... the man was voted into office a second time. Obviously he did something right at the time.
 
AB_Shorts_Momma said:
Public Face... no matter how you describe it he kept the same expression. Whether you call it "blank, dim-witted grin" that "never changed" or "arrogant smirk" or even "the 'What me worry' look of Alfred E. Newman" it all amounts to he had the same smile, same expression, no matter what the situation. It wasn't meant to be superior, condescending, or even icy. He had the same expression for 8 years. And as much as people want to complain now that he is out of office... the man was voted into office a second time. Obviously he did something right at the time.
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Yes he did, he created such an atmosphere of fear that people wet their pants, just like Adolf Hitler did in 1932...and like Adolf created one hell of a mess. The point is, as OTG stated we cannot go around invading countries because "a bad man" lives there...we'd be at war literally forever.

As for the shoe-thrower, you reap what you sow. Personally I am not bothered by what he did. Nobody in Iraqi asked us to "liberate" them from Saddam except for a few self-serving individuals living in exile whom merely wanted to be put in Saddam's place. That doesn't mean they were not glad to be rid of him but who are we to be playing kingmaker around the world? Lots of people would have liked to invade the US and thrown out Bush, personally I'd have been grateful to be rid of Bush a few years early, but I never asked anyone to actually do it. On top of it, Bush created a mess in Iraq, you cannot expect people not to be angry about it.
 
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mmarsh said:
Yes he did, he created such an atmosphere of fear that people wet their pants, just like Adolf Hitler did in 1932...
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An atomophere of fear where people wet themselves??? Adolph Hitler??!!

I can't believe we're actually talking about the same person. I'll agree to disagree, because I don't believe we are going to find common ground on THAT one at all.
 
AB_Shorts_Momma said:
An atomophere of fear where people wet themselves??? Adolph Hitler??!!

I can't believe we're actually talking about the same person. I'll agree to disagree, because I don't believe we are going to find common ground on THAT one at all.
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Don't you don't remember 2004? I sure as hell do.

Just one of many, many, examples:

Dick Cheney: [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Kerry Victory Will Lead to Another Terrorist Attack on US!"[/FONT]

Pretty obvious no? Suggesting that a political opponents victory would lead to another terrorist attack is pretty obvious attempt to scare people into voting for you don't ya think? And the sad thing is people actually believed him.

And yes Hitler did the Same thing when he spoke of the ills of Judaism and Bolshevism. That's how he was able to create of anti-semitism within Germany.
 
I LIVED IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2004... I didn't just read about what was going on in the US. The propaganda below isn't anymore believeable than the Obama cult.
 
AB_Shorts_Momma said:
I LIVED IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2004... I didn't just read about what was going on in the US. The propaganda below isn't anymore believeable than the Obama cult.
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Well, I was surprised you said there wasn't climate of fear because Cheneys statement (and others) was very well documented at the time. But perhaps you just missed it.

Regardless people did believe it. Why do you think won Bush reelection? His popularity was already below 50% Do you really think it was due to the fantastic job he did? Never underestimate Fear is a powerful political motivator. Its not the first time fear tactics have been used in US politics (McCarthyism).

Bush won because he was able to scare people, simple as that.
 
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