Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Man of the Year: Iraqi shoe guy



Collateral damage

18 comments:

Bohrstein said...

That was pretty man-of-the-year-ish.

13 Stoploss said...

As Time's person of the year in 2003, I feel like I have nothing on this man. I would like to shake his hand.

Anonymous said...

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN????

WASHINGTON -- Aretha Franklin will sing, the Rev. Rick Warren will pray and more than 11,000 U.S. troops will be watching over inauguration ceremonies in case of an attack during President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in on Jan. 20.

But not everyone is pleased with the president-elect's selection of Rev. Warren.

Joe Solomnese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, sent a blistering letter to the president-elect, accusing him of delivering a "genuine blow" to the gay community in choosing the reverend to give the formal invocation at next month's inauguration.

"[W]e feel a deep level of disrespect when one of architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination," he wrote.

torabora said...

Anyone can throw a shoe at anybody, but who can drop a two ton block of granite on someones head? Who?

And now that duh1 has selected Pastor Rick Warren to do the inauguration invocation I am waiting impatiently for the inevitable carping about the President-elects bellying up to right wing homophobic evangelical nut-jobs. What say you...Dissenters?

Anonymous said...

Gosh, wasn't TB who was telling us we'd never live without our beloved Hilary? (snort)

Get over TB - people - left and right - are seldom as kneejerk as you think.

Obama is reaching out the way he promised too. Not everyone he reaches will be people we all agree with - I don't expect that. Me, I'll be interested in the tone Warren adopts - but the person I'm looking forward to, the one who has walked the walked, will have the last say - the venerable Rev. Joseph Lowery will give the benediction. That's a grand thing.

Don't know who he is? Look 'em up.

Anonymous said...

Aretha Franklin will be singing at the inaugral. So cool.

Anonymous said...

TB - yes, people will criticize Obama's choice - but you know, that FINE. That's democracy. That's how it works.

Anonymous said...

If Obama were to have one of the usual suspects (liberal Democrat) doing the prayer, Republicans would complain about that.

Warren represents Obama's willingness to converse with Evengelicals--you'll recall the famous McCain/Obama/Warren event.

Naturally, Obama is bringing in the likes of Warren in the same spirit now.

This is obvious to everyone, including the gay leaders who are now carping. They're just doing their jobs. Obama is doing his.

So far, he has exhibited the same intelligence he revealed throughout the election campaign. And I am very glad.

Anonymous said...

After Aretha sings, no one will remember what Warren said anyway...

Anonymous said...

A man assaults our President, and what do you do? You treat him like a hero!

What next? An appreciation of Charles Manson?

Anonymous said...

I just finished taking a philospohy class so I can tell you with confidence that the previous commentator has committed a fallacy!

It's the ever popular slippery slope fallacy, I believe.

Makes a splash but doesn't amount to much. People use it to discredit ideas without doing the hard work of reasoning - it's poor thinking and often used by people who want to rant rather than think.

Anonymous said...

Every year, the same point must be made: being named the Time "Man of the Year" is not an honor. It is, rather, a recognition that the person (or persons, or thing) was important with regard to events. E.g., Hitler was once Time's "Man of the Year." Time wasn't honoring the guy, OK? It was recognizing that he and his activities were important. Boy were they right about that.

And so if you have a complaint about (the fantastical notion that) the Iraqi reporter being named Time's MotY, then it must be that this shoeless fellow just isn't that important. Perhaps so, but this isn't something to get hot about. -RB

Anonymous said...

What's intersting about the choice of Warren is how it confounds people on the right like TB who seem to have trouble imagining that the left or the center left (or wherever it is you want us to stand on the gameboard) actually tolerate differences.

I can't stand Warren's views, by the way. I'm a happy pagan - but I am sort of glad he'll be there.

13 Stoploss said...

hey, where are the time stamps? I can't call out the anon more specifically for being butt-hurt about the run-by shoe'ing he thinks was assault...

unless those shoes had razor blades, seems pretty far fetched to me.

he's a hero for doing something millions of Americans and people all over the world have wanted to do for years--try to smack some sense into our President!

Anonymous said...

13 Stoploss was man of the year?

Roy Bauer said...

I do believe that "the soldier" or the U.S. GI was the "man of the year" for 2003. 13SL was in the Army at the time.

torabora said...

13Stoploss was an American soldier...and hence was Man of the Year. We should all be proud of them.

It was their service and sacrifice that enabled an Iraqi citizen to chunk a shoe at our President in Baghdad.

That wasn't exactly what we set out to accomplish nearly 6 years ago but the shoes are certainly a step in the right direction for the heretofore oppressed common Iraqi citizen. I believe that some day Bush will be looked on favorably ....in Iraq.

13 Stoploss said...

Apparently, the Yankees have just signed a new pitcher: http://www.borowitzreport.com/article.aspx?ID=6969

Thanks, TB. You're right, it was our commitment to rebuilding Iraq that enabled this journalist to make a stand without the fear of imprisonment and death he would have faced under Saddam's regime.

Also, not only was I in the Army in 2003, I was actually in Iraq when I found out Time had honored me. But don't skip over those important words Roy said above concerning honor and activities...

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...