13th-Century Illiterates

Do many Americans lack the ability to rally around the flag? The absent-mindedness of some Americans has proven to be appalling. There can be no greater sign of disrespect to a country than when an incident such as the infamous shoe attack occurred on President Bush’s recent surprise trip to Iraq.

What people are failing to realize is that when people show such a sign of disrespect to the president, they are doing so to the entire country. Then what happens, the public, instead of showing their outrage, exacerbate the issue by throwing the president under the bus.

Spoofs are ubiquitous on the Internet and are a sign of Americans spitting on itself. The most common are video games, YouTube videos and numerous pictures. Not to mention, people have gone live on national television making disgraceful comments, such as that they wish the president would have been hit. What kind of message does this send to the world? Clearly, we are becoming an international laughingstock.

I find this to be outrageous. No matter if you are in favor of President Bush’s policies or not, you should realize that he is still the president of the United States and we should show respect and set the example for others. To witness the ignorance of the uncivilized Iraqis’ marching and dancing in the street praising and hailing Muntader al-Zaidi as a hero is beyond comprehension and belief.

Unequivocally, if Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe had been on American soil giving a press conference, and the same thing happened to one of them — that is, they were attacked on American soil by having a shoe hurled at them — the American people would be livid, and in turn apologetic.

One needs to realize that this is about humanity, not about policy. No one, and I don’t care who you are, would want this to happen to them. So why would we want it to happen to our president? This act is appalling, inhumane and outrageous. How can anyone find anything to laugh at and make fun of when it comes to our commander in chief? If the thug had had a gun or weapon he would have tried assassinating our president of the United States. Think about it!

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