The video above of a man throwing his shoes at President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad on Saturday is sure to live on in infamy for many reasons: the sheer brazenness of the act, the incredible lack of adequate security surrounding the President of the United States (a journalist had to take the shoe tosser down), and the sad commentary on the President’s standing in the world during his waning days in office. It is already infamous on the Web, having gone viral through YouTube.
The YouTube video has been seen more than 5.5 million times across at least 640 sites different clips where it has been embedded, according to Visible Measures. The chart at left shows teh number of views between 7 AM and 5 PM on Monday.
In less than 12 hours the video went from 2 million to 5.5 million views, and may be on track to beat the Obama victory speech video in terms of viral reach in a 48-hour period. Is that how Bush will be remembered?
Update 12/16/08: On Tuesday, as of 3:30 PM ET, the number of views jumped to 10.7 million across 900 sites video clips, and it has racked up 83,000 comments. This is hotter than “Jizz in My Pants.”
as much as I dislike Bush, I have to admire his youthful reflexes.
laughing out loud.
http://www.yout...m/roadisdotmobi
Bush escapes twice
For the first time in his life, Dubya can actually be called ‘quick!’
He should have grabbed the shoe and thrown it right back!
ha ha，right
“the sad commentary on the President’s standing in the world during his waning days in office”
Right. Then I suppose the assassination of JFK (or RFK, or MLK) established the same?
Not only that, but he didnt even looked fazed by it in anyway, and afterwards he spoke of not even being the least bit frightened or upset by it. He could have blown this hugely out of proportion, but he didnt, and that shows maturity.
hes a bitch
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Well, its kind of tricky for security to say, remove your footwear before entering the meeting room. isn’t it.
But yeah, all security men can now actually start looking if somebody is fiddling with his shoe
I must admit, I was fairly surprised by his youthful reflexes as well
We created a game at sockandawe.com in honor of this historic moment 
Yeah, you left out one of the biggest points – his cat-like reflexes. I was amazed he dodge one of them, let alone two.
Bush is a historical president — history will be kinder to him than today’s electorate and pundits. It always surprises me that he’s not more popular in New York City — 7+ years without another attack on the number one terrorist target in the world. I don’t think it’s just pure luck.
I’m from NYC and you are a dumbass.
I live in NYC and Bush is the reason we are where we are now, you realize there still is a reminder everyday when u drive,walk,jog,bike,taxi,or bus down by WTC that there is still a big hole in the ground, if we wanted to send a message to the “alleged” people responsible it would be to rebuild ASAP. its funny how Tower 7 is up and running and already has tennants and were barely off the ground with the “Freedom Tower” BUSH is an ASS
Yeah, because Bush personally oversees construction projects.
I don’t love Bush, but I agree that history will be kinder to him than idiots like you. Your asinine assessment of his job as President is shockingly ignorant.
Having close personal friends involved in the anti-terror efforts I know for a fact that dozens of terrorist attacks that would have succeeded in the Clinton years were thwarted because of the (sometimes exceeding) zealousness of the Bush administration in fighting Terror.
Yeah Right! You really think Bush kept you safe?
First off, 9/11 happened on Bush’s watch. Preventing that would have been keeping you safe.
Second, Think about this, the first attempt to bring down the towers took place in 1993.
It took 8 years for the second and unfortunately successful attempt that brought the towers down.
So did Bill Clinton keep us safe for those 8 years (never hear anyone sayng that) OR did it take that long for the terrorist to regroup and try again?
the second shoe wasn’t that strong and he already knew it was coming…
but the first shoe was incredibly fast and right on target. and bush had no idea such a projectile was gonna be launched at him at such close range. kudos for his amazing reaction.
it will be funny if he is remembered for this.
best comment ever.
This is a real state of the world issue. Not just for Bush either. Peoples tolerance for their leaders dishonesty and antics has worn thin everywhere in the world. Respect can’t and shouldn’t be given because a man has a particular job.
If the leader of my country was a dick I wouldn’t expct people to respect him because I wouldn’t. (Incidentally he is a dick, but he didn’t order an invasion).
Sockandawe.com is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while.
It’s of the moment and quite entertaining in itself for 5 mins. It’s no mmorpg but it is funny.
They got any of video of a shoe being thrown at Saddam
if someone threw a shoe at Saddam they would have had their head cut off
If you slow the video down you can clearly see a second shoe thrower behind the grassy knoll
That shows that Bush has brought freedom to Irag. If that shoe thrower was doing that to Saddam, then there is no such thing as trial, he would have been taken to the gulag and shot and no one would hear about it. Bush brought that freedom to Iraq and showed these Western hatred people the same freedom us in the western world enjoyed, ie, the rule of law is in the work and not killing/persecution/hanging with no trial (law of the jungle).
Don’t forget that there were over 2000 American soldiers who lost their life to free these anti-western people from tyranny of their own countries. This shoe thrower’s action is a disrespect to those US soldiers who died in Iraq to free him from Saddam. I think that if the Iraqis don’t show respect, then they should be better go back to dictatorship/totalitarian state. I am sure that we can all watch the CNN evening news of how their dictator/s massacre them in massive numbers where they cry out , Uncle Sam Please Help Us.
Yeah, nevermind that as many Iraqis have died in the past 5 years (300,000) as did in the previous 25 years under Saddam. Ultimately they will probably be better off, but I’d say you can’t blame them for being a little pissed at the whole process.
the stability of the middle east will be determined by a stable and strong democratic Iraq.
The middle east is one of the last serious troublespots of anti-democratic movement
the stability in the middle east has been brought by america by creating israel and then manipulating inner movements in the middle east countries (they do it everywhere around the globe – selectively empowers the bad guys in a country)…usa needs instability around the world so that they can sell their weapons..warheads..and usa loves oil..gas and other natural resources…so usa wants these things from all over the world..democracy is not what usa wants…usa is liar
I have hear that later Mr.Bush invaded the guy’s sister’s socks.
It may well be fair to say that it’s a commentary on his standing, or even by extension America’s standing in the world, but that would be entirely missing the point. If other people’s or other nations’ opinion of you–your standing–is less important than the real, measurable freedoms you enjoy, then this video is ALSO a commentary on how successful the Bush Iraq policy has been. Yes, successful: A measurable giant leap for Iraqi freedom. How long does anyone honestly think such a man would stay alive under Saddam’s Iraq? Does anyone think EVEN THAT MAN would honestly want to have Saddam back?
freedom? ha! The few people who may have died under Sadam vs the hundreds of thousands who died when and after Bush invaded. And there will be thousands more.
Bush is an imbecile.
Few people died under Sadam? Um, what about the hundreds of thousands of Serbs he gassed?
Definitely not defending Saddam, but it was an order of magnitude less. Tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands. But he’s still evil.
I think you mean Kurds, not Serbs.
@Paly: Tens of thousands? Those are the ones he killed openly, which were covered by the news outlets. Conservative estimates of his underground massacres and executions are in the millions.
Right, with non-conservative estimates in the billions
You missed the main reason this video went viral – Bush’s Ninja like ducking movies.
Out of all the Bush videos out there with him doing/saying stupid stuff, this out ranks all of them.
Its the fastest he has moved in his 2 terms.
lets try this again
http://www.ihas.../1229313488.gif
and this again
http://www.host...76a009b87b2.gif
For those of you who don’t know, showing the bottom of your shoe is an insult in Arab cultures, which is why when American forces rolled into Baghdad and Iraqi’s ran out and thanked their “liberators” they jumped up and down on the face of Saddam posters they had torn down. I don’t agree with much of what Bush did, but this was an insult against Americans in general. The guy who threw the shoes refered to all Americans as dogs, another Arab insult. Personally, I was insulted by this act, as someone who fought for your freedom to post what you want on this website. Show a little class, stand up for America, instead of joining in mocking Americans. I read this blog to get more insight into the industry, not feel that I wasted 8 years of my life when I could have been raking it in with the rest of the web 2.0 world.
Yes we know! We know, we f**king know!
So the guy dose not like his new Iraq, he preferred Saddam as many here do, ok ok we get it
SD Vet – I think you missed the point of this.
This is a “tech” blog about all things that are “tech” and online – and all those bits that make us all feel warm and fuzzy inside.
The viral impact of this video is what is being discussed here, not the sociological meaning behind having a shoe thrown.
Albeit, I do admire his reflexes too. I bet half you guys (maybe me too) would have been beamed in the head with the first one…
Damion, give me a little credit, I know what TechCrunch is about, I even know about viral impacts (and sociology, oddly, that’s my degree, but I digress). You missed the point of all the other comments, not one, I just re-read them, discusses anything about the concept of viral impacts.
You are right SD – none of the comments talk about the viral impact, but that is because it was covered in the story itself, and besides, the viral impact is cool as hell, but no where near as funny as our Commander in Chief dodging a shoe.
Making the comment about the viral impact being discussed was in reference to the post itself, not the comments. I get comments on my blogs about things totally irrelevant to the posted content – no big deal, but just goes to show that not everyone stays focused and sometimes you just have to lighten up and have fun.
Keep in mind not to take everything personally. Life is about having fun and making the best of your time. I think you are reading too much into people’s comments here.
I go back to the song…
Don’t Worry….Be Happy.
Do Do do do, do do do do
Do do do do do do …do do do do do
Oops – got carried away there
Have a great one – doubt I will remember to check back on this post later.
P.S. Thx for your service.
is it true Bush runs with pacemaker…is it true Americans had elected a disabled man to rule the world for 8 years?
I wonder how many of this guy’s sister was raped by Udai or Kusay Hussein “back in da day” ?
and how many of your sisters were raped by American soldiers…they do that regularly in Iraq
Who throws a shoe?!? Honestly?
(Austin Powers clip http://www.yout...h?v=5D5oKEVqQJg)
Bush is a secret ninja, and now we have proof.
better throw a shoe than a cow
What’s up with that funky YouTube player?
Yeah seriously, why not use the normal youtube embed, so it will work on iphones and whatnot.
Bush did a great job ducking! Specially the first one.
I’m surprised the security was so bad. What if there was a bomb in one of the shoes?
Worst comment of the year. Anybody second this motion?
Right, because Muslim terrorists have never, ever tried to put a bomb in shoe to kill people. cough..richard reid…..cough…
SECOND!
Security was tight. These are pre-screened reporters with background checks who are frisked, sniffed, and put through a metal detector before entering the room. The only “danger” the president saw was a possible black eye. But he’s too catlike for that!
now we know what was referred as mass destruction weapons by bush….shoes with socks…they are so stinky
i wonder where he learn that move… probably monkey
No, it’s not how Bush is going to be remembered (he’s screwed up too many things), but the video is priceless nonetheless.
To Bush’s credit, he seemed to handle it quite well.
He’s just as good at ducking this shoe as he is with ducking the questions on the 9/11 commision, way to go Hilbilly
Next time I have a presentation to give, Im going to lead by asking everyone to remove their shoes at the door.
An act mixed with shame, humor, blasphemy, brazen disregard for the safety of others and a bit of sole!
I kind of think at the end there, they were stabbing the man – maybe that’s wishful thinking… oh, that’s NOT good? Geez… what happened to the good old days when Sadaam was around and you could pretty much beat, stab, rape and murder anyone you wanted to?
Freedom. Who needs it? The press? How easy they ignore, had they had their way, they’d be the first to die.
——-
If there was a lesson to learn from the number of times this video has been viewed, it’s that the REAL lesson in the video isn’t told properly. Bias and ignorance being what it is.
——
Last, I wish that all Americans could see the classified materials this, and every president gets to see – and especially so in the last 8 years. I bet most would piss their pants. We have no idea the threats we’ve faced… and the events he’s protected us from.
The first person to make sense.
bush is a ninja?
lawl. nice dodging.
whats with the new youtube player design?
ninja, or just plain chicken
chicken
No wonder we’re all are supposed to….. or for that matter… even atheists are supposed to take off their shoes when they visit a Hindu temple…. or even to go listen to our religious leaders speeches….
Speeches .. or preaches… but … they won’t let u in unless you have ur shows off…. safety measures?? Being the oldest religion on the planet??? we know what might happen?? … just kidding guys…
I never knew Bush was in the Matrix!
The video got damn popular. Many other wierd videos like this can be found collectively at a section called ‘Wierd news videos’on http://in.reuters.com/
Hey….do checkout this
http://in.reute...deoChannel=4200
He is fast like a cat!
hahaha … it shows how trained Mr. Bush is … i think he faced this situation very oftenly back at home and and seemed to handle it quite well … …. well done Mrs. Bush for practicing him
bush is like a dangrous dog for the world….. the newsreporter is doing well…
Are you faster than Bush?
take a look at this game – http://www.mind...oeincident.html
I did it in 150 milliseconds!..
The video was HILARIOUS! It couldn’t have happened to a better idiot…
Yes, it could have… it could have happened to you!
Hey I hate to break it to you guys but this whole thing was a marketing stunt for Nike’s new shoes, it’s the start of a major ad campaign in the middle east. If you look carefully you’ll see Bush is actually moving to the side and if you freeze the frames he’s winking and shaped just like the Nike logo.
Bam!
Heel be ok. Thankfully the press quickly stepped in to shoe the assailant away. Probably prevented another foot-in-mouth speech by Bush. Ok, enough shoe jokes from me.
lol funny… good reflex dubya
“I mean, who throws his shoe ?!? Honestly!!!” – Austin Powers
Gotta give Bush credit – he dodges ‘em like a pro – of course, he’s a good ‘dodger’.
In any case, for all of us who got a good laugh, think about this:
According to other reporters who were there, as they were dragging this guy away there was “a long trail of blood”. Additionally, there have been reports that he has been severely beaten. A confirmed story from major news outlets say that police have showed up at their house, confiscated a number of things including this guy’s cell phone, and made threatening statements like “you’ll be lucky to see him again”.
Also, this guy faces up to 7 years in prison for ‘insulting a guest of the prime minister’. And we’re not talking about American “country-club” prisons – Abu Graib is still open for business in this country and its now staffed by Iraqis who aren’t stupid enough to take pictures of how they abuse their prisoners with a broom handle.
So while it’s great to get a good yuk out of it, remember that in this part of the world, “they don’t play”, as it were. I mean, some guy in Iran is going to be blinded as punishment for blinding a woman and when my uncle was in Saudi Arabia, he saw public square hangings and cutting off of hands for stealing.
Not everyone in the world has this carefree, laugh at life attitude that we have here.
- Bill
Now where’s the app that will let me throw MY shoes at Bush!
More BushShoe Remix Updates at http://friendfe...ms/bushshoeroom
and http://krunchd.com/bushshoemix
That display of security was horrible and an embarrassment to the US. Where was the Secret Service in all this??? I expected to see a dude in a suit and sunglasses flying across the screen putting himself in harm’s way and taking a shoe to the chest for the Commander in Chief. What a let down…
LOL => funniest post yet!
Why isn’t anyone throwing more shoes ? Imagine going down in history as the worst U.S. president to ever hold office. What a legacy to leave. .
http://MillionShoeMarch.com
(Inspired by the Iraqi shoe chucker)
A special event in Washington, DC on January 20th, 2009:
- A million people…
- A festive march past the White House on Bush’s last day…
- A million shoes on the lawn!
- And then a jubilant welcome for Barack Obama!
THIS IS JUSTICE OF ALLAH. BUSH IS CRIMINAL,LAYER. HE IS responsible 4 deaths of million of iraqies.