“Right in the Kisser!”

Throw one at Bush! Iraq, you missed. Norway you were right on target! Meanwhile, in Germany, cautious hesitation reigns. George Bush’s shoe attack is now an online game.

Now a shoe comes flying from the direction of Norway. Since Iraqi journalist Muntadr al-Zaidi’s shoe attack barely missed George Bush’s head on Sunday, the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang has been offering the public another crack at it. In an online game, the paper gives readers a chance to “throw a shoe at Bush!” You don’t go to jail if you’re on target, you just get the merry message, “Right in the kisser!”

The Internet community approves of the attack, praises the Norwegians’ courage – as well as that of TV news editor al-Zaidi – and enthusiastically forwards the game via online forums and blogs. The would-be copycat attackers trade tips on the best angle and speed to produce the biggest bruise on Bush’s forehead. The Progressive Democrats of America, an independent coalition of political activists within the Democratic Party, have even placed a link to the game on their website.

Meanwhile, German advocates for freedom of the press are being very circumspect in their opinions of the show-throwing game. At Amnesty International, nobody will comment on the attack. At Reporters Without Borders (RWB), you can’t even find al-Zaidi’s name on their worldwide list of incarcerated journalists. They haven’t decided whether he should be listed at all at RWB: “We haven’t commented as of yet. We have to call Paris first,” spokeswoman Anja Viohl told us. The research is probably running full tilt at their Paris headquarters. Before RWB begins demanding the shoe-thrower’s release, the background details first have to be clarified. “It depends on how long he stays locked up and whether freedom of the press is being denied,” says Viohl.

How American security agencies will deal with the press in the future is also unknown at this point. Whatever the outcome, the flying shoes have already become a symbol for this new form of protest – a form of gentle violence. It can probably be countered only by an overall prohibition on shoes, but when journalists covering future press conferences are forced to undress, RWB and Amnesty International will assuredly have to take some kind of action.