MORNING READ

by Chris Good - 12/15/08 9:48 AM ET

An Iraqi journalist has the U.S. blogosphere reeling today after throwing his shoes at President Bush during a news conference in Baghdad yesterday, while some wonder if Google is going back on its support for network neutrality.

It’s hard not to think the Iraqi journalist was funny, Matthew Yglesias decides, while noting that likenesses of Saddam Hussein were similarly assaulted with shoes after the U.S. invasion in 2003. Bush displayed “ninja-like reflexes” in avoiding the hurled shoes, The Weekly Standard’s John McCormack writes, while Firedoglake’s Blue Texan jokes that the journalist greeted Bush as a liberator.

Has Google turned evil? Open Left’s Matt Stoller wonders after The Wall Street Journal reported that Google has approached cable and phone companies seeking preferential treatment for its content. Google has supported equal access to online content–also known as “net neutrality”–but Kevin Drum says the story shows that Google is changing its tune. Google, meanwhile, has posted to its own blog defending it stance on the issue and questioning the Journal story.

And Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s (D) scandal has given Republicans in that state a rallying point as they call for a special election to fill President-elect Obama’s Senate seat, Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey writes. State legislators will consider that proposal this afternoon, Mark Halperin notes at The Page.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Challenged Minn. Ballots Counted This Week – kos, Daily Kos
Who Throws a Shoe? – John McCormack, The Weekly Standard
Trib Caused Premature Takedown – Andy McCarthy, The Corner
Ill. GOP Ad for Special Election – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Shoe Toss – Matthew Yglesias
Report: Iraq Criminal Justice Failures – Jeralyn, TalkLeft
Emanuel and Blago’s Office – John Nichols, State of Change
Blagojevich’s ‘Football’ – Steve Benen, Political Animal
Network Neutrality Update – Kevin Drum
A Less Perfect Union – J.G. Thayer, contentions