Code Pink embraces shoe-thrower

Following the lead of Iraqi shoe-thrower Muntazer al-Zaidi, Code
Pink on Thursday launched its own protest using footwear.

The anti-war group known for disrupting congressional hearings featuring
prominent Bush administration officials gathered in Washington Thursday to put
hundreds of shoes in front of the White House. The group also hung shoes
outside a Marine Corps recruiting station in Berkeley, Calif.

{mosads}In the days after he missed President Bush, who quickly
dodged, high and left with both shoes, protests have been held across the Arab
world in support of al-Zaidi, who worked for an Egypt-based but Iraqi-owned
news organization.

The incident, which took place during a news conference Bush held
with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, has also been
immortalized in several Web games that made the rounds earlier this week. At
SockAndAwe.com, players are encouraged to hurl footwear at Bush as he bobs and
weaves behind a podium. Al-Maliki huddles behind his own rostrum.

On the social networking site Facebook, several groups supporting
the jailed journalist popped up. “Shoes for Bush” had more than 200 members as
of Thursday afternoon, while a group called “Free Muntather al-Zaidi From
Jail” had 276 members (al-Zaidi’s name is translated several ways into
English). Groups expressing members’ interest in throwing their own shoes at
the president had about 10,000 combined members, according to a quick survey.

The groups are born out of frustration, says Will Affleck-Asch, a
Democratic activist in Seattle who invited this reporter to become a member of
the “Shoes for Bush” community.

“Many people believe that [Bush] committed, directly or
indirectly, war crimes,” Affleck-Asch said. “Doing something like [joining the
Facebook group] symbolically is a form of reasonable protest, as long as you’re
not actually physically hurting somebody.

“Things have been going downhill for eight years now, so I think
people are at the end of their ropes,” he said. “I don’t think anyone is
[advocating violence] except really weird people.”

Millions had viewed various clips of the shoe attack on YouTube.