Nothing funny about shoe incident
While some in the Arab world are cheering the Iraqi journalist who tossed his shoes at the President of the United States, this incident should trouble U.S. and international journalists.
It reflects badly on all of us and has the potential to further restrict access to presidents and world leaders. There is debate about whether the U.S. news media treated the story too lightly. Predictably, Rush Limbaugh says it has.
Reporters should not become the story as this person did. It's never OK to throw shoes or anything else at anybody. And certainly not a journalist who is supposed to be covering a press conference featuring the U.S. and Iraqi presidents.
In addition to inflicting more damage to the credibility of the news media, this incident might lead to tighter restrictions on covering government leaders and greater scrutiny of those trying to get into press conferences and events where safety and security are paramount.