Waiting for the Other Shoe...

Wolf Blitzer was salivating over it early this afternoon on "Late Edition":

BLITZER: President Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq this morning, the fourth and final trip of his presidency. Let's go to Michael Ware. He's our man in Baghdad, right now. Michael, what do we know?

WARE: Well, Bush -- well, Wolf...

(LAUGHTER)

... the most extraordinary thing. You may or may not believe this. We're getting reports from the press pool that flew in with President Bush, and apparently, just a short time ago, at a press conference with Prime Minister Maliki, an Iraqi man stood up in the press conference and threw a shoe at President Bush.

By the reports we're getting, it just sailed past his head. And while the man was dragged out of the room, President Bush is said to have remarked that, "This was a size 10 shoe he threw at me, you may want to know," even as the man was heard screaming in the hallway.

So this is all during President Bush's farewell trip, as it's billed, to Iraq, where he's celebrating the SOFA agreement struck between Baghdad and Washington to see the U.S. troops to go home. Wolf?

BLITZER: Wow. That's -- that's -- that's good. I'm sure that the videotape -- we'll get that pretty soon. Any idea when we'll get that video?

WARE: No. We're all waiting with bated breath. Now, we haven't seen many pictures coming out of the trip, but, given this was at a press conference, keep your fingers crossed. Let's hope we see something very soon, Wolf.

BLITZER: I'm sure we will. And we'll bring it to our viewers, Michael, as soon as we get it.

And here it is. Yes, it's as good as it sounds. How are you liking that 3-week vacation now, Jon Stewart?

A Good Use of the Venn Diagram

from Slate:
Mapping the Bush administration scandals.

Scotty, they never knew ye.

I can't wait for Dana's book.

And as someone who listened to over a year's worth of daily Scott McClellan briefings, this Slate article made me giggle.

How It Went Down: The Road to Guantanamo

Philippe Sands of Vanity Fair traces the case made for torture by the top echelon in Washington and their lawyers.

In honor of National Poetry Month...

Poem Composed of Statements Made by George W. Bush in July 2002
by H.L. Hix

Bush and Putin: One Last Soulful Glance...

So maybe Bush didn't get what he came to Russia for (an agreement on missile defense) but at least he and Vlad shared one last walk along the beach...

But Who's Counting?

Study: Bush, aides made 935 false statements in run-up to war

Bush Scandals: Hugh has made a list.

I don't know who Hugh is, but he's very meticulous; exhaustive, I would say.

Good for Hugh... "because there are just too many scandals to remember."

And someday those historians who are going to vindicate this administration may be interested in looking back, just for exhaustiveness's sake.

Useful Timeline: Bill of Rights Under Bush

from MondoGlobo

I knew our friend Scott McClellan was pissed...

... when he was asked to step down, as everyone knew, because of the Plame incident, but didn't think he'd speak out so soon...
Remember when he was on the Daily Show (ah yes, remember the Daily Show ;) and basically said he didn't know what the **** his considerably-closer-to-retirement boss was talking about when he gave Scott a parting line about how, one day, they'd sit on a porch somewhere as old men together and laugh about these crazy times.
Yeah, he's pissed, and if he was truly as ignorant as he claims, then well he should be.

Not to pile on, but let's just sum up...

... the stellar cast of Bush appointees (from the Washington Post.)