Friday, December 19, 2008

So now it's shoe? Whatever happened to the pen?

This whole thing about a desperate journalist throwing his shoes at Dubbya, I don't get it. No doubt that embarrassing incident will become the "scene of the year". It will appear in every newspaper caleidoscopical cartoons, I bet. But still, why is that guy suddenly a hero? He even missed the target!

I thought the press people took pride in "fighting with pen". Has it changed now to "fight with shoes"? My hypothesis is, that shoe-throwing journalist guy is a lousy one. Because he can not use his pen -- or mouth. He might be better as a dartboard player (ah wait, not really: he missed!), but not as a respectable journalist.

Hey, don't throw me shoes. It's not that I like Bush. I hate him, too. But be civil: "shoot" him! With a pen, in your paper, that is.

Addendum: As you might have expected, some local journalists are excited. Budiarto Shambazy praises the shoe thrower for "proving that shoe is more effective than pen" (can you believe it? That is said by a senior journalist). While Syirikit Syah, a media watch activist, writes that she wishes the shoe-thrower health and freedom (The Jakarta Post, 20/12/2008), even though he, the thrower, expressed his opinion "violently and unprofessionally". Welcome to shoe journalism!

2 comments:

  1. Yeah...you're right..but living comfortably in an unoccupied place leads your brain more "civilized". Perhaps that would be different if you were Iraqi.

    In a war and a desperate living, shoe might be more effective than pen anw. Something you would not understand "Ms civilized"/ intellectual crap

    -herlambang-

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  2. Love this post.. You're spot on!

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