In Arab culture, showing the sole of your shoe is a serious insult. So throwing your shoes — one after the other — at someone is sort of like taking your middle finger and sticking it in their eye. This was the welcome Bush got when he held his first press conference for Iraqi journalists. Say this for Bush: The guy can duck. Even so, First Read

In Arab culture, showing the sole of your shoe is a serious insult. So throwing your shoes — one after the other — at someone is sort of like taking your middle finger and sticking it in their eye. This was the welcome Bush got when he held his first press conference for Iraqi journalists. Say this for Bush: The guy can duck. Even so, First Read notes that this may have legacy consequences. Bush’s visit to Iraq was his final trip abroad before leaving office and the defining image will be an American president being pelted with footwear.

Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.