Iraqi Journalist Gets Three Years in Prison For 'Shoe' Incident

He threw his shoes - and they threw the book at him.
The Iraqi journalist who chucked his shoes at former President George Bush at a Baghdad press conference in December was sentenced to three years in jail on Thursday.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi, 30, shouted "long live Iraq" and "down with Bush" as he was convicted of assaulting a foreign leader.
Many Iraqis protested the verdict, saying al-Zeidi is a national hero who was expressing his right to free speech with the intent to insult Bush, not assault him.
"It was an act of throwing a shoe and not a rocket. It was meant an an insult to the occupation," said chief defense lawyer Dhiya al-Saadi. "He was only expressing his feelings."
Throwing shoes is a major insult in Arab culture.
"What he could see was the blood of Iraqis at his feet when he watched the U.S. president speaking about his achievements in Iraq," his lawyer said.
Iraqis packed the Iraq Central Criminal Court in Baghdad's Green Zone for the verdict - including al-Zeidi's family and a team of two dozen defense lawyers.
"This is a political court," said al-Zeidi's brother, Uday. "Muntadhar is being treated like a prisoner of war."
His defense team said they would appeal the sentence, which was the minimum. Al-Zeidi faced up to 15 years for assaulting a foreign leader.
A poll released Thursday showed that 62% of Iraqis think al-Zeidi is a national hero for his actions.
"Al-Zeidi should have been honored and not sent to prison," said Salam Omar, a mobile phone shop owner in east Baghdad.
The media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders called the sentence "cynical in a country where so many of the people who kill journalists are never brought to justice."
Al-Zeidi was jailed on Dec. 14 after hurling both of his shoes at Bush's head as he stood next to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during his last visit to the country as president.
Bush managed to duck and later joked about it. A Bush spokesman declined to comment on the sentence, saying it was "a matter for the Iraqi judicial system."

Out With The Former, In With The New

No moving trucks needed for Bushes on Inauguration Day

From Elaine QuijanoCNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On Inauguration Day, there's one scene at the White House that won't be playing out exactly as it has during past transitions: the traditional moving of the outgoing first family's belongings.

President Bush walks out of the White House Oval Office on January 10.

Anita McBride, chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush, tells CNN that the Bushes have moved almost all of their belongings out of the White House ahead of schedule.
"There won't be ... the moving trucks for the Bushes coming here," McBride said, adding, "The only things really left for President and Mrs. Bush are their personal belongings and luggage that they'll take that day."
McBride said Mrs. Bush directed residence staff early -- in the summer of 2008 -- to prepare the White House for the personal transition.
"It's probably the librarian in her," McBride said of Mrs. Bush, a former librarian. "Maybe we've got a bit of a Dewey Decimal system of move-out process, but that certainly made it easier for the residence staff, and they very much appreciate it," McBride said.
The actual clearing out of the Bushes' belongings began over the summer, McBride says, when many items were packed and taken to Crawford, Texas. Then, during the Christmas holiday, the Bushes moved their personal things out of Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, according to McBride.
That means on Inauguration Day, while President Bush and Mrs. Bush, along with President-elect Obama and his family, are at the Capitol, staff in the White House residence will have more time to unpack and prepare the Obamas' personal belongings.
"They have rehearsed this over the last few weeks, everyone has their marching orders, it will be all hands on deck," said McBride.
"The residence staff will be here that morning, and they know what their jobs are when the moving truck for the Obamas' move-in arrives," she said, adding, "Their things will be unpacked, and their clothes will be in their rightful place, and whatever furniture that they may have selected from the White House furniture collection will be in the place that they want it to be."

Story Here

Prez Bush 'Last Dance' in Office:

Bush commutes sentences of former Border Patrol agents

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- On his final full day in office, President Bush issued commutations for two former U.S. Border Patrol agents convicted in 2006 of shooting and wounding an unarmed illegal immigrant -- suspected of drug smuggling at the time -- and then covering it up. The prison sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean will now end March 20. Ramos had received an 11-year prison sentence; Compean had received a 12-year term. They began serving their sentences in January 2007. "The president has reviewed the circumstances of this case as a whole and the conditions of confinement and believes the sentences they received are too harsh and that they, and their families, have suffered enough for their crimes," a senior administration official said.
"Commuting their sentences does not diminish the seriousness of their crimes. Ramos and Compean are convicted felons who violated their oaths to uphold the law and have been severely punished," the official stated.
"This commutation gives them an opportunity to return to their families and communities, but both men will have to carry the burden of being convicted felons and the shame of violating their oaths for the rest of their lives."
Full story

Check out notable presidential pardons

Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution grants the president "power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States." With a stroke of his pen, the man in charge can make legal trouble disappear. As one might expect, this practice can be a bit controversial. President George W. Bush pardoned 19 people on December 23, 2008, but withdrew one of those pardons for Isaac R. Toussie a short time later.
Let's take a look at some of history's more notable examples.

1. George Wilson
In 1829, George Wilson and an accomplice received death sentences for murder and robbing mail trains. His accomplice quickly took a trip to the gallows, but Wilson had influential friends in Washington. These friends beseeched Andrew Jackson for leniency on behalf of their friend, and Old Hickory relented. In 1830, he pardoned Wilson for his capital crimes; the mail robber would only have to serve a twenty-year term for his other misdeeds.

2. Richard Nixon
Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal on August 9, 1974, and just under a month later newly installed President Gerald Ford gave his predecessor a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes he may have committed while in office.
While many observers decried the pardon as evidence of some backdoor dealing between Ford and Nixon, Ford went on national television to explain that he felt the pardon provided the best way for the country to move on and close the discussion of Nixon's antics.

3. Patty Hearst: The heiress-turned-militant spent almost two years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery before Jimmy Carter commuted her sentence in 1979. Bill Clinton later gave Hearst a full pardon on the final day of his presidency in 2001.

4. Roger Clinton: Bill Clinton's half-brother spent a year in prison after pleading guilty to cocaine distribution charges in 1984. When Clinton issued a flurry of 140 pardons on his last day in office, his little brother was on the list.
Roger didn't seem to appreciate his second chance, though; less than a month later he was arrested for drunk driving and disturbing the peace. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

Other notable pardons continued here

WE BROKE IT ON THE URBAN NEWS WEBSITES FIRST!!!Prez Bush Gets The...SHOE in Iraq!!

By Alicia Cruz
Staff writer theblackurbantimes.com
MSNBC has reported that during a press conference in Baghdad to discuss U.S. troop withdrawl from Iraq, an Iraqi reporter began throwing his shoes and hurling verbal insults at President Bush. The president was not injured, but his White House Press Sec is sporting a black eye from one of the flying microphones. Prime Minister Nuri attempted to protect the Prez from the flying Iraqi shoes while Secret Service and others subdued the shoe tossing, insult slinging journalist. For more follow the link:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Photo courtesy of MSNBC