The Heritage Foundation downgrades the U.S. from a “free” country to “mostly free.” Right behind the lowest “free” country: Canada. [via Political Wire]

Laura Bush on Muntader al-Zaidi:

“If Saddam Hussein had been there, the man wouldn’t have been released. And he probably, you know, would have been executed,” the First Lady said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Damn ingrate Iraqis. They don’t know how good they have it.

Shoe tosser lucky Saddam is outta power, says First Lady Laura Bush [Daily News]

To answer everyone’s question, yes, “the Secret Service put everyone who attended President George W. Bush’s Baghdad news conference through several layers of security Sunday.” There were no guns in the room, just shoes. And a very angry reporter.

Make that a very surprised angry reporter. Journalists weren’t told in advance that Maliki’s Secret Santa would be making a guest appearance.

But never mind the details. McClatchy’s story is accompanied by a Fox News clip of the incident, and the crawl is fascinating. We voted here for Vince Vaughn, although “Teen Vampire Drama” was a close second.

Read more »

Al-Zaidi in U.S. Run Camp Cropper Prison

What could possibly go wrong?

Iraqi TV al-Sharqiya just reported on the news that AL-Zaidi is transferred to Camp Cropper prison [the Airport prison, managed by the American forces].

The TV Channel announced that Al-Zaidi is in a difficult condition, with broken ribs and signs of tortures on his thighs. Also he can not move his right arm.

P.S.

I am just telling you what I heard on TV.

Source: Roads to Iraq

On a lighter note, those crazy Norwegians have come up with a shoe-throwing game.

It’s not a loop as such, but it’s the version going into our iPhone. Credit to BarelyPolitical.com for the flying debris.

Play of the Day from Muntadar al-Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV. “This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” said Mr. al-Zaidi before being wrestled to the ground and disappearing forever. “Democracy is messy,” he didn’t add.

Shoes thrown at Bush on Iraq trip [BBC]