Thirty-five years ago, The Clash released London Calling in the United Kingdom. It seems almost like yesterday to me.
Two years ago today the Newtown, Connecticut massacre took place.
On this day in 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole.
On this day in 1799, George Washington died at Mt. Vernon.
But, perhaps most importantly for history, on this day in 2008 during a press conference in Baghdad, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi stood up and yelled “This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog” and threw his shoes at President George W. Bush.
I saw The Clash live a couple of times, and man, could they rock a joint!!!
One time, Buster Pointexter opened, followed by The Clash, and then The Who played.
AWESOME!!!
The concert was about 5 1/2 hours long, with The Who generously giving over an hour for each of the two other bands.
There’s a nice parallel there. Throwing your shoes at the President of the United States is a very punk rock thing to do. More Jello Biafra than Joe Strummer, I suppose, but close enough.
Watching this video of Bush, I am still simply stunned that we elected this guy twice. Just hearing his voice makes me cringe.
Nothing gives a more perfect synopsis of the criminality of the Bush administration. Yep, freedom was on the march. Terrorists were on the run.
Technically, Bush was only elected once. However, he was elected after various failures (inept on and before 9/11, a war based on lies, torture at Abu Ghraib, and soaring budget deficits) had been revealed. OTOH, an “I suck less” POTUS candidate doesn’t beat an incumbent.
I still give Bush points for agility on that one – he might not have been the brightest president that we’ve ever had but I don’t know if anyone was literally quicker on their feet.