Bush shoe incident goes viral as 3.7 million watch

Following President Bush’s Sunday news conference with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in Baghdad, during which Bush ducked not one, but two shoes hurled at him by an angry journalist, the video of the dramatic event has gone viral.

According to NewTeeVee, the online video of the incident seems to be growing at a rate of more than 100,000 views per hour. The site reports:

As of today at 11 am EST there were over 550 copies of the video online with more than 3.7 million views and 38,000 comments.

Bush joked about the incident. However, hitting someone with a shoe is considered the most supreme insult in Iraq, since it means the intended target is even lower than the shoe, which is usually on the dirty ground. It’s definitely the opposite of exchanging friendship bracelets or best friend necklaces.

The video first came to my attention yesterday on a forum frequented by high schoolers and college students (and recent graduates), who usually pick up on viral videos faster than a kleptomaniac in a department store.

Earlier this year, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was hit with a pie during an Earth Day speech at Brown University by environmental activists, an incident that also made it to YouTube, suggesting that capturing protests on video boosts virality, especially since they can be reposted, watched repeatedly and commented on.

On a lighter note, this is my favorite YouTube video involving shoes, which is aptly named “Shoes,” of course.