Successful Bush jobs initiative

December 21, 2008 6:59 AM

The shoe hurled at President George W. Bush has sent sales soaring at the Turkish maker. "Istanbul-based Baydan Ayakkabicilik ...has received orders for 300,000 pairs of the shoes since the attack, more than four times the number his company sold each year since the model was introduced in 1999. The company plans to employ 100 more staff to meet demand, he said..."
posted by mojohand (48 comments total)

I guess that's one way to stimulate the world economy, Mr. Bush.
posted by Green With You at 7:03 AM on December 21, 2008

Well you can do anything, but lay off of my blue suede shoes.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:08 AM on December 21, 2008

I wonder when it'll go on sale in the U.S.?
posted by sonic meat machine at 7:09 AM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

Any way to get them here? That's brilliant. Bush finally causes an upturn in someone's financial situation, good for him.
posted by Aversion Therapy at 7:10 AM on December 21, 2008

Maybe some of the proceeds could pay for healing al-Zaidi's broken limbs, ribs and eye.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:14 AM on December 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

Other investment opportunities: Segway, Rold Gold pretzels. A person could start a whole mutual fund around this!
posted by penduluum at 7:15 AM on December 21, 2008 [3 favorites]

Who'd have thought Bush would be a Turkish Delight?
posted by gman at 7:17 AM on December 21, 2008

So potentially there's a cheaper bail out option for the car industry?
posted by mandal at 7:17 AM on December 21, 2008 [14 favorites]

oh my god shoes
posted by synaesthetichaze at 7:20 AM on December 21, 2008 [7 favorites]

"Model 271...when you choose to throw the very best."
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 7:37 AM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

Quick, someone throw a Chevy at him!
posted by Navelgazer at 7:38 AM on December 21, 2008 [25 favorites]

Wow, gee that's great. I am so happy to hear that their show sales are sky rocketing while the man they have to thank for that is being tortured in a prison cell someplace.
posted by scarello at 7:39 AM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

Is anyone working on Frost/Bush?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:39 AM on December 21, 2008

The Invisible Hand is throwing shoes now, apparently.
posted by Bromius at 7:41 AM on December 21, 2008

I would like for shoe throwing to become a regular occurrence whenever Bush speaks. I hope some college kids pelt him when he goes on his speaker's tour after leaving office. I am tempted to mail him a pair myself.
posted by RussHy at 7:42 AM on December 21, 2008

Steve Jobs is holding a MacBook Air and thinking....
posted by eriko at 7:56 AM on December 21, 2008

Bart: Cheer up, Mom. You can't buy publicity like that. Thousands and thousands of people saw your pretzels injuring Whitey Ford!
Homer: You could call them Whitey-Whackers.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 7:56 AM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

i bet the middle eastern sales departments of nike and reebok are fit to be tied
posted by pyramid termite at 7:59 AM on December 21, 2008

OK, I'm better now, so I don't want people to throw shoes at Bush, that would be violent and cruel. It would suffice if, every time he speaks, people would hold a shoe in their hands above their heads menacingly. That would be merely cruel, which I am OK with.
posted by RussHy at 8:01 AM on December 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

RussHy, stimulating the economy doesn't require hitting him. Just the occasional friendly toss and a yell of who that's from should suffice.
posted by shetterly at 8:11 AM on December 21, 2008

Yes, shetterly, I agree.
posted by RussHy at 8:21 AM on December 21, 2008

They should change the brand name to 'BushWhacker".
posted by spirit72 at 8:41 AM on December 21, 2008 [3 favorites]

I know it's a fashion faux pas, but I want to wear these shoes with my Sarah Palin glasses.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:54 AM on December 21, 2008

RussHy, your version is much wiser, I grant, because body guards are awfully excitable.

I love this thread.
posted by shetterly at 9:14 AM on December 21, 2008

While the article notes the injuries were from being beaten by security officials, it goes on to mention "Dargham said he did not know whether the injuries happened when Muntazer was being overpowered at the press conference or later," and that he "was treated at the Ibn Sina hospital, in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone." Unless Ibn Sina is also home to torturers, it sounds like he got attacked, then treated, not thrown into a cell without medical aid.

As for the shoes, they should spend some of that new-found profit on an improved web design. You are greeted by a flash page you can't skip past, but if you somehow make it to the English page, there is then a link to download the Flash player.

What? I demand a functional web experience with my international shoe purchases.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:26 AM on December 21, 2008 [4 favorites]

(Dargham al-Zaidi is the older brother of the he who was treated - I should work on my own editing before casting the first shoe).

I'll get my jacket. You can mail me my loafers.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:29 AM on December 21, 2008

I hope in the future Bush begins to feel downtrodden.
posted by RussHy at 9:31 AM on December 21, 2008

For the man with no sole.

I'd wear a pair, and I never take off my Tony Lamas.
posted by fourcheesemac at 10:04 AM on December 21, 2008

Not widely known: those shes are to be deposited in the Bush Library since there are so few books and a lot of empty space. Laura tells hubby that the shoes a gift from the people of the world and that tossing precious items a sure sign of love, not hate...Bush said he would have preferred cowboy boots but you do with what god sends.
posted by Postroad at 10:07 AM on December 21, 2008

It's sad that having to duck for a couple shoes is the closest thing Bush has had to consequences for his actions.
Of course, he could still be impeached, but there's nothing we could do to get our representatives to do that besides threaten to not vote for them. And we can see how well that's worked out.
posted by dunkadunc at 10:14 AM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

It's sad that having to duck for a couple shoes is the closest thing Bush has had to consequences for his actions.

Don't worry about that. He won't get past Saint Peter.
posted by gman at 10:49 AM on December 21, 2008

Someone was telling me recently about a possible Shoe-In (no pun intended - oh what the hell, sure why not) at the White House for W.'s last day in office. People were encouraged to leave their shoes at the White House gate.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 11:34 AM on December 21, 2008

"Just Do It"
posted by matteo at 11:39 AM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

Pfft. Don't buy a pair, grow a pair. Buying the shoes doesn't even benefit the guy who threw them, let alone anything seriously constructive. Hell, it even contributes to the trade imbalance.

Still, it'd be nice if the manufacturer thanked the reporter for this windfall by kicking some of it towards his legal defense.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:04 PM on December 21, 2008

you know, mailing pairs of shoes to the White House might be an interesting thing to do. imagine if thousands did it. the bewilderment in the mail-receiving department alone--the fears of bombs etc... it would be worth it just for the confusion factor.
posted by RedEmma at 12:17 PM on December 21, 2008

(leaving them at the White House gate being good, but out of the price range for those of us who live in the hinterlands and heading into our lean times.)
posted by RedEmma at 12:17 PM on December 21, 2008

Maybe I will mail a worn-out pair to the ranch at Crawford.
posted by RussHy at 12:20 PM on December 21, 2008

Shoes for industry. Shoes for the poor.

I couldn't find the old Firesign Theater bit online for free, so here's another classic from them.
posted by fourcheesemac at 12:26 PM on December 21, 2008

There was a local nod to Muntazer al-Zaidi's actions at a County Board of Supervisors meeting. No throwing, just piling. And lots of discussion.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:30 PM on December 21, 2008

I call foul. How does anyone know the brand/make of shoes that were thrown?

"When a pair of black leather oxfords hurled at President Bush in Baghdad produced a gasp heard around the world, a Turkish cobbler had a different reaction: They were his shoes.

'We have been producing that specific style, which I personally designed, for 10 years, so I couldn’t have missed it, no way,' said Ramazan Baydan, a shoemaker in Istanbul. 'As a shoemaker, you understand.'

Although his assertion has been impossible to verify — cobblers from Lebanon, China and Iraq have also staked claims to what is quickly becoming some of the most famous footwear in the world — orders for Mr. Baydan’s shoes, formerly known as Ducati Model 271 and since renamed 'The Bush Shoe,' have poured in from around the world....For now, Mr. Baydan’s customers will have to take his word for it....Explosives tests by investigators destroyed the offending footwear."

I've watched the video numerous times and can't see how one can determine the make of the shoes.
posted by ericb at 12:55 PM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

Bush ducked those shoes like a man who has things thrown at him often. Which makes me wonder about Laura. And Uncle Dick...
posted by airgirl at 12:58 PM on December 21, 2008 [1 favorite]

is it possible that knocking bush down and running over him with a buick could save the auto industry?
posted by kitchenrat at 12:59 PM on December 21, 2008 [2 favorites]

His brother insists that the shoes were Iraqi-made.
posted by tomcooke at 1:18 PM on December 21, 2008

Do they come in size 13?
posted by EatTheWeak at 1:52 PM on December 21, 2008

Every time I have to remove my shoes at an airport it would be nice if there were a picture of Bush nearby to throw them at. - MetaFilter's own twoleftfeet
posted by straight at 5:44 PM on December 21, 2008

I'm with ericb, and would have expected bloomberg to push a little further on how the cobbler has the infrastucture to quadruple orders - let along find workspace for 100 people, etc.

But, still, fun.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:18 PM on December 21, 2008

The day after the shoe-throwing incident, a friend of mine said to me, "I bet people will show up as Bush leaves the White House and start throwing shoes at him. That'd be great."

Holy crap, it would indeed.

Much more practical, however, is the idea of mailing shoes in, or leaving them at the White House gate. Oohp, I feel a Metatalk a-comin'.
posted by Pecinpah at 8:47 AM on December 22, 2008

Explosives tests by investigators destroyed the offending footwear.

Which to me, totally reads as someone sitting in some deep underground office with the shoes on his desk. He turns to some toadying lackey and gestures to the offending footwear:

"Take these and..." There is a pause as the shadowy figure decides exactly what the appropriate response would be, "Destroy them... Use fire. Yes. Fire. That should be sufficient to prevent them from ever offending again."
posted by quin at 9:31 AM on December 22, 2008