{"id":2165,"date":"2008-12-16T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2008-12-16T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/?p=2165"},"modified":"2008-12-16T09:58:32","modified_gmt":"2008-12-16T14:58:32","slug":"what-happens-if-a-bunch-of-iraqi-journalists-get-their-hands-on-these-weapons-of-mass-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/?p=2165","title":{"rendered":"What Happens If a Bunch of Iraqi Journalists Get Their Hands on These Weapons of Mass Destruction?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vivienne<\/a>
\nDame Vivienne Westwood’s killer 10-inch, Anglomania heels,
\nfrom the collection of the Bata Shoe Museum<\/a>. Photo by Nicola Betts<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Dear readers of MEDIA ASSASSIN:<\/p>\n

There is an oversight to which I must own up.<\/p>\n

\"Iraqi<\/a>Yesterday, when I put together my prospective rogue’s list of deadly, would-be Presidential shoe-throwers<\/a>\u2014Wayne Gretzky, Shaq, Pinball Wizard, Bozo the Clown, Frankenstein\u2014in the wake of the controversy around Iraqi newscaster Muntader al-Zaidi<\/a>, right, who, the day before, threw his shoes at President Bush during a press conference, I tried to be thorough. I wanted to compile a complete roster of people for whom President Bush, in his waning days as our nation’s leader, might keep out an alert eye. To me, it was a matter of national…well, no…clearly, it was a matter of international<\/em> security.<\/p>\n

But I failed.<\/p>\n

I forgot to include Vivienne Westwood.<\/p>\n

\"Vivienne<\/a>You know her, of course, as the 67-year-old doyenne of British fashion, right. But could the woman that the BBC has described as “resolutely subversive”<\/a> be at the center of a plot that goes right to the heart of our democracy?<\/p>\n

I mean, look at those patent-leather, metal-spiked monsters<\/em> at the top of this post. Forget, for a moment, ladies, how totally hot you’d look in them. (Men, get out of the ladies’ thought balloons.) Forget what they did, in the happier, pre-9\/11 days of February 1993, to innocent fashion model Naomi Campbell<\/a>, as she was just walking along, minding her business.<\/p>\n

Do you know exactly how much damage a disgruntled Iraqi copy editor could do with these?<\/p>\n

Recently, the BBC said this about Westwood, on their web site<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Last year she made t-shirts bearing the slogan \u2018I am not a terrorist, please don\u2019t arrest me.'”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh, really?<\/p>\n

Well, if you’re not, Viv, why bring it up? Trying a little anticipatory reverse psychology?<\/p>\n

\"Outraged<\/a>Even as we speak, restless throngs in Iraq, right, and throughout the Middle East are calling for revolt. A Saudi Arabian newspaper reports one man has offered $10 million dollars for just one of al-Zaidi’s hurled shoes<\/a>. The journalist, who could face up to seven years in prison for his act of aggression against a visiting head of state, is being hailed in the streets as a hero.<\/p>\n

Yet in all of this tumult, the question no one seems to be asking\u2014the question no one apparently dares<\/em> to ask\u2014is this: What could happen if the Iraqis got their hands on a pair of Westwood’s shoes?<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s almost too horrific to contemplate. Flyguy’s pimp-strut would be a walk in the park, by comparison.<\/p>\n

Someone has got to stop this. Someone’s got to ask the hard questions. Someone has got to put an end to the nightmare.<\/p>\n

I know what you’re saying: Fashion is murder. But I ask: How can you be so callous when so many lives are at stake?<\/p>\n

Someone needs to bring Westwood in, now<\/em>, and find out what she knew, and when she knew it<\/em>. That’s the only way to keep our nation safe.<\/p>\n

Zappos: You’re next!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dame Vivienne Westwood’s killer 10-inch, Anglomania heels, from the collection of the Bata Shoe Museum. Photo by Nicola Betts Dear readers of MEDIA ASSASSIN: There is an oversight to which I must own up. Yesterday, when I put together my prospective rogue’s list of deadly, would-be Presidential shoe-throwers\u2014Wayne Gretzky, Shaq, Pinball Wizard, Bozo the Clown, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46,54,42,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2165"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/harryallen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}