Unless you’ve been living under a rock that obscures your DIRECTV signal, you’ve probably seen the video this weekend of Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi hurling his shoes at George W. Bush at a press conference in Iraq. There’s an undeniably comic aspect to this particular tableau. But let’s remember: It wasn’t that long ago that the preferred projectiles for expressing discontent with the powers that be in Iraq were bullets. With the hurling of shoes at Bush, the relationship between the people and their government has moved in the span of five years from a murderous tyranny, through armed resistance to a temporary occupation, to symbolic acts not any more threatening than you’d find in an unhappy marriage.

It ain’t pretty, but it’s progress.

Just ask yourself how this incident would have played out five or six years ago. Saddam Hussein wasn’t exactly known for his frequent press availabilities; he was content to let Iraqi minister of information Baghdad Bob dutifully inform his subjects that the sun rose in the west, if that would suit his purposes.

Suppose for a minute that Saddam did hold a press conference and someone stood up and threw his shoes at a visiting foreign dignitary standing right next to him. Right now, henchmen sons Uday and Qusay would currently be bickering over who gets the privilege of attaching the car battery to his genitals.

Now Iraqis are free to tell the leader of the free world what they really think. Well, within reason — the shoe thrower is spending some justly deserved time in the pokey for his antics, awaiting trial. He faces the possibility of two years in jail for “insulting the state,” whatever that means.

Yet even this reflects the burgeoning of freedom in Iraq. Saddam didn’t allow too many of the people who offended him have a fair trial. But now, some 200 lawyers — including Americans — have volunteered to defend the shoe thrower. Khalil al-Dulaimi, last seen defending Saddam Hussein himself, said he was organizing a team for the shoe thrower’s defense.

Speaking to al-Jazeera, al-Dulaimi summarized his legal strategy by channeling Malcolm X: “Our defence of Zeidi will be based on the fact that the United States is occupying Iraq, and resistance is legitimate by all means, including shoes.” Well, it wouldn’t be a fair trial if it didn’t indulge the defense attorney’s baldfaced hyperbole, now would it? Expect al-Dulaimi to be saying, “If the shoe don’t fit, you must acquit!” any day now.

Some Iraqis seem to understand what the spirit of free speech and political protest is all about. According to the same al-Jazeera article, the television station that employs the shoe hurler is agitating for his release:

A presenter read out a statement calling for his release, “in accordance with the democratic era and the freedom of expression that Iraqis were promised by U.S. authorities.”

It said that any harsh measures taken against the reporter would be reminders of the “dictatorial era” that Washington said its forces had invaded Iraq to end.

While the Iraqi government should probably take measures just harsh enough to discourage any future shoe throwing, the TV station’s measured plea not to overdo the shoe thrower’s punishment is right on target.

George W. Bush’s critics back home, however, don’t know how to do anything other than overdo it. A not atypical liberal blogger, Dear Kitty, responded, “It is a pity there was no Iraqi woman journalist with Manolo Blahniks at Bush’s news conference,” referring to absurdly expensive, hazardously sharp-angled women’s shoes preferred on Sex and the City. Perhaps Ms. Kitty wishes harm to the president, but it’s safe to say if Iraqi journalists end up wearing $400 shoes and spending all their free time kvetching about their lady troubles at hot clubs in downtown Baghdad, W.’s legacy is secure.

Others wanted to express their solidarity with the shoe thrower in different but equally asinine ways. There’s the requisite Facebook group “in celebration of the brilliant move of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at the War Criminal in Chief.” Other liberal bloggers are circulating the address of George W. Bush’s presidential library and encouraging people to send them their old shoes as a potent, and potentially pungent, political statement. Another person on Facebook has announced she’s collecting shoes and is driving down from Maine to place them at the gates of the White House.

So you have an old pair of sneakers lying around. And you hate the president and disrespect him so much, you’re going to package them up, drive to the post office, wait in line, and shell out a not insignificant amount of money to mail them off. (Let’s not even contemplate filling a vehicle full of old shoes and driving ten hours to the gates of the White House.) You have nothing better to do with that time and money? Might as well cut to the chase and just send a postcard that says: “I have no life.”

But hey, if that’s the message you want to send, go ahead. America’s a free country, after all.

And if you compare where Iraqis were under Saddam to where they are today: So, oddly enough, is Iraq. – Mark Hemingway is an NRO staff reporter.