Throwing Shoes

I don't want to push this too far, but the wave of support for the Iraqi shoe-thrower could actually be a good sign for civil society in the Mid-East.

I know that sounds nuts, but hear me out: a sign of a healthy political structure (and of a healthy society in general) is the ability to have disagreements, even very heated disagreements, without resort to violence.

Now, throwing a shoe at someone isn't really "nonviolent." But it's a lot less violent than what often passes for disagreement in those parts. Think of it as the state-carnival version of civil disobedience.

So I'm quietly hopeful -- assuming this guy doesn't disappear, only to show up in a shallow grave in six months -- that this will be a lesson to a whole lot of people that it's possible to motivate the masses to a cause without death threats, bombs, or guns. It's only one step in a long, long road, but it's a better road than Iraq has seen for a while.