Attack of the Footwear 2: Another World Leader Pelted With Shoes

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Youtube/ Prime Minister John Howard

Youtube/ Prime Minister John Howard

Those boots were made for throwing, and that’s just what he did.

Keeping his head down under, Australia’s former Prime Minister, John Howard, dodged two flying shoes sent his way by a frustrated audience member on a television talk show. The shoe slinger was apparently protesting Howard’s involvement in the Iraq war. (For the latest on the Iraq War See Wikileaks Defends Its Release of Iraq War Documents.)

As Howard answered questions about the Iraq war, audience member Pete Gray decided his views would not be walked on. “This is for the Iraqi dead,” said Gray as he threw in the right, “And this is for the Iraqi living,” as he followed up with his left shoe.  Another audience member then shouted “You’ve got blood on your hands.” The show’s host, Tony Jones, then asked for Gray to be escorted out of the television studio. However, despite the “attack,” Howard managed to keep a smile on his face. (Learn more about activist movements: TIME’s Top 10 Alternative Political Politics.)

Bring back memories? The scene is reminiscent of an incident in 2008 when shoes where thrown at then US President George W Bush at a press conference in Iraq.  (Must see December 2008 Shoe Stopper.)

Radical politics is definitely making a come back.