There is something seriously wrong-headed about the sentiments expressed in today’s Guardian by Salam Pax, Baghdad blogger and darling of the Western liberal media, regarding the shoe thrown at Bush by Muntazer al-Zaidi. His arguments about the responsibilities of a journalist vis-a-vis the feelings of a private citizen are those of a jobsworth, and utterly inadequate in the face of the transparent criminality, imperial arrogance and naked evil exhibited by the political and military face of the United States over the last six years, from Bush down.

“He was there, while many others were not, to ask the questions we needed answered.”

Sure; but he was also there, while I was not, to throw shoes, express the contempt and outrage of the vast majority of humanity against this despicable man. What good is it to pose questions that will not be answered? What are these burning questions in any case?

“He should have asked president Bush how he feels about having tens of thousands killed and millions displaced as a direct result of his actions.”

What does it matter how Bush feels? He may feel regret; more likely he feels justified. It is a pointless and trivial exercise. Likewise Pax’s wish for Bush to “say sorry, just once”. Do we expect Radovan Karadžić to “say sorry” – to tell us how he feels? No. It is to put the criminal on a pedestal he does not deserve to inquire after his feelings. We expect him to face justice, to live behind bars in dishonour and ignominy for the rest of his life, where he cannot cause further mischief – this justice is not retribution (revenge is impossible for thousands of deaths, since a single person can only be killed once) but it demonstrates that we do not permit mass murderers and thugs to go unpunished–that we do not tolerate these acts.

It is all very well to preach journalistic pieties; but when the politician in question has flouted all norms and morality himself, the press conference itself becomes a kind of exercise in or demonstration of his legitimacy. Muntazer al-Zaidi’s shoe, however much of a stunt, deconstructed this sham with far greater eloquence than all Salam Pax’s lukewarm platitudes about journalistic integrity.