Frost, Nixon, Bush and Shoe

A few days ago, I watched the new film Frost/Nixon. It tells the story of talk show host David Frost’s epic interview with disgraced former president Richard Nixon.

It’s a brilliant film and the central theme feels completely contemporary: How does a society find closure when a democratically-elected leader turns out to be a disaster?

In the movie, Nixon comes as close as he ever came to a full-bore confession. He acknowledges the fundamental damage he wreaked on America and our civic institutions.

But during the interviews, he also offered that famous assertion of the imperial presidency: “When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.”

(You can see clips of the original, devastating interviews on Youtube here.)

The global response to the George Bush-shoe-throwing incident has much the same cathartic feel.

Obviously, the act itself was outrageous: You don’t toss objects at American presidents.

But it was the gesture of a frustrated global culture that has no other way of condemning Mr. Bush or calling him to task for his conduct.

The parallels are the more perfect because Mr. Bush — like Mr. Nixon in his day — had been working feverishly to shape and manipulate the public response to his leadership.

All of that was eclipsed in a heartbeat.

Both politicians were masters of political symbolism. Both men understood the power of television. Mr. Bush must know that he and that pair of shoes are forever linked.

Some day, Hurricane Katrina, the current economic crisis, and the mismanaged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will have faded into the history books.

But those few seconds of humiliating videotape will remain as a stark expression of the public’s disdain.