Some conservatives
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20081216_Letters_to_the_Editor.html
wondered why it was that progressives were so certain that al-Zaidi did what he did because he was angry at Bush and not because of his background as a supporter of Saddam Hussein. The answer is "Occam's Razor." The simplest answer is probably the correct one. Al-Zaidi observed what my French buddy calls "A cree-mee-nal" carrying on about what a glorious and marvelous success story Iraq is and the guy just snapped.
How do we know that for al-Zaidi to throw his shoes at Bush was a popular act? Well,
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20081217_Shoe-thrower_in_court_today.html
says: "Despite widespread sympathy for his act in the region, Iraqi authorities..." In other words, we aren't just looking at just his act, we're looking at how ordinary Iraqis view his act and hey, guess what? They approve.