Which does he love more: a parade, or finally being second in line to the presidency?

Isn't it nice that we don't have power transfers like so many third-world nations that would just erupt into military revolts and rioting in the streets? In fact, this transfer of power was so smooth and congenial that I bet there's not a single "O" key missing from the computers in the White House. (Wink wink, nudge nudge, Bill staff...)

Now that Barack Obama is officially president of the United States, I hope Americans of all political stripes can acknowledge George W. Bush's hospitality toward the new first family. Some status updates that have come across my Facebook today have included one friend wanting to smack Bush across the face on the way out, another lauding the departure of the "Shrub" (please, that's so 2000), and, of course, the borderline conspiracy theory rumblings that Chief Justice John Roberts purposely flubbed Obama's oath as just another cog in the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.

For those looking to get in their parting shots at the old president, why not just celebrate the new president instead? That would really be "change." You don't think that Bush has been beaten down enough, dodging shoes, aging exponentially in eight years, having Cindy Sheehan as a squatter next to his private home? Funny how anger still pervades what's supposed to be Hope (TM) and Change (TM) Day. Protesters are trying to figure out life post-Bush (note: they'll still be angry about something), but I sure hope they let the man retire in peace and don't initiate more Texas campouts. Enough already.

Here's some positives to go along with that positive vibe today: Bush's daughters penned this cute letter to Obama's daughters on life in the White House, published by WSJ. And speaking of WSJ, you'll enjoy James Taranto's comparison of Bush's second inaugural address and Obama's speech today. That is, if you didn't throw a fit at the picture I posted. 

This photo of Um Sa'aad, a sister of Iraqi shoe-tossing journalist Muntadar al-Zeidi, is just awesome on so many points. Remember how the flock in "Life of Brian" removed one shoe and followed him? That's basically most of the Mideast right now. And al-Zeidi's sis reminds me of the women at the stoning:

They're flashy! They're dashing! They're what every Somali kid now wants to be -- a greedy goon in a rickety speedboat taking hostages and using ransom to buy flashy toys and lure women. I couldn't help but laugh at this McClatchy story inside the pirates' den:

"...While their countrymen suffer through another political crisis and the looming threat of famine, pirates are splashing hundred-dollar bills like play money around the nowhere towns of northern Somalia .

Residents say that the pirates are building houses, buying flashy cell phones and air-conditioned SUVs, gifting friends and relatives with hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars and winning the attention of beautiful women, who seem to be flocking to pirate towns from miles around.

Shopkeepers charge the pirates a premium for food and khat -- a narcotic leaf that Somali men chew religiously -- but the buccaneers don't seem to mind.

'It is true,' said a 28-year-old pirate who identified himself as Jama. 'We are getting very rich.'

Jama, who described himself as a high-ranking member of a group based in Eyl, has earned $375,000 as a pirate, enough to buy a Toyota Land Cruiser and to begin building a six-bedroom house in Garowe, the regional capital, for his family. His biggest payday came last month, when he earned a $92,000 share of a $1.3 million ransom for a Greek ship, the MV Centauri, which was released after 10 weeks with its crew unharmed.

Almost overnight, Jama said, his standing with the fairer sex has improved dramatically.

'Once there was a girl who lived in Garowe,' 100 miles from Eyl, Jama said. 'I loved her. I tried to approach her many times, but she rejected me. But since I became a pirate, she has tried nine times to get with me.

'But I refused, because I'm already married.'"

A pirate with morals -- how touching!

As my peeps at Investors Business Daily pointed out today:

"In Libya, Muammar Qaddafi's daughter announced an 'order of courage' award for al-Zaidi. But would he have had the courage to throw his shoes at Saddam Hussein? The brutal tyrant President Bush removed from power would have had one shoe shoved down al-Zaida's throat, and the other shoved ... well, you get the idea."

Not to mention what Gaddafi does to dissenters! In fact, Libya holds the record for the longest imprisonment of a journalist. In fact -- listen carefully, Muntadhar al-Zeidi -- no one even knows if Abdullah Ali Al-Sanussi Al-Darrat, who disappeared into a Libyan prison in 1973, is still alive. And, of course, he was never sentenced.

Reporters Without Borders says of Libya:

"The media are still government-controlled propaganda mouthpieces that put out 'positive' news about the activities of the 'brotherly leader,' Col. Gaddafi. No independent media-outlet exists.

...Few journalists dare to venture beyond the limits set by the regime. Criticising Gaddafi is a taboo that can lead directly to prison because of the prevailing personality cult. The most the local media does is report minor corruption without ever implicating top officials. The plight of the Berber minority and anything to do with Gaddafi ('The Guide of the Revolution') and his family are never mentioned. The press law is very harsh and allows prison sentences of up to two years."

Just try chucking your shoe there, Muntadhar!

OK, let's face it: what the Iraqi TV correspondent did was assault. He intended to hit Bush with his shoes, and his disparaging words toward the president accompanied the show of force. Of course they'd arrest the guy.

Now we get more of a picture of 28-year-old Muntadhar al-Zeidi, today a hero among many other Arabs for chucking his sneakers. A visiting AP writer noted that al-Zeidi's apartment was decked out with a poster of murderer Che Guevara, and chatted with his brother, Dhirgham:

"'He hates the American physical occupation as much as he hates the Iranian moral occupation,' Dhirgham said, alluding to the influence of pro-Iranian Shiite clerics in political and social life. 'As for Iran, he considers the regime to be the other side of the American coin.'

...Al-Zeidi may have also been motivated by what a colleague described as a boastful, showoff personality.

'He tried to raise topics to show that nobody is as smart as he is,' said Zanko Ahmed, a Kurdish journalist who attended a journalism training course with al-Zeidi in Lebanon.

Ahmed recalled that al-Zeidi spoke glowingly of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose followers organized protests Monday to demand his release.

'Regrettably, he didn't learn anything from the course in Lebanon, where we were taught ethics of journalism and how to be detached and neutral,' Ahmed said."

Um, yeah. But let's get this straight: He supposedly hates Iran's influence, but then praises Iran ally al-Sadr. Make that the totally in bed with Iran, chilling with the ayatollahs al-Sadr. Al-Zeidi is clearly a camera-whore supertwit.