The Sunday incident where Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi threw shoes at George Bush during a news conference while calling him a "dog", a term more insulting in Arabic than in English represents the latest example of an administration in what a psychiatrist or psychologist would term "reality denial."

It was so typical of Bush himself to shrug off the incident by joking that Muntader al-Zaidi wore a "size 10 shoe" and state that he "just wanted to be noticed".  Andrea Mitchell, also known as Mrs. Alan Greenspan -- if you will recall he was a major instrument in helping destroy the U.S. economy -- said on CNN Monday that Bush had won points with Iraqis through injecting humor into the picture.

This is that same good old reality denial that the unholy trio of Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Hannity have turned into a media art, albeit a sick and distorted style of media art designed to bury the truth.

In Monday's New York Times a story written by Timothy Williams and Sharon Otterman with a Baghdad place line bore the headline: SHOE-HURLING IRAQI BECOMES A FOLK HERO.