Shoes, people, shoes

Okay, McClatchy - this is an over-reaction:

While Bush wasn't harmed, the incident was reminiscent of John W. Hinckley's failed attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981. Hinckley slipped into a crowd of reporters outside the Washington Hilton, and when Reagan emerged from a speaking appearance, the 25-year-old drifter fired six shots with a .22-caliber handgun, hitting Reagan in the chest, permanently disabling presidential press secretary Jim Brady with a bullet to the head and wounding a Secret Service agent and a police officer.

No. It wasn't. These were shoes, for crying out loud.

Even if they'd hit him - both of them - or someone else, no one would have been permanently disabled or even hospitalized.

This was an insult. It wasn't meant kindly, and we could argue all day over whether it was merited, or reasonable, or should have happened even if it was one of those things. But to say it was like Hinckley firing six bullets at Reagan is, frankly, ludicrous.