SHOEING THE PREZ….I agree with Daniel Davies that tossing shoes at George Bush and tossing pies at Tom Friedman are both basically funny things, not worth getting a stick up your butt about. Just have a laugh, don’t let it get out of hand, and relax.
Following up on that, however, he admits: “Although seeing Bush get shoed was a laugh, it’s a nervous sort of laugh for anyone who is worried about the possibility of President Obama being assassinated, which I know that a lot of people are. And statistically, they’re right to be worried. Roughly 10% of all US Presidents ever elected have been assassinated (4 out of 43), which is roughly as high a death rate as street drug dealers.” Then, with a few heroic assumptions and the help of some geeky friends, he quantifies the job-related mortality rates of being president compared to, say, being a member of Hezbollah or the King of France. Turns out that being president is more dangerous. Read the whole thing if you want to know how much more dangerous.
