Leftwing Icon To Be Released From Prison

I know, I know, you say there are plenty of leftwing heroes in jail, but this one in particular became an instant icon for an attempted assault on President Bush last year. He'll likely start a speaking tour of college campuses and do the rounds on the news chat shows pretty soon. Probably will become a HuffPost blogger in the not-too-distnt future since he's already got his journalist credentials.

An Iraqi journalist jailed after hurling his shoes at former President George W. Bush will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behavior, his lawyer said Saturday.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi's act during Bush's last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world amid anger over the 2003 invasion.

He has been in custody since the Dec. 14 outburst, which occurred as Bush was holding a joint news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

He was initially sentenced to three years after pleading not guilty to assaulting a foreign leader, then the court reduced it to one year because the journalist had no prior criminal history.