It was a shoe-icide mission -- an angry Iraqi broke into a press conference in Paris yesterday and fired his shoe at the same guy who threw some footwear at President George Bush last year.
Just like the Bush incident, the new shoe-thrower missed his target -- Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi.
But moments after the shoe flew, Muntadhar's brother tried to settle the score, by taking off his own shoe and trying to smack the attacker with it.
The White House Party Crashers say they're anything but -- and this morning said they are certain they'll be "completely exonerated" when all the details come out.
Tareq and Michaele Salahi were on "Today," where they said they were "devastated" and "shocked" by claims they weren't invited to the White House state dinner -- and are currently working with the secret service to clear their name.
They claim they have documentation proving they were guests -- we haven't seen it yet, but we gotta ask ...
Tareq and Michaele Salahi were definitely up for the White House challenge last week .... when you look at this photo gallery, you'll see how hard practice led them to crash President Barack Obama'sparty.
The chick who famously sneaked her way into a White House party last week had some prior experience in the field -- FedEx field ... as in the home of the Washington Redskins.
TMZ has obtained photos of Michaele Salahi posing as a Redskins cheerleader during a halftime event in 2005.
Salahi had told people she was a member of the squad back in the '90s, but team officials have no record proving her claim.
However, these photos make it clear she was successful at passing herself off as one -- because the event she crashed was to honor Redskins cheerleader alumni.
We're told Michaele and her husband, fellow crasher Tareq Salahi, had a private box at the stadium and invited some of the cheerleaders back to the their seats to hang out after the halftime performance.
One sign Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman might be a bad auctioneer: He turned down the highest bidder ... and then called her a "fat and short Bette Midler."
The Mayor let the unbelievable diss loose at a recent auction in Sin City, after a woman he repeatedly said looked like the Divine, red-haired, Vegas performer entered a bid of $2,750 for the item on the auction block.
In the video -- shot from a distance -- Goodman says he won't accept her money because "she's fat and she's short."
The other auctioneer quickly tried to steer the auction back on track ... but the damage had been done.
The United States government might have a bigger budget to work with -- if one bodybuilding governor would pay the back taxes it appears he never got around to paying.
According to documents filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Arnold Schwarzenegger owes the IRS $39,047 from 2004 and $40,016 from 2005.
In total the Guv owes $79,064.00 ... and as we all know, he's definitely not saving the money for rainy day traffic violations.
An official at the L.A. County Recorder's Office tells TMZ their system shows the lien is still active.
Arnold's rep released the following statement: "No one, including the IRS, has notified the governor of any issues whatsoever with his taxes. We are contacting the IRS to determine if the document in question, which appears to be a penalty for missing info and not for unpaid taxes, is legitimate and if there is any discrepancy to resolve."
Maria Shriver ... did she get a special break yesterday when she went muffin/shoe shopping in Santa Monica, CA and left her SUV next to an expired parking meter? We decided to see for ourselves, and frankly ... we didn't do so well.
TMZ's intrepid muffin-eating reporter, Gary, went to Peet's Coffee -- the scene of Maria's crime. Gary left his whip at an expired meter and went inside for an orange-cranberry muffin. Gary was gorging himself when he looked out the window and saw a parking enforcement lady drive up to his car and get out.
Gary ran outside and pleaded, "I'm sorry. My meter must have ran out. I was inside getting muffins that were very important. I'm leaving right now."
Her response: "Sorry, there's nothing I can do for you. That's the way it is." She proceeded to write Gary a $50 parking ticket.
In fairness, Gary did not have a Dignitary Protection deputy to plead his case.
But, Gary says, the muffin was "delicious."
UPDATE: We apologize to Gary's mother ... who was under the impression he was on a diet.
Maria Shriver crossed the line yesterday when she went shoe and muffin shopping in Santa Monica yesterday without feeding her meter ... but several law enforcement sources say they also have problems with the way the situation was handled.
One law enforcement source says he would have handled it this way: "Maria, put a quarter in the meter!" He had no good answer why Maria didn't get ticketed and why a CHP deputy in the Dignitary Protection Unit stepped in to convince the parking cop to back off on writing a citation.
Initially, a rep from the Santa Monica PD told TMZ if Maria had a placard on her dash showing she was on official business the cop wouldn't write the ticket. But there was no placard in the window and last we checked eating a muffin and shopping for shoes has nothing to do with the business of California.
The rep also said the cop had "discretion" in writing a ticket. But another law enforcement source said Maria should have to pay the piper, one way or the other.
As for driving off without a seat belt, the Santa Monica official told us no one saw it.
As for official comment from law enforcement -- everyone seems scared to cross Guv Arnold Schwarzenegger, so mum's the word.
So far, no comment from the Governor's office either. Ditto Maria's.
Not to be outdone by hubby Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver broke two more road rules yesterday, but again she got off scot-free.
The rebellious First Lady of California was walking out of Peet's Coffee in Santa Monica when a vigilant parking enforcement officer noticed her meter had expired. The officer pulled out his rusty, trusty "auto-cite" device to ticket the vehicle, when suddenly one of Maria's security dudes ran up to him, flashed something at the officer and did some fast talking.
In the end, the officer backed off without writing a ticket. Maria then got in her SUV, took off her glasses and began eating her muffin as the expired meter continued blinking.
Oh, and there's this .... she drove off without securing her seat belt.
A Santa Monica police official tells TMZ writing a parking ticket is "discretionary." He also said if Maria was on official business she'd be exempt from parking laws, provided she had a placard on the dash. We saw no placard and -- last we checked -- eating a muffin is not official business.
UPDATE: A Santa Monica police official now tells TMZ the parking enforcement officer was about to write the ticket when a man walked up to the officer and said he was a member of the CHP Dignitary Protection Unit. The CHP guy then said he understood the officer had a job to do but the dignitary would be gone in less than 5 minutes. At that point the parking enforcement officer backed off, but issued a warning.
As for Maria then getting in the SUV, eating a muffin and driving off without her seat belt, the parking official says his officer didn't see that.
We contacted the CHP -- they have no comment on the situation.
The folks over at Sesame Street rolled over to the Bill O'Reilly show yesterday to introduce Bill to their new character, "Spill O'Reilly" -- an anchor at the "Pox News Network."
The Sesame Street rep explained that in the Grouch news world, being trashy is a good thing -- "Spill" then descibed himself as a "proud dirty sock wavin' grouch."
Bill laughed it off during the show, claiming he was "flattered" by the spoof -- but insisted the character reminded him more of congressman Barney Frank.
Arnold Schwarzenegger clearly learned a thing or two about falling on the sword ... because he made no excuses about parking his Porsche in a red zone the other day.
Will Arnold's bold mea culpa influence Maria -- who's been known to break a traffic law or two?
Arnold Schwarzenegger claims he hasn't been pulled over since he became Governor of California 6 years ago -- but as we all know ... it's not because he's never broken the law!!!! The infamous red zone parker and husband to law avoiding citizenMaria Shriver was on Leno last night -- where he admitted he hasn't been pulled over, let alone gotten a ticket, since he was sworn in.
His term ends in 2011. Watch out -- karma's a bitch.
John Kerry's daughter is free and clear this morning... because the L.A. City Attorney has decided not to prosecute her for DUI -- that's what law enforcement sources tell TMZ.
TMZ broke the story Alexandra Forbes Kerry was busted by the LAPD early Thursday morning, but her blood alcohol level was .06 ... under the legal limit of .08.
The City Attorney typically doesn't prosecute cases with a .06 ... so the decision to reject the case is pretty routine.
UPDATE 6:40 PM EST: Senator Kerry has released the following statement: "I'm grateful that this ends a public episode we all wish had been avoided entirely or handled privately.
Despite some speculation, my daughter was pulled over for an expired registration, not for erratic driving. A breathalyzer test at the police station revealed she was under the legal limit.
She was released a short time later, not at 5:30 AM or after being held overnight as some reported.
While she regrets driving with an expired registration, and takes full responsibility for it, that mistake should never have been compounded by erroneous reports suggesting she was driving drunk."
Maria Shriver crossed the line yesterday when she went shoe and muffin shopping in Santa Monica yesterday without feeding her meter ... but several law enforcement sources say they also have problems with the way the situation was handled.
John Kerry's daughter is free and clear this morning... because the L.A. City Attorney has decided not to prosecute her for DUI -- that's what law enforcement sources tell TMZ.
