President Bush had the ultimate insult literally thrown at him during a Sunday trip to Baghdad – shoes.

An Iraqi Shiite reporter stood up during a press conference given by the president with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the Prime Minister’s Palace, calling him a “dog” and hurling not one, but two shoes at him. But Bush’s reflexes were quick, and he ducked just in time.

He tried to laugh the incident off, later, then turned the incident into a message about living in a free society.

“Okay, everybody calm down for a minute,” Bush said. First of all, thank you for apologizing on behalf of the Iraqi people. It doesn’t bother me. And if you want some — if you want the facts, it’s a size-10 shoe that he threw. (Laughter.) Thank you for your concern, do not worry about it."

"So what if a guy threw a shoe at me? It’s like going to a political rally and having people yell at you. It’s like driving down the street and having people not gesturing with all five fingers … I didn’t feel the least bit threatened by it," the president continued. “That’s what happens in free societies – people try to bring attention to themselves.”

The incident is all the talk in Iraq and the U.S. today. Reuters reports that the reporter, Muntazer al-Zaidi, is said to be bitter toward Bush for the thousands of Iraqis who died after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The reporter was briefly kidnapped by unknown gunmen in 2007.

Politico reports that White House Press Secretary Dana Perino was slightly injured in the melee’s aftermath.

Perino was hit in the face with a microphone as security wrestled with the reporter, NBC News reported. She is fine and will continue traveling with the president, an administration official told Politico. An ice pack will work wonders for any bruising …

In Baghdad’s Shiite Sadr City, thousands of supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded the release of the jailed reporter. They chanted in the streets Monday: "Bush, Bush, listen well: Two shoes on your head." They called the reporter a "hero."

"I’m sure many Iraqis want to do what Muntazer did. Muntazer used to say all the orphans whose father were killed are because of Bush," his brother, Udai al-Zaidi, told Reuters Television.

Bush made the surprise visit to Baghdad as part of his Iraq-Afghanistan farewell tour before Barack Obama takes over as president. During the shoe-flinging incident, Bush was taking part in a ceremonial signing of a troop withdrawal agreement, which calls for the U.S. to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.

"The war is not over," Bush said, but "it is decisively on its way to being won."