In April, when President Barack Obama bowed to Saudi King Abdullah, he received much condemnation from both Americans and people around the world. While President Obama may have desired to produce a sign of respect, bowing before a monarch is usually a symbol of submission to his power. Now he’s gone and done it again, this time with Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
As noted in American Digest, this will probably lead to the inevitable thousand photoshops.
And in the video, he doesn’t just bow once; rather he bobs his head like a veritable American pigeon.
Some of the wisecracks:
“May I shine your shoes, Sir?”
“I’m surprised he didn’t curtsy.”
“See, Obama is not a Muslim. He’s a shintoist.”
November 14, 2009 at 5:32 pm
i find this disgraceful
November 14, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Well the Emperor seems amused at least.
Honestly, if Obama was really interested in showing respect the bow without the handshake would have been appropriate. Or the bow and then the handshake. Both at the same time? Seems weird.
That being said, foreigners in Japan are not expected to bow since its generally felt that foreigners’ bows are pretty lame. Okay I joke, its understood that its not normal in western culture to bow.
November 14, 2009 at 6:46 pm
At least this was a bow. That bended knee thingy He did for the Saudi Oberlord was more curtsy than bow. This one was not a bow between equals though, Teh Won very clearly declared Himself to be the inferior one. A bow between equals would have been about 15 degrees, just like the Emperors was.
Generally Obambi can be expected to disrespect our allies and show obeisance to our enemies. In this case His nearly prostrating Himself before an ally is probably because He is trying to apologize for America winning WWII.
November 14, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Enkidu:
Very well pointed out. I had almost forgot that the depth of the bow was also important.
I also thought it was telling that the Japanese Prime Minister made of point of publicly stating that he and Obama called each other by their first names (“Yukio” and “Barack”) which would also indicate that they see each other of equal social status. I don’t even recall Koizumi making such a declaration about himself and Bush.
Perhaps we’re reading into this too much, but I’m curious what the average Japanese person makes of all this. Subtle messages and cultural miscues are sometimes the most impressive.
November 15, 2009 at 1:53 am
Its just another stop on the APOLOGY tour. Eventually even leftist Americans are going to get tired of America apologizing to every democratic leader and tinpot dictator; then Barry’s time will be over.