Posted on 11/23/2009 1:35:14 PM PST by markomalley
President Obama's bow to Japan's Emperor Akihito in Tokyo earlier this month ignited anger from some conservatives who complained, in the words of blogger Donald Douglass, that the United States "now willingly prostrates itself before the rest of the world."
Now the president is responding – kind of. The Atlantic quotes "a US government official who was on the trip" who says the president was left "speechless" by the controversy.
"Obama's attitude was, this is an elderly gentleman in a country where this kind of greeting is customary," said the official. "It does not seem extraordinary to show this kind of gesture to him."
"The Fox News poll said that 67 percent of Americans thought [the bow] was a good thing for him to have done," the official continued. "When the president heard that some people had complained, I'd characterize his reaction as: The notion that the United States is somehow humbling or humiliating itself by showing respect for a local custom, when it is transparently the most powerful country in the world, leaves me speechless."
As criticism of the president for the bow bubbled up, media outlets noted that anger over what some see as excessive presidential deference to a foreign leader is nothing new. President George W. Bush was criticized for holding the hand of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, while Presidents Clinton and Nixon took heat for bows or near-bows to the Japanese emperor. Mr. Obama has also been criticized for genuflecting to Abdullah.
On the other hand, you can avoid the controversy by just acting like a US President for once.
Good call!....Stay speechless Obama!
Really? Sorry, I find that hard to believe.
I suppose every other US President, in post WWII, who happened to meet the Emperor and didn’t bow, would be left speechless to understand why any US head of state would do so...
Obama? Speechless? The teleprompter must be broken.
Nixon bowed.
On the other hand, you can avoid the controversy by just acting like a US President for once.
Beat me to it!
Remain SPEECHLESS, you tard and do U.S. all a favor.
And leave the teleprompter at home too. Then I am sure you will keep your stupid mouth shut.
Isn’t this a change in the official position of the White House about what happened?
I seem to recall that at the time they denied it was in fact a bow at all.
Now it seems he is saying he did bow, (but it should not be a big deal.)
BS Barry - you didn’t show that much concern for your beer summit professor - the elderly man had to be helped down the steps by the cop he was at odds with while you skipped merrily ahead....
Oh, well that's better then. The diplomatic position is now that the Emperor, head of state of one our staunchest allies, is just a kindly old uncle who we treat with respect because of his age. Hell, he probably didn't even know who was bowing to him. They took him back to the home right after the bow.
Can anyone in this administration do the right thing, or after screwing up, at least give a non-insulting answer?
We are lost. Berlin went to his pinhead.
Holding hands in Saudi Arabia is a sign of friendship and equality, not subservience.
I thought the same - 67% did NOT think it was a good thing????
Heheheh
Speechless is a good thing. Most of us wished he would shut the hell up. I personally cant even stand the sound of his voice, anymore.
Well all righty then, I guess okay after all, yeesh
If he had wanted to bow, he should have asked the protocol officers how to do it properly. That is what the protocol officers are FOR.
What he did was gauche, condescending and made him look like a stupid rube.
The Kenyan Klod could be rendered speechless simply by umplugging the teleprompter.
What a bleepin’ asshat,,,,,,,,,God save us from this idiot.
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