I think the only way President Obama can now save face with any other leader in the free world is to not only bow, but bring along his shoeshine box and show his deepest appreciation with a fresh shine.
(Shoe shine, ...Boss???)
“With the imperial visit last week, official Washington was clearly determined to show that it knew well what courtesies should be showered on the 175th inheritor of the most formal throne on earth.
Guests invited to a white-tie state dinner at the White House (a Clinton Administration first) were instructed to address the Emperor as “Your Majesty,” not “Your Highness” or, worse, “King.” And in what one Administration aide called “some emperor thing,” an Army general was cautioned that he should not address the Emperor Akihito at all as he escorted him to the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.
But the “thou need not bow” commandment from the State Department’s protocol office maintained a constancy of more than 200 years. Administration officials scurried to insist that the eager-to-please President had not really done the unthinkable.
“It was not a bow-bow, if you know what I mean,” said Ambassador Molly Raiser, the chief of protocol.
White House officials described Mr. Clinton’s tilt as something of an improvisation. Because Emperor Akihito broke with tradition in turn to raise his glass at the state dinner, some even said Mr. Clinton had managed something of a breakthrough.
“Presidents don’t bow, and Emperors don’t toast,” one official said. “So this was a little bit like the cultures meeting each other halfway.”
(Shoe shine, ...Boss???)
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Speaking of shoes, Obama’s look like they have lifts embedded. Perhaps without them, Michelle would tower over him.