U.S. President Barack Obama bows as he is greeted by Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko as he arrives at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009
~~PING!
Emperor Akihito thinking) They were right. He does bow to other heads of state. I just wanted to shake his hand in the Westtern fashion.. What do i do now? Better be polite and show honor...Hope my Lumbago doesnt flare up...
Empress Michiko (thinking) My poor husband. Did anyone warn him this would happen? Are we suppose to bow back? My dress cost 1 Million Yen.. It will split..Oh well here goes...
I Japanese culture equals bow the same distance at the same time as a sign of respect. You will notice neither the Emperor or his wife are bowing at all. Read between the lines.
Both the Japanese Emperor and his wife have their eyes squarely on Oba Mao and have expressions of amusement.
He has shamed all of us with our best friends in the world.
Notice how both the Heisei Emperor and Michiko-sama are laughing at him (as are everyone else who has half a clue about Japanese culture).
This is the most humiliating picture I've ever seen of Obama.
(I expect impeachment and removal for high crimes and misdemeanors by a Republican Congress in 2011.)
It won't surprise me if Senator Obama does this in Beijing and would do it in Pyongyang before Kim Jong il. He is not behaving very "Presidential" I don't think even Bill Clinton did this. He is apparantly way out of his league if you want my honest opinion--he better grow out of it or we are going to continually be subjected to international embarrassment.
Nearly all of us here on FR are DISGUSTED with this man, but I am truly, truly trying to be knowledgeable, objective and authoritative on this one.
I don’t know starwise, I don’t think his back was straight enough.
Ack!