Indeed, that is what all the bowing and scraping is all about -- sending a message that America is now submissive, rather than assertive.
There are protocol officers at the State department, at the embassies and there are protocol officers attached to the White House. He knows better. But he does it anyway.
This is a studied effort to reduce America's standing in the world. I wonder if the incessant rudeness and patent incompetence are part of that same effort -- or just another manifestation of Zero's inexperience.
There was a question from the US Press Corps traveling with the White House, very important in my mind, as to if Obama got some protocol advice along these lines to do it. Their answer would tell is a) State Department incompetence--or maybe even a "set up", or b) deliberate effort by Obama to humiliate the USA on the world stage through imagery.
And yet, they laughed off the question.
Or maybe it was one of those "we will have to get back to you on that" kind of Gibbs-thangs. They never did address this. To me it is a pivotal question.