[tarheelswamprat]

I have two observations:

1. Obama is using this gesture to negate the bad PR about his bow to the King of Saudi Arabia. It’s a calculated strategy to establish a meme of “that’s just my way of showing respect”. He may even do it a few more times to cement that argument.

2. Since we don’t have a clear and unobstructed photo of his encounter with the Saudi King there is no way to prove this, but it is my firm belief that he didn’t just bow to the Saudi King, but that he actually performed the “salaam”, the traditional Muslim gesture of obeisance and submission(peace). I base this on the astonished expressions on the onlookers’ faces in the photo. I believe they realized immediately what he had done, the symbolism of it, and the message that was being sent...

[roses of sharon]

Yes, he genuflected to the Saudi, no doubt. Much worse than this, imv.

[Cicero]

Yes, I think you may well be right. He’s not only naive and ignorant, but he’s surrounded by advisers who know nothing about statecraft as well.

Still, it could have been a deliberate effort to defuse the bow to the Saudi King.

I doubt if that will work.

[ApplegateRanch]

Since we don’t have a clear and unobstructed photo of his encounter with the Saudi King there is no way to prove this, but it is my firm belief that he didn’t just bow to the Saudi King, but that he actually performed the “salaam”, the traditional Muslim gesture of obeisance and submission(peace). I base this on the astonished expressions on the onlookers’ faces in the photo. I believe they realized immediately what he had done, the symbolism of it, and the message that was being sent...

Note that in the Saudi pictures, his knee is bent, as if "making a leg" as the feudalists put it, so you may be very much correct..