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Mona Charen: How Low Can Obama Go?
President Barack Obama, who nearly prostrated himself before the king of Saudi Arabia last April, has once again bowed low to a monarch — this time to the emperor of Japan.
What to make of this obsequious body language?
After the presidential frame went perpendicular before the Saudi royal, the White House at first denied that the president had bowed. He was merely leaning over, Robert Gibbs explained, because the president was “taller than the king.” That might make sense — to anyone who had not seen the video. Obama bent so far over that he was at eye level with the king’s hips.
The president’s defenders suggested that he was merely being polite, or simply following protocol. Politeness consists in treating others with respect and taking care not to hurt their feelings. But a bow, well, that’s a different matter.
Last week, the president did it again, bowing from the waist before Japan’s Emperor Akihito. So what might have seemed a rookie mistake is now looking deliberate.
Protocol is not the explanation. While there have been exceptions, American presidents have not traditionally bowed to royalty. Nor have American diplomats or citizens of any stripe. Kings and queens of England have visited America and been quite satisfied to receive a dignified handshake from Americans high and low. President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously served Great Britain’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth hot dogs at his Hyde Park home.
When it comes to body language, it’s best to stick to your own culture and traditions. A too-eager attempt to ingratiate by adopting others’ customs can backfire. According to one Asian expert consulted by ABC’s Jake Tapper, Obama’s low bow caused considerable consternation in Japan. Apparently, a proper Japanese bow under the circumstances would have been executed with hands at the sides, and a slight tilt from the waist. “The bow as he performed it did not just display weakness in Red State terms, but evoked weakness in Japanese terms. ... The last thing the Japanese want or need is a weak-looking American president and, again, in all ways, he unintentionally played that part.”
Obama makes much of his international pedigree, the latest iteration being the boast that he is the “first Pacific president” — whatever that means. But when he stoops to royalty this way, he invites the question: How American does he feel?
Don’t hyperventilate. Of course, there is no one way for Americans to think or feel. But some American attitudes are, or used to be, woven deeply into our character. Most Americans have a visceral distaste, dating back to our founding, for truckling to royalty. Article One, Section 9 of the Constitution states: “No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States — And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of Congress, accept any present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince or foreign state.” Kings and emperors have been treated with courtesy, of course, but to bow is — yes, I’ll say it — un-American.
Here, let the New York Times explain it. In 1994, the Times gently rebuked President Bill Clinton for “almost” bowing to the Japanese emperor. “It wasn’t a bow, exactly,” the editorial chided, “(b)ut Mr. Clinton came close. He inclined his head and shoulders forward, he pressed his hands together. It lasted no longer than a snapshot, but the image on the South Lawn was indelible: an obsequent president, and the emperor of Japan. Canadians still bow to England’s queen; so do Australians. Americans shake hands. If not to stand eye-to-eye with royalty, what else were 1776 and all that about?”
Obama’s bows, coupled with his global apology tours, suggest something other than politeness. Obama has repeatedly reminded us that he thinks we have been arrogant and high-handed in our dealings with other nations. By bowing and scraping, he intends to drop us down a peg or two. The president of the United States really did intend to show obeisance to the king of Saudi Arabia and to defer to the emperor of Japan. He appears to have done so not to flatter those nations but only to diminish his own.
— Mona Charen writes for Creators Syndicate. Click here for more information or to contact her.
Comments
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» on 11.18.09 @ 05:24 AM
This liberal is just a terrible president, and he makes the U.S look weak. Obama has never worked a real job his whole life, and got his hands dirty.
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» on 11.18.09 @ 06:54 AM
Nothing better to talk about than a bow? I think the right just will find fault in anything Obama does. The U.S. has been high-handed and arrogant in our international dealings due to the past administration pursuing their neocon agenda. In the past 20 years we have killed more innocent people in our quest to dominate the world and find new sources of oil. It is about time we entered into the real world and starting treating other nations with respect. If we partner with other nations we can solve many mutual problems such as energy, the environment,trade, world hunger and regional conflicts.
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» on 11.18.09 @ 08:14 AM
Would you right wingers like it better if President Obama gave the world the finger like President Bush did? Have any of you noticed how much our standing in the world improved as soon as President Obama took office?
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» on 11.18.09 @ 08:23 AM
Obama is Chicago Mafia pretending to be royalty. All he can promise is change and toss money at people, but accountability and “real change” for the better, we’ll that’s another story for another president. He just wants to point fingers at everyone else. Why do you think he’s still actively campaigning for his job?
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» on 11.18.09 @ 08:37 AM
Well said Local . . . with the time the conservatives have spent on this silly issue, they could have made some progress on something positive (peace, hunger, etc).
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» on 11.18.09 @ 08:57 AM
Well said Local . . . with the time the conservatives have spent on this silly issue, they could have made some progress on something positive (peace, hunger, etc).
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» on 11.18.09 @ 09:56 AM
@ anotherLocal “...could have made progress on something positive (peace, world hunger).” Or they could have made a really positive contribution by calling for the end of the murder of unborn children in this country, the vile and racist practice of abortion. 55 Million children became a vapor.
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» on 11.18.09 @ 11:12 AM
Lay off Obama… Obviously none of you made it to be President of the United States. Change is upon us… Embrace it people. It’s a pity how people are so obsessed with POWER. SAD how we are living in a society that has forgotten about humility. I assume it’s somewhat understandable how some ignorant people think Obama is a terrible president… They are more obsessed with looking powerful… And you wonder why we are in a time of WAR?It’s people like that who continue to repeat the cycle of violence and war because they are obsessed with looking and feeling POWERFUL. Lets talk about some real issues now…
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» on 11.18.09 @ 11:16 AM
Good points from Ms. Charen!
The Japanese Emporer’s Wife even looked embarrassed by EXCESSIVE bowing from The President.
A corrollary question might be raised = HOW LOW CAN CONGRESS GO?
Since Federal largese & voting districts are apportioned according to census data every 10 years - Democrats in Congress have blocked EVERY EFFORT made to account for the number of illegals in this country!
In legal terms = Those blocks SHOULD BE INDICTABLE OFFENSES as accessories to felony fraud!
WHY IS IT NOT YET ILLEGAL for Democrats now serving as Members of Congress to continue doing so, repeatedly?
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» on 11.18.09 @ 01:54 PM
Oh the Local Cabal has spoken! Yes there are more important things to talk about, like dragging terrorists through New York City so you idiots can prosecute the former president.
Sorry Dave but those who make the laws seldom find any use for them. As for the last Local you remind me of a spoiled rich kid whose parents sheltered them from all pain while growing up. Let me enlighten you. The world is a mean and nasty place and how you act is judged and harshly by those who don’t like you. Acting like a complete coward, apologizing all the time and sniveling to bad guys is like wearing a big target on your back. You can give diplomacy, appeasement, containment and all the other sappy weak pathetic behaviors all the lip service you want, but in the end it will just get you and all around you killed. I too believe violence to be abhorrent and counterproductive. But when someone holds a knife to your throat you fight them. Crying only makes them slash deeper. Grow a spine weakling.
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» on 11.18.09 @ 02:17 PM
Dave, after the previous administration’s total disregard for the law and the Constitution, how can you talk about others with indictable offenses with a straight face?
Also, I am not sure how your point regarding the census jives with the discussion we are having about bowing? At least he did not throw up at dinner!!!
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» on 11.18.09 @ 04:17 PM
This is how we spend our time, debating if we, as Americans, should or shouldn’t be respectful to other cultures? Really, this shows weakness, hmmmm travel the world much? Can tell you this, we were HATED around the world, for the past 8 years, HATED- I know, I’ve travled the world and often hid my nationality…. This is a new time, a better time, a wiser time…
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» on 11.18.09 @ 05:51 PM
You rightwingers are right ! I too much prefer holding hands with Saudi princes and trying to give Angela Merkle a backrub . Hypocrites !
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» on 11.18.09 @ 07:24 PM
@ This local. Wow! Lay off Obama. Is that supposed to produce an effect? If I had asked you to lay off George W would it have had any effect? Liberals live in their own delusional world. Lay off? I seem to remember, “Bush is another Hitler. He has killed millions of people (unverified statement #59). He made Chenney a millionaire…and it goes on ad nausium. I did not support Bush in the end, because he pandered to insane liberal ideas and spent taxpayer money like liberals like to do. I did not vote for Obama, but I had a sense of pride when he won. Boy have I been dissappointed in his socialist, morally bankrupt ideas of how and who should govern this great country.
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» on 11.19.09 @ 09:49 AM
What would have been best is if Obama and/or his staff had actually researched what was accepted and appropriate in Japanese culture and then the Prez had done that. Instead, he shook the Emperor’s hand AND bowed when it should have been one or the other. Being appropriate is a great way to garner respect, whether one is the POTUS or a regular citizen. Either Obama’s staff really let him down by not doing their research or he can’t remember what to do without a teleprompter in front of him.
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» on 11.19.09 @ 02:53 PM
Now proud, your attitude is delusional at best and suicidal at worst. What a pin head! Does how some stuck up snobby oligarch in Western Europe feel about you matter THAT much, that you have to be proud of an American president debasing himself in front of the world? What a sicko, and what a sick thing to teach your spoiled entitlement minded offspring.
Funny thing is in my travels I have seen just the opposite, people are warm and sincere and just want to know when we are going to be the leaders of the free world again. Of course I don’t hob nob with nationalistic, inbred, stuck up, classist, elitist oligarchs or their spoiled hedonistic offspring, just the folks they step on to keep their status.
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» on 11.22.09 @ 09:08 AM
Obama’s just a big clumsy dope.
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