Obama bowing againFollow

You like how Varus completely ignores Joph putting him in his place about the 'retired' general?

You like how Varus completely ignores Joph putting him in his place about the 'retired' general?

So Bush Sr was just brown-bagging it that one time? Interesting.

Obama is representing all of us when he meets with those heads of state, so yeah, it's a bit bothersome to see him essentially throw out a hard held US view on status in ways that don't make sense diplomatically. It makes some wonder if he holds the same views towards equality and class as the rest of us. And that makes some wonder if he's really representing "US", or something else. It's a dumb thing to do politically. It gains him nothing on the foreign front at all, except presumably the snickers of his peers, and costs him quite a bit domestically. I can't imagine that his handlers haven't told him not to do this, especially after the stink raised the last time, which makes me assume it's some kind of habit or thing he thinks he should do no matter how inappropriate it might be. It's just strange to most of us to think that we've got a president who seems in the habit of bowing to other people for no apparent reason. While I know that it's easy to mis-characterize the whole "strong president" thing as arrogance and whatnot, the reality is that a head of state has to be a little bit arrogant. He can't press the needs of his own nation if he's always looking for a way to make the other guy happy. What can be labeled as arrogance, is also a sign of strength. And without that, your nation will be stepped on by everyone else...

If other cultures can't appreciate that then ***** them.

It's not like other western leaders all do this, and the US is somehow an odd prickish country which refuses to. None of the other western leaders bow like that. Obama choosing to is the unusual thing, not the other way around.

Considering the foundation of this country is based on the ideal that we're all created equal

It's pretty common knowledge that the depth and length of a bow indicates more than just respect for the person you are bowing to. It is a show of relative position. Even in the most strict periods of Feudal Japan leaders did not bow that deeply to each other. Ever. The depth of bow Obama used would be indicative of a servant of a master (or perhaps an employee to a CEO he works for today).


Not causing offense is one thing. What he did was say "I'm beneath you".

I'm sorry. Did you post a link showing other western leaders bowing in a similar manner? Cause I have been busy today and may have missed it...

Awwww, look at you try to turn this back on me! How cute.

Here's a clue though: It doesn't matter at all if I can find a picture (I really don't give a sh*t, my entire point was "HAHA LOOK GUYS GBAJI IS STILL BAD AT DISCUSSION"), you still had no idea what you were talking about and were making sh*t up to prove your argument.


Edited, Nov 16th 2009 9:01pm by CBD

This bow bears no resemblance to the polite bow Nixon did. Read the page. Yes. I'm sure it's a conservative writing it, so you may feel free to dismiss everything on the page. However, you're dismissing fact because it's inconvenient.

He's bent over nearly 90 degrees. He's looking down at the floor. This is *not* a protocol bow. This is *not* a bow of respect. It is exactly the sort of bow you give to indicate you are in a submissive position to the person you are bowing to.

He may have thought this would make him look sophisticated and culturally aware. But it really does just make him look like an idiot. And if you didn't apparently have a massive vested need to insist otherwise, you'd admit it. You don't need to have have a super deep understanding of Japanese culture to know that this bow was improper in pretty much every way possible.

EDIT. And if you want to prove I'm wrong, then by all means find me examples of other western leaders bowing in a similar manner.

Here's a clue though: It doesn't matter at all if I can find a picture (I really don't give a sh*t, my entire point was "HAHA LOOK GUYS GBAJI IS STILL BAD AT DISCUSSION"), you still had no idea what you were talking about and were making sh*t up to prove your argument.