President Obama Again Bows to a Foreign King

By Bob Ellis on November 14th, 2009

ObamaBowsToEmperorRemember several months ago when our president bowed and scraped before a foreign king?

He’s at it again.

From the LA Times comes word that President Barack Obama bowed low to another foreigner, this time the emperor of Japan.

How low will the new American president go for the world’s royalty?

This photo will get Democrat President Obama a lot of approving nods in Japan this weekend, especially among the older generation of Japanese who still pay attention to the royal family living in its downtown castle. Very low bows like this are a sign of great respect and deference to a superior.

So he bows before the emperor of a nation that carried out a sneak attack against us, that we ended up defeating at the end of World War II?  And he can’t bring himself to defend our use of atomic weapons to save thousands if not millions of American and Japanese lives in an invasion?

ObamaBowing

President Obama bows to Saudi king

Why does the leader of the free world–the leader of the most free nation in the world–feel such an overwhelming compulsion to bow to foreign kings?

A free people–and especially the leader of a free people–bow before no man.

Look, I know Barack Obama spent a lot of time overseas in foreign countries as a youth, and his grandmother even says he was born in Kenya, and yes, I know Obama loathes the American way of life, but can’t he at least put on a good show when he’s representing the rest of us overseas?

Why must he embrace Marxist thugs and America-haters?

Why must Obama go on an Apology Tour for America abroad?

Why must he bash is own country even as he tries to wrangle for the Olympics in the United States?

Why does he surround himself and fill our government with communists and other anti-Americans?

Is it really too much to ask for the President of the United States to at least pretend he loves America, our Constitution, our ideals, our achievements, our way of life?

How did America elect such a “representative” to the presidency?  Do you know?

UPDATE: HotAirPundit has pictures of other world leaders greeting the Japanese emperor (and a video of Obama’s greeting.  Notice that none of the other world leaders were bowing and scraping before the Japanese emperor.

Video of the new bow

Note: Reader comments are reviewed before publishing, and only salient comments that add to the topic will be published. Profanity is absolutely not allowed and will be summarily deleted. Spam, copied statements and other material not comprised of the reader’s own opinion will also be deleted.

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Categories: Commentary
Tags: , , ,

  • Carlos
    Is it me or was Obama the only one who bowed here??? Strange, I thought bowing was a sign of "RESPECT"??? HMMMM.... I guess when you bow that low its hard to respect someone who is beneath you.....

    I bet the whitehouse (intentionally not capitalized) is going to tell all of us that what we saw was the president (intentionally not capitalized)expirencing what appears to be a seizure, and the infatic bowing we witnessed was actually caused by deceptive camera angles and a spike in barometric pressure.
  • William
    Actually, LA Times is wrong (surprise)... His bow was not only embarrassing, as a head of state, but insulting to the Japanese in the manner in which he did it.

    Obama's bow violates a fundamental precept: NO TOUCHING while bowing! The one thing that virtually everyone who teaches bowing etiquette stresses is under no circumstance try to combine a bow with a handshake.

    Unlike just about everyone who comes into the Emperor's presence, Obama obviously received no instruction on Imperial etiquette. (Note: The Japanese take their monarch and etiquette in general about 100 times more seriously than do the British.)

    He obviously did not indicate to any of the American embassy staff, nor to any aides familiar with Japan that he intended to bow, and bow deeply.
  • dcm
    Very interesting. So what he's mainly guilty of in this case might be... gross cultural ignorance? Not that that should surprise anyone here...
  • MadManMoon
    Mr. Ellis, sir -- there are bigger things to worry about these days then our President showing mutual respect for other cultures. Focusing on petty little Fox News type stories guarantees that the big things get ignored. Then again, for some, maybe these simplistic snapshot stories are simply easier to comprehend than the real stories that have a real impact on our lives.

    And, Mr. Ellis, you *should* be proud -- now that we have a president with enough maturity to recognize that showing petulance and arrogance towards the leaders of other nations will only result in a United States with few friends and many enemies.

    Furthermore, if you think you're a "free" American, you seriously need to take time for a reality check. The last last 30 years has assured that your freedom will only go as far as corporate America decides it should.
  • You seem to have missed most of what I said, including the long list of examples of contempt for our country and our way of life shown by Obama; this is not one simple isolated incident, nor some simple oversight.

    What is more important than the prestige of our nation? Are you so juvenile and shallow that you don't realize that in this dangerous world of belligerent thuggish nations, a weak nation has a bullseye on it's back?

    The bowing and scraping Obama does to the rest of the world telegraphs a blazing message that we are weak. Bill Clinton broadcast even less weakness than does Obama, and that bought us 911. I don't know about you, but I don't want to see another 3,000 Americans (or more) dead at the hands of our enemies.

    I see also that you're a free-market hating Marxist like Obama, given your disdain for the businesses that produce the goods and services we enjoy, and who employ millions of Americans.

    Seeing this, your apologetics for the Apologist in Chief are more understandable, if not forgivable.
  • Bob Ellis: Cultural Turnip.
  • No, Bob Ellis: Proud & Free American

    Red Shadow: Excuser of the Disgraceful and Pathetic
  • WXRGina
    I've never heard the term "cultural turnip," but it sounds tasty, with maybe a little salt and pepper and a dash of Tabasco.

    When I saw this photograph of O-bow-ma, again disgracing the office of president, I could see the little cartoon speech bubble posted over his head, "Oh, I'm so, so, sooooo sorry for those horrible things we did to you in World War 2! Here, let me kiss your shoe!"

    Now, I have to go watch the movie "Patton" to get this image of the bowing Obama out of my head. Really, just the introduction to "Patton" will probably wash it away.
  • Mr. Illinois
    Did Emperor Akihito return the bow? If so, it's a positive display of mutual respect. If not, it's a disturbing show of one-sided deference inappropriate for our President in the face of a foreign leader.

    I'd have said in the face of "a peer" rather than "a foreign leader", but the President of the United State of America has few, if any, peers.

    Please, please, PLEASE tell us that this time the foreign official our nation's leader bowed to returned the courtesy and respect. Bowing is a common gesture in the Japanese culture, and one the Emperor should have initiated or returned without hesitation.

    The first incident (with the Saudi King) may have been impulsive or simply a poor decision by President Obama and can be easily overlooked. Everyone makes mistakes. But Americans NEED to know that our President is building relationships of mutual admiration, not simply kowtowing from a subservient position or apologizing for past transgressions while ignoring all the positive work America has simultaneously done.

    So.... can someone please help clarify: did Emperor Akihito also bow? I sincerely hope he did.
  • The bow (ojigi) is the equivalent of a hand shake in Japan. It is ALWAYS a mutual gesture. (I have a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law that are Japanese, both raised in Japan before they met and married my brother and my sister, respectively. I have learned much about the Japanese culture from them and have come to have great respect for it.)

    Modern Japanese do not expect a deep bow from Americans as they would from another Japanese, but appreciate a slight bowing gesture while shaking hands. It is just common courtesy and has no other connotations (unlike the bow before the Saudi king, which was just disgraceful).

    I can't tell you why Obama decided to bow deeply while the Emperor bows in the more casual style common with westerners. Those in charge of protocol should have had this arranged before hand so as to avoid embarrassment on any one's part.
  • I could maybe see Obama reciprocating with a modest bow if Akihito did it first.
  • Mr. Illinois
    Bob, sad to say, but the things I'm reading suggest the Emperor not only didn't bow first he didn't bow at all. I hope it's wrong, but I doubt it. Something is seriously wrongly with this picture. Twice now?!?!

    Thank you for covering this, Bob.
  • That's also what I'm catching so far, Mr. Illinois Thanks for reading and for commenting.
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