He gets a pass on this one. His actions are subject to at least three reasonable interpretations.
He may in fact not be familiar with traditional Presidential Protocol.
Or he may have decided to abandon protocol in favor of courtesy. This is after all the twentieth anniversary of Emperor Akithito (sp) accession.
Or Obama may just be curious as to whether the Emperor had an erection at the time, and wanted to take a closer look. I lean towards the latter possibility.
The bow also has many meanings like, excuse me, thank you, I’m sorry, nice to meet you. Bows are also used to kick-off conversations and to acknowledge someone’s presence.
Yes, that's right, he bows, to kings and emperors. The man disgraces the office of the President, and our country.
HE's the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HE BOWS TO NO ONE.
lol, this keeps getting better and better.
He should have taken a dump on his carpet just to remind him who's boss.
He's a servant, alright.
What a clown! He needs Hillary to hold his hand.(UPDATES: 12:22 p.m. A brief news video has been added below, showing the greeting in this photograph. Contrary to some claims, the video shows no reciprocal bow by the emperor, who traditionally bows to no one. And we've added a file photo from 2007 of Vice President Dick Cheney greeting the Japanese Emperor at the same residence in a different fashion.)
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.
To some in the United States, however, an upright handshake might have looked better. (See Cheney-Akihito photo, right).
Remember Michelle Obama casually patting Britain's Queen Elizabeth on the back during their Buckingham Palace visit? America's royalty tends to make movies and get bad reviews and lots of money as a sign of respect.
Personal attacks, looks like you have nothing to say that defensible on the topic. The Rev isn't even here to give you a lollipop.Just like how many other presidents bowed to foreign leaders?
Didn't we have a discussion about this where you (or rev) were thoroughly humiliated and once again shown to be extreme partisan hacks?
Here it is:
http://www.debatepolitics.com/us-po...obama-disgrace-bows-another-leader-wtf-2.html
Bush bowed to Koizumi. Did most people care? No. Clinton bowed to Obuchi. Did rational people care? No.
It's this kind of behavior that gets your 100% accurately labeled a hyperpartisan hack job.
Clearly, you've never been to Japan, much less out of the country.
Grow up for a change.
No yet, but don't you worry. We'll have this blown out really good soon. He didn't keep his eye on the emporer either, the dope.Consensus of other thread: a bow in Japanese culture is like a handshake in ours. This has been blown out of proportions.
Would you rather he doesn't bow to Akihito, and end up insulting one of our closest allies? Keep in mind a bow is just a form of greeting in Japan.