Obama does the waiter bow to Japan's Emperor

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kokonut

kokonut

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Just like the bow he did in front of a Muslim Saudi King only this time he bowed a little lower which is called a "waiter bow" in front of a superior. No eye contact, head down facing the floor, almost as if he's groveling probably much to some chagrin of the Emperor of Japan. He went beyond the 45 degree angle.
How low will he go? Obama gives Japan's Emperor Akihito a wow bow | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times
American Thinker Blog: Obama bows down to Saudi King (updated)
To Bow or Not To Bow
 
Our president should bow to NO ONE! He is not subservient to anyone. He is the one in the highest position of our country and to show subservience to another country makes a huge political statement, and not one we should be proud of. This is very discouraging :(
 
Another aspect of Obama's own "sorry and bash America tour."
 
And at the same time you can't wonder if Japan is paying a compliment or an insult with their new "Obama toilet paper." LMAO!!

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Insult or compliment? There is Obama toilet paper in Japan... on Twitpic

Out of curiousity I found another source of these "special" toilet paper rolls you can buy from. Barack Obama Toilet Paper

Of course, we already had a Bush toilet paper.
GEORGE W. BUSH TOILET PAPER

Fair game I suppose. Though great Obama gag gift for friends and families?
 
Isn't it a "custom" in Japan?....Inasmuch as the USA, usually shaking hands....and when meeting the Pope, kissing his hand?

Many other countries have their own customs. My guess is that it's customary and a show of respect towards the country's leader.

I'm sure if I met our own President, I would not say "Yo, how's it hanging?".....Dunno what to make of this thread.....
 
rockin'robin, while I understand what you are saying, it is the level of the bow that indicates more than simply respect. The lower you bow, the more subservient you are claiming to be to the one you are bowing before.
 
Eve said:
rockin'robin, while I understand what you are saying, it is the level of the bow that indicates more than simply respect. The lower you bow, the more subservient you are claiming to be to the one you are bowing before.
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I understand that...but it's also a probability that since Obama is so tall, he didn't realize how low he was bowing....and perhaps didn't know HOW LOW NOT to bow!....Just think it's much ado about nothing.....
 
I'm really don't care about how Obama is greeting so agree with Jiro above.
 
rockin'robin said:
I understand that...but it's also a probability that since Obama is so tall, he didn't realize how low he was bowing....and perhaps didn't know HOW LOW NOT to bow!....Just think it's much ado about nothing.....
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That might be a viable excuse if the issue hadn't already been addressed with him after his bow to the Saudi Arbian king.
 
And Jiro, you should care how we are presenting ourselves to other countries.
 
In a 1994 New York Times did an article where they basically scolded Clinton who if he actually executed a full bow (he almost did), it would have "destroyed" a precedent dating to the founding of the Republic regarding protocols on addressing other leaders.

It wasn’t a bow, exactly. But 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? …
Guests invited to a white-tie state dinner at the White House (a Clinton Administration first) were instructed to address the Emperor as “Your Majesty,” not “Your Highness” or, worse, “King.” And in what one Administration aide called “some emperor thing,” an Army general was cautioned that he should not address the Emperor Akihito at all as he escorted him to the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

But the “thou need not bow” commandment from the State Department’s protocol office maintained a constancy of more than 200 years. Administration officials scurried to insist that the eager-to-please President had not really done the unthinkable.
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THE WORLD; The President's Inclination: No, It Wasn't a Bow-Bow - The New York Times

Yet, Obama does the full waiter bow. Any lower he'd be kissing the shoes of the Emperor, which wouldn't suprise me if that had happened. But NYT is strangely silent on this one.
 
Eve said:
And Jiro, you should care how we are presenting ourselves to other countries.
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by respecting their culture when you're a guest in that country.
 
respect is one thing, self-degradation is another
 
Eve said:
That might be a viable excuse if the issue hadn't already been addressed with him after his bow to the Saudi Arbian king.
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American Presidents do not bow to royalty. If people didn't already know, and they don't, heads of state do not bow or show any sense of genuflectiion to each other in the normal course of diplomacy. At least that was the case until this amateur came into office and failed to learn from the first time he did it.
 
Eve said:
respect is one thing, self-degradation is another
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guess we both have different perceptions. however - when one is drumming too hard, it is usually because one is trying to hide its discredited message :)
 
kokonut said:
American Presidents do not bow to royalty. If people didn't already know, and they don't, heads of state do not bow or show any sense of genuflectiion to each other in the normal course of diplomacy. At least that was the case until this amateur came into office and failed to learn from the first time he did it.
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so when the foreign head of state comes to USA, he shakes the President's hand when in their country - the guest must bow to them first.

by your logic - foreign leaders should not shake hand to President of United States in order not to show a sense of genuflectiion (whatever it's spelled from your post). I am very offended by your bigoted definition of bowing. Bowing is equivalent to shaking hand, nothing more, nothing less.
 
Jiro said:
I am very offended by your bigoted definition of bowing. Bowing is equivalent to shaking hand, nothing more, nothing less.
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That is not true. Bows relay much more than just a greeting. Saikeirei is a showing of subserviency.
 
Jiro said:
so when the foreign head of state comes to USA, he shakes the President's hand when in their country - the guest must bow to them first.

by your logic - foreign leaders should not shake hand to President of United States in order not to show a sense of genuflectiion (whatever it's spelled from your post). I am very offended by your bigoted definition of bowing. Bowing is equivalent to shaking hand, nothing more, nothing less.
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Given Koko's logic, I guess it should be acceptable for foreign leaders not to shake our President's hand no matter what party he belongs to.

I don't see what the fuss is about. :dunno:
 
Miss Manners: "One does not bow or curtsy to a foreign monarch because the gesture symbolizes recognition of her power over her subjects."
 
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