How Bow Brown Cow

[Tunnelcat]

I didn't SAY it was funny woodchip. I've had my share of food poisonings and let me tell you, it ain't pleasant! I don't blame him for his faux pas anymore than I blame Obama for his cultural mistake. The rightie wingnuts really need to quit watching Fox and Freaks and drop this one, it's just not important. EVERY President has had some blunder or another while in office. Obama's no different.

CUDA, I dislike Dubya just as much as you guys dislike Obama, and even I'm not very happy with some of what Obama's done so far. When all you righties stand up and criticize all the crap Bushie did to ruin our country as much as you rail against Obama NOW, then I'll drop the Bushie subject.

[Ferno]

[woodchip]

TC, I could forgive Obama the first time he bowed to the Saudi King. Considering all the flack he received from it, it is unforgivable that he would bow a second time in front of another Royal.

And \"Heh\" at Ferny.

[Pandora]

heh.

...few in the Japanese media said anything about Obama’s bow until they discovered Fox and other American media sources had made it into a big story. What we now have on our hands is a strange story about how many Americans have overreacted to simple bow and handshake. Unlike the bow itself, which drew little attention, this story actually does make America look stupid in the eyes of many Japanese viewers.

[dissent]

heh.

another blog, and an obviously opinionated one at that.


still not impressed.

[Lothar]

heh.

another blog, and an obviously opinionated one at that.

Of the blog's contributors, one is Indonesian, and the rest are natives of English-speaking countries (US, Canada, England, Australia). They're all living in Japan.

They say:

few in the Japanese media said anything about Obama’s bow until they discovered Fox and other American media sources had made it into a big story. What we now have on our hands is a strange story about how many Americans have overreacted to simple bow and handshake.

I would like to see:

1) links to / descriptions of what the "few in the Japanese media" said about Obama's bow. They said that few made mention of it, but they didn't say whether they made positive or negative mention.

2) links to what the Japanese media are actually saying about Americans overreacting to Obama's bow. Was Obama's bow a good one that we shouldn't react to at all, or was it a bad one that we should've reacted a little bit to?

[Pandora]

didn't want to imply this as a proof of anything. Just thought it would be funny if the Japanese were more amused about America's response to the bow, as about the bow itself. This would be a nice example of America's partisanship backfiring completely.

Then, of course, there is the video from a japanese TV program that they link to. I don't understand a word of what they are saying, of course, and just have to take the poster at their word that it says what they are implying. It would be great if somebody could translate it.

[Spidey]

I don’t care if he botched the stupid bow or not…no American president should bow to an emperor.

[woodchip]

I wonder what the Pacific theater WW2 vets have to say about the matter.

[Bet51987]

.

[woodchip]

The new civility? Or new servility?

[CDN_Merlin]

I don’t care if he botched the stupid bow or not…no American president should bow to an emperor.

Would it not be rude if an emperor came to the US and refused to shake Obama's hand?

It is custom there to bow. It's custom here to shake hands. It has nothing to do with power.

[Spidey]

I’m not speaking in terms of power, what I’m talking about is recognition, if there is one thing this country should stand for…it’s not recognizing Royalty.

Not in an official capacity anyway, informally…doesn’t matter.

When the president shows formal respect for royalty, it lends a certain credence, these people should not be greeted in public by the president, and only met by lower ranking officials.

Goes for dictators too.

And, before anybody says…blah blah…respect etc…these things can be handled with tact.

That’s just my personal opinion.

[CDN_Merlin]

I don't understand what the difference is. The Emperor is royalty there, Obama is royalty in the US in a sort of way. They are both heads of their countries.

[Spidey]

No…the president is NOT royalty. And, that position is not royalty for a good reason.

Blood royalty means servitude, we shed blood to throw off the yoke of servitude.

BTW, the emperor of Japan is not the head of the country, just as the queen is not the head of England. They both have duly elected leaders.

[dissent]

Leslie H. Gelb on Amateur Hour at the White House. As pundits and commentators clean-up after the Asia trip, a few parting thoughts (from this side of the pond),

President Obama’s nine-day trip to Asia is worth a look back to fix two potent problems, past and future. First, the trip’s limited value per day of presidential effort suggests a disturbing amateurishness in managing America’s power. On top of the inexcusably clumsy review of Afghan policy and the fumbling of Mideast negotiations, the message for Mr. Obama should be clear: He should stare hard at the skills of his foreign-policy team and, more so, at his own dominant role in decision-making. Something is awry somewhere, and he’s got to fix it. ...

...Some analysts played fair and acknowledged that administration officials tried to tell reporters not to expect “deliverables” on the trip, and to see the journey more as a recognition of Asia’s new importance and America’s desire for a new co-operative spirit. That’s a commendable thought, but hardly justification for almost two weeks of the president’s time (when you consider preparations)— especially when he’s got a tanking economy, health-care reform woes, and decisions to make on Afghanistan. Presidents take trips like this one only when they need breakthroughs and accomplishments on certain issues that can’t be agreed on without the pressure of an impending presidential visit. ...

...Matters were made worse on the scene. It was not good optics for Obama to bow to Japan’s emperor. He seems to do this stuff spontaneously and inexplicably, as with his bow to the Saudi King some months ago. And it was truly unfortunate that Obama and his aides didn’t flatly insist that he be allowed to address the Chinese people directly on television and meet with non-stacked Chinese groups—as has been the case during previous presidential visits. Beijing’s leaders obviously didn’t feel confident enough of their own standing at home to give the popular Mr. Obama such access. But he and his team should have made it a precondition of the visit. Its absence left an unhappy taste.

... and from the other side of the pond.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 926987.ece#

http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 22,00.html

[woodchip]

The problem Obama has is he hasn't succeeded at anything, nor is he inspiring us in any way. While Obama did succeed in brow beating congress into passing a stimulus bill, the Stimulus Bill is now seen as a abject failure with the 8.2% unemployment goalpost being knocked down and burned. With Obama's humble pie approach to other nations showing no gains and certainly no new \"respect\", is it any wonder SNL are now doing disrespectful comedy skits about Obama?
(Bee, does this make SNL racist?)
Is it any wonder that Palin's star is rising and Obama's falling? Unless Obama can show he is not a lick spittle prior to the 2012 elections, I'm afraid he will go down as a failed president. Perhaps he could get Jimmy Carter to tell him where he is going wrong.