Of Bows and Stern Looks
I was reading Rick Moran’s analysis of the Great Obama Japanese Bow Disaster of Ought Nine today because, well… I’m not really sure what it is about this topic that snagged my attention, but I read Right Wing Nuthouse pretty much every day anyway, so there you are. The fact is, I didn’t get terribly excited when Obama decided to bow to King Abdullah either. Though I do agree with Rick that the White House’s efforts to explain that one away would have been better suited for Letterman than the Rose Garden.
Gibb’s nose grew about 6 inches when he offered that the president was really trying to pick something up off the floor.
I can understand the motivation for lying – hysterical kooks saying that the bow proves the president is really a Moooooslim – but really, couldn’t he have come up with something a little more imaginative? Maybe the president was trying to stretch his back – he hurt it playing basketball, you see. Or perhaps the president had a cramp and was doubled over in pain. Either one of those explanations would have been better than the invisible whatever that was on the floor that the president felt compelled to reach down and pick up just as he was greeting the Saudi King Abdullah.
You see, I should really have a job with this administration. I could certainly manage better than that. I mean, look at that picture of Obama and the Emperor. The explanation is pretty obvious. He was just trying to get his head down on the same level to be polite. How tall is that guy? About five foot one? And Obama is pretty much tall enough to play guard for the Bulls. That’s what it was. Yeah… that’s the ticket! Or maybe he was getting ready to impress his hosts by snatching a fly out of mid-air with a set of chopsticks. I think I see a set in his suit pocket.
But seriously, I get what some of the critics are driving at about this. Our friend Ed Morrissey made it the “Obamateurism of the Day” yesterday and even Rick had some stern words about the symbolism of the gesture.
Is it a big deal that we fought a revolution so that no American forevermore would ever have to bow to another sovereign? This isn’t just some quaint little tradition that conservatives shouldn’t get their panties in a twist over. This means something – to history, to the nature and character of Americans, to how we define ourselves as a people. No bowing – ever. That has been the standard American presidents have followed for 240 years.
Look, I get it, ok? I understand the reference and I’m not going to label this one a complete distraction. (though personally the President is up to a lot of things which occupy my time getting upset over far more than this.) A lot of it stems not just from generic American pride, but the fact that we broke free from a monarchy. We eschewed the chance to set up our own when the opportunity presented itself. (Or at least George Washington did it for us.) We have developed a fairly unique, national impulse against monarchy in any form on a genetic level, and a certain pride, if not superiority complex, so some of us don’t like the idea of the President bowing.
I suppose I might be more upset if it weren’t for the fact that this administration is such an abrupt change from the foreign policy of the last guy in the office. Among the many complaints I had with George W. Bush (yes, I’m damned hard to please and never seem to like any of the presidents much. So sue me) was the general attitude he had in this area. I was totally turned off by that whole cowboy diplomacy, all hat – no cattle, with us or agin’ us face he presented to the rest of the world. Obama may be turning out to be a huge disappointment on domestic issues, but I’ll confess I was looking forward to a leader who would get back to treating other countries as equals and treating everyone else with respect. Yes, maybe the whole bowing thing is taking it a bit too far, but it’s a choice that Obama must have consciously made and it’s just not the end of the world for me.
Rick finishes up his essay wondering if Obama will kow tow to the Chinese during his next stop. Personally, I’m with Stephen Colbert on that one. He really doesn’t have any serious business to discuss with the Chinese. He’s just stopping by to visit our money.
5 Responses to “Of Bows and Stern Looks”
Good post, Jazz. As I noted on another post on this topic, Obama showing that we like and respect our allies is a good thing IMO. As for China, well both parties have been complicit in handing China the keys to our country. By making China both our banker and our manufacturing sector, we have set that country up as the next economic superpower. That's far more significant that a respectful bow to another leader, and in this case, an ally. Truth is, the governors of the states that have bent their rules and sweetened the deal with tax incentives for Japanese companies to manufacture here, have provided the real “bow” to Japan.
Well at least he didn't throw up in his lap Like Bush senior, or look like a complete jackass, “knowing his heart”, like Bush Jr. did with Putin.
Or fall down the steps of Air Force one like Gerald Ford….hahahaha….I love this particular partisanship angle. Or Nixon's “I'm not a crook” comment. Didn't Eisenhower do a pull my finger fart at the Truman Library opening or something…?
“Obama showing that we like and respect our allies is a good thing IMO.”
There's no excuse for pathological self-nation lowering, Post-60s lefty style.
Nor is there any excuse for intellectually and morally shallow or misdirected “post-Bush atonement” [sic].
But is this really either, or is it suitable protocol and just trying to look good, no different than doing good with the formalities when the Obamas met the royal couple in the UK? I believe it is merely protocol and good PR.
“if Obama will kow tow to the Chinese”
That's a different issue than bowing to a Japansese instead of embarrassing one's self with sickness.
Of course he is, given the massive fiscal mischief and ever-greater depedence on the Chinese to buy US debt and dollars.
As one observer already noted (in addition to the “town hall” as phony there, as Stateside): Obama will resemble very much a typical Chinese provicinicial official, dutifully courteous if not obsequious.
Jazz — all hat, few or no cattle, versus the USA being as its citizens should be toward Washington: Sheep?