Just about every programmer in my office is foaming at the mouth about President Obama bowing to the Saudi King in the linked video (at 54 seconds in). It seems that US Presidents are not supposed to bow.
OK, so I looked at the video and unless the President is picking something up off the floor he surely did bow.
The White House is saying that it was not a bow, that the President was merely dipping down because the king is shorter than him. That’s clearly BS, unless the President was trying to talk to the King’s shoes.
So what do you think? Bow or Not?
And shouldn’t the White House come up with a better excuse? I think ‘brushing some lint off his pants’ would work better.
IMHO, per the forum, yes, he bowed, yes, the WH press office should just admit it, and no, I don’t care. The consistent policy of U.S. presidents since at least the formation of OPEC has been free blowjobs for all members of the House of Saud; this is especially true of 41 and 43. Given that, I have a hard time seeing a bow as a big deal.
Yeah, you can’t even characterize that as a mild dip. It was a bow, and I understand why the WH is loathe to admit as much, but it’s still disappointing that they have to deliver a CYA lie for such a basic (and I’d venture harmless) faux pas.
I’d be willing to bet that it’s probably the last bow he does as POTUS, though.
Why are US Presidents not supposed to bow? What if he’s meeting with a political / royal figure from Japan(or whatever other places where bowing is a sign of respect?) Wouldn’t it be rude not to? Someone edumacate me, please!
They are also not supposed to salute soldiers, or so I’ve read, but they do it all the time. It’s a mild breach of protocol at most, and anybody who gets really worked up about it has an agenda.
If that was a bow it was the worst bow I’ve ever seen. He didn’t look like he was bowing, he looked like he was trying to find something he’d dropped on the floor.
My take? He DID bow, he shouldn’t have, and somebody on his staff who knows the protocol should have told him firmly (and privately) “Sir, don’t do that again.”
Presumably, he DOES know that now, and won’t do it again. Not THAT big a story here. I’m ready to forget it and move on, even if some of my friends on the Right aren’t.
As a conservative, I have to say that he obviously did bow and that I really couldn’t care less. I do find it funny that the White House is trying to deny it.
I vaguely remember a piece of the US constitution declaring that the US does not have royalty, nor noble people. Some of our leaders have taken that to mean we don’t recognize anybody else’s royalty. I don’t see it that way. I consider it proper protocol to bow to other nation’s royals. You’re not saying, “You’re my king,” you’re saying, “You’re the king of your country.”
George W. Bush made a big deal of informality, routinely first-naming world leaders who may not have been comfortable with that. He caught some criticism over that, but that was his style. A president makes his own decisions about protocol and how things happen face-to-face.
That’s why president Obama’s edging back to old-fashioned formality seems like such a contrast. By the way, Obama bowed to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, too. That doesn’t mean we are colonies again.
Occasionally, the UK confers an OBE, MBE, or even a Knighthood on a US citizen, and that person has to go through the formality of saying it’s only honorary. The US is funny that way.
The line that the outraged are going with is more along the lines of “oh, so Obama manhandles the Queen of England, but he licks the boots of a man whose government supports terrorism? Just goes to show what HIS priorities are! Shame on him!”
It was definitely a bow, and it is bizarre that the press office would deny it. But it’s kind of strange that he would do it. Wouldn’t he be briefed on how to greet the head of state?