• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Obama's botched bow

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
November 14, 2009
Obama's botched bow
Thomas Lifson

Bad enough that Obama bowed down to another head of state yesterday. Even worse that he did not bother to learn how one bows in Japan, and just winged it.

I agree with Scott Johnson, Steve Gilbert, Andrew Malcom, and many others that the President of the United States should not be bowing before any head of state. But unlike these astute observers, I actually know a little something about the art of the bow in Japan, having lived in Japan four different times on a resident visa, taught East Asian Studies at Harvard, and counseled many hundreds of American, European, Middle Eastern, and Australasian executives on how to work negotiate and with the Japanese -- including teaching them the right way to bow.

Obama's bow (below) violates a fundamental precept: NO TOUCHING while bowing.

hedoesitagain.jpg


Here is one of many websites that illustrates how to bow in Japan.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2000.html

The one thing that virtually everyone who teaches bowing etiquette stresses is under no circumstance try to combine a bow with a handshake.

The Emperor appears to smile, which is something polite Japanese are taught to do when embarrassed. Unlike just about everyone who comes into the Emperor's presence, Obama obviously received no instruction on Imperial etiquette. (Note: The Japanese take their monarch and etiquette in general about 100 times more seriously than do the British.)

That's fine with me. I wouldn't like our president to receive such instructions from a foreign entity. But he obviously did not indicate to any of the American embassy staff, nor to any aides familiar with Japan that he intended to bow, and bow deeply. Anyone with about two days' familiarity with Japan knows about bowing. The average person in Japan bows dozens of times a day. You see it everywhere.

Another fundamental precept of the ordinary bow: it must be reciprocated. To do otherwise is a grave insult. Yet, we see in this short video clip that the Emperor did not even nod his head. To be honest, I am not sure the Emperor is ever supposed to bow back to anyone. He is, after all, according to Shinto, a god.

I suspect the poor Emperor was so shocked by the faux pas that he just pretended it didn't happen. That is one way Japanese people deal with breaches of etiquette, especially from the powerful who are also ignorant. But the end result is that Obama has been snubbed royally. Imperially, in fact.

All in all, a disgrace. The only redeeming feature is that at least he did not bow his head and bend his knee, as he did with the Saudi monarch.
 

Lonecowboy

Well-known member
maybe obama needs a chiropractic czar to adjust his backbone-
it seems to be pretty stiff against Americans, but turns limp overseas!
 

don

Well-known member
if obama had not bowed low enough hypo and his band of merry whatevers would have been on here declaring obama disrespectful, narcissistic and arrogant. sarah could have punched the emperor on the shoulder, said how ya doin'? and the neocons would have swooned.
 

hopalong

Well-known member
don said:
if obama had not bowed low enough hypo and his band of merry whatevers would have been on here declaring obama disrespectful, narcissistic and arrogant. sarah could have punched the emperor on the shoulder, said how ya doin'? and the neocons would have swooned.

Spoken like a true believer in the CHANGE :wink: :wink:
Blinded by the glareing love for the "changer" :D :D

Considering that the writer of the statement is not a poster here on Ranchers, it would seem that you are sort of off base! "surprise surprise"
And we know just how far off base kolo opppps I mean jingo is :D :D :D :D
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
don said:
if obama had not bowed low enough hypo and his band of merry whatevers would have been on here declaring obama disrespectful, narcissistic and arrogant. sarah could have punched the emperor on the shoulder, said how ya doin'? and the neocons would have swooned.

He's not a very quick learner is he.

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.

"It was not a bow-bow, if you know what I mean," said Ambassador Molly Raiser, the chief of protocol.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/19/weekinreview/the-world-the-president-s-inclination-no-it-wasn-t-a-bow-bow.html
 

Steve

Well-known member
Don said:
,... Sarah could have punched the emperor on the shoulder, said how ya doin'? and the neocons would have swooned.

in the US we don't have, nor recognize kings, emperors, or assorted royalty, and should not bow down to anyone.. we are citizens, not subjects of an emperor god, and our president should not act as the subject of another country.. be respectful yes.. but never bow before a king or emperor..

the only etiquette I'm concerned about is how we and others should address our president and how he (or Sarah) should not bow to anyone.
It's important to stand up when the president enters the room, to shake his hand with the right hand and to address him as Mr. President. Address the president politely and with respect

so yes, I would be satisfied with Sarah as president shaking the fellow's hand and using a polite appropriate greeting..
 

jingo2

Well-known member
Steve said:
Don said:
,... Sarah could have punched the emperor on the shoulder, said how ya doin'? and the neocons would have swooned.

in the US we don't have, nor recognize kings, emperors, or assorted royalty, and should not bow down to anyone.. we are citizens, not subjects of an emperor god, and our president should not act as the subject of another country.. be respectful yes.. but never bow before a king or emperor..

the only etiquette I'm concerned about is how we and others should address our president and how he (or Sarah) should not bow to anyone.
It's important to stand up when the president enters the room, to shake his hand with the right hand and to address him as Mr. President. Address the president politely and with respect

so yes, I would be satisfied with Sarah as president shaking the fellow's hand and using a polite appropriate greeting..


Seems like most of you don't know recognize good manners and polite actions either.
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Seems like most of you don't know recognize good manners and polite actions either.

Seems obama might be the only polite person that has ever greeted the emperor.

It didn’t take too long for the Left to defend Barack Obama’s bow to Emperor Akihito yesterday by claiming that the President was merely showing cultural sensitivity to the Japanese emperor by deeply bowing. There’s a couple of problems with that argument. First, American Presidents do not bow to monarchs, or at least they didn’t through the first 43 Presidents and the 220 years they served as the US head of state. Perhaps a few of them might have done so out of cultural sensitivity when traveling to foreign nations as private citizens, either before or after their terms in office, but not when they represented the United States of America. Even the New York Times knew better than that in 1994.

For those arguing that such a policy merely propagates American arrogance and that Obama wants to “change perceptions,” this video by the UConn College Republicans points out the second problem. Heads of state do not bow and show obeisance to one another, regardless of whether either one is an American President. The UConn group reviews 47 different greetings to Emperor Akihito and various heads of state, including a few from fellow Pacific Rim countries with similar cultural sensitivities, and doesn’t find a bow among them:

Video: 46 handshakes, one bow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U6fL7Y4BZA&feature=player_embedded


He made a mistake, why can't the Dems just admit it?
 

hopalong

Well-known member
jingo2 said:
Steve said:
Don said:
,... Sarah could have punched the emperor on the shoulder, said how ya doin'? and the neocons would have swooned.

in the US we don't have, nor recognize kings, emperors, or assorted royalty, and should not bow down to anyone.. we are citizens, not subjects of an emperor god, and our president should not act as the subject of another country.. be respectful yes.. but never bow before a king or emperor..

the only etiquette I'm concerned about is how we and others should address our president and how he (or Sarah) should not bow to anyone.
It's important to stand up when the president enters the room, to shake his hand with the right hand and to address him as Mr. President. Address the president politely and with respect

so yes, I would be satisfied with Sarah as president shaking the fellow's hand and using a polite appropriate greeting..


Seems like most of you don't know recognize good manners and polite actions either.

And you do lulu or is it kolo?? :wink: opps forgot you were QUEEN of the south, or was it just a queen :wink: :wink: :wink: In your mind!!!!
 

hopalong

Well-known member
jingo2 said:
Steve said:
Don said:
,... Sarah could have punched the emperor on the shoulder, said how ya doin'? and the neocons would have swooned.

in the US we don't have, nor recognize kings, emperors, or assorted royalty, and should not bow down to anyone.. we are citizens, not subjects of an emperor god, and our president should not act as the subject of another country.. be respectful yes.. but never bow before a king or emperor..

the only etiquette I'm concerned about is how we and others should address our president and how he (or Sarah) should not bow to anyone.
It's important to stand up when the president enters the room, to shake his hand with the right hand and to address him as Mr. President. Address the president politely and with respect

so yes, I would be satisfied with Sarah as president shaking the fellow's hand and using a polite appropriate greeting..


Seems like most of you don't know recognize good manners and polite actions either.

And you do lulu or is it kolo?? :wink: opps forgot you were QUEEN of the south, or was it just a queen :wink: :wink: :wink: In your mind!!!!
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
don, "if obama had not bowed low enough hypo and his band of merry whatevers would have been on here declaring obama disrespectful, narcissistic and arrogant"

He is disrespectful, narcisstice and arrogant. I'll also add naieve and dishonest. Other than that, he's not a bad guy.
 

Steve

Well-known member
jingo2 said:
Steve said:
Don said:
,... Sarah could have punched the emperor on the shoulder, said how ya doin'? and the neocons would have swooned.

in the US we don't have, nor recognize kings, emperors, or assorted royalty, and should not bow down to anyone.. we are citizens, not subjects of an emperor god, and our president should not act as the subject of another country.. be respectful yes.. but never bow before a king or emperor..

the only etiquette I'm concerned about is how we and others should address our president and how he (or Sarah) should not bow to anyone.
It's important to stand up when the president enters the room, to shake his hand with the right hand and to address him as Mr. President. Address the president politely and with respect

so yes, I would be satisfied with Sarah as president shaking the fellow's hand and using a polite appropriate greeting..


Seems like most of you don't know recognize good manners and polite actions either.

would you rather President Sarah curt·seyed to their emperor? ....I wouldn't..

BTW,.. a firm handshake and a polite greeting is good manners and polite.. :roll: :roll: :wink:
 
Top