The left side of the blogosphere is wondering why the right side of the blogosphere made such a big deal out of the deep bow that President Obama gave the emperor of Japan.
In an echo of what the White House itself said afterward, some lefty bloggers say that President Obama was simply observing protocol. The problem with that explanation is that it paints the heads of state who shook the emperor's hand as buffoons. If Obama got it right, then the rest of them got it wrong.
We should also remember that protocol is a two-way street: There is protocol for greeting the emperor of Japan, but there is also protocol that governs what the president of the United States should and should not do. As one wag noted, "not even the CEO of Mitsubishi would bow that low."
Some lefty bloggers say never mind protocol, because President Obama was being culturally sensitive. Except that, as Thomas Lifson and some others have pointed out, a culturally sensitive person would not try to combine a bow with a handshake: it's one or the other.
Perhaps President Obama thought that his Hawaiian upbringing was enough to make him seem cosmopolitan on a state trip to Asia.
Does no competent person brief the president before ceremonial occasions?
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1 comments:
"Obama bends his back 90ยบ to the Japanese king..and he prove that he is so nice person...
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