Obama does the waiter bow to Japan's Emperor

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Reba said:
You have got to be kidding! :shock:

All the other world leaders shook hands as equals. Obama was the only one in the series of pictures to perform a scraping bow of subservience.
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"Scraping bow of subservience?"
Good grief, look at the actual video or the news. I saw the latter and it was simply a quick bow. No uproar, no frothing at the mouths and beating each other with medals. What's the big deal?
 
I thought the bow is suppose to means "I trust you enough not to lop off my head" in Japanese culture; not a subservience thing?

It's when people stopped carrying swords that the bowing traditions ceased in European nations...
 
To show subservience in Japanese culture to an emperor, you would have to kneel... Anything other than kneeling is just a formality.
 
Jiro said:
1t8mmf.jpg
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LOL! Good one!
 
It evokes that picture of subservience. Rather than be seen as equals Obama goes down scraping the floor. Plus, if you're going to bow that deep, do it without shaking hands in the first place. Totally, totally awkward and unnecessary.
 
Beowulf said:
"Scraping bow of subservience?"
Good grief, look at the actual video or the news. I saw the latter and it was simply a quick bow. No uproar, no frothing at the mouths and beating each other with medals. What's the big deal?
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I didn't say there was any uproar, frothing, or beating.

It was a deep bow, totally not in keeping with the office of the President of the United States.

I thought Obama learned his lesson after the previous "bowing" debacle.

Did he fire his protocol officer or what?
 
Geez...

In Business class in high school... they taught us that you bow to meet their head, height-wise if you're taller than they are, and to give a handshake at the same time when dealing with an East Asian.

Notice how tall Obama is?
 
Beowulf said:
That we are to be thankful he didn't do a full prostration I guess.
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I'm guessing after the Saudi King bow which wasn't that low but he bowed lower in Japan, the full prostration part will probably come next somewhere, sometime.
 
kokonut said:
I'm guessing after the Saudi King bow which wasn't that low but he bowed lower in Japan, the full prostration part will probably come next somewhere, sometime.
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Cool. If it calls for it, Obama will do it. Gonna tick a lotta people off.
 
Not to mention be an even bigger fool and see how weak he has become.
 
souggy said:
Geez...

In Business class in high school... they taught us that you bow to meet their head, height-wise if you're taller than they are, and to give a handshake at the same time when dealing with an East Asian.

Notice how tall Obama is?
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Business greetings aren't the same as political heads of state greetings.

Some, if not most, of the other leaders who greeted the Emperor were taller than him but they didn't bow.

It's one thing to tilt one's head to make eye contact with a shorter person, and quite another to bow at the waist and look down at the ground.
 
Yeah... problem is that... the leaders of India, Peru, China, South Korea, Peru and Canada are not well known to be sensitive to culture. And yes, I threw in my own country; although I sure heck don't know who the guy is from Slovenia is. They were or are always in the newspaper due to improper greetings or code of conduct.

That's why I am a bit at odd at the slideshow posted. Obama's bow is incredibly awkward, however a lot of westerners bow oddly as well. So like you said, it's like someone didn't train him on the proper posture.
 
We're talking about heads of state being equal to all others when it comes to diplomatic meetings and acquaintences. Obama sunk lower than the Titanic.
 
:gives:

It's such a ridiculous point to argue. Oh gee, America is now under Japanese rule because Obama bowed to Akihito! Oh no!!! God forbid that we show a little class and humility. Really, the points that conservatives have to argue get weaker by the day.
 
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