When President Obama bowed to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah in April, critics cried “Submission!” and the White House was so flustered that it pretended the whole thing never happened even though we all watched it online. Now Obama has made an even worse bowing blunder, managing to piss off not only those who don’t want Obama bowing to royalty at all, but also those who want Obama to bow correctly. On Saturday, Obama met with Japan’s Emperor Akihito, and as you can see in the video, he simultaneously shook the elderly man’s hand and bent over in a sign of respect. But actually, Obama was supposed to bow with a “slight arch from the waist [and] hands at his sides,” an expert on such things tells ABC’s Jake Tapper. He speculates that a Japanese news agency is purposely not running the photo of the bow because Obama’s shake-lunge was such an embarrassing display of “weakness.” Needless to say, our Pacific defenses are on high alert as a newly emboldened Japan reconsiders its 1945 Instrument of Surrender.
On President Obama’s Bow to the Japanese Emperor, An Academic Friend Writes That Both the Left and the Right Are Wrong [Political Punch/ABC News]
