46 Handshakes

Smartest. pResident. EVAH!

I don't mind Obama bowing. It's not a sign of subservience but of respect if you do it correctly. And given the Emporer's age, it's fine for the president to show such respect.

But Obama gets it all wrong. It's almost as if he's mocking the custom.

Obama - just a slight bow with your hands to the side. Then shake hands. And get yourself some better handlers. The current ones aren't doing their job.

It only took less than a year for the Obamessiah to surpass Jimmy Carter as the worst president ever.

Let's ask our Hong Kong vets what they think of bowing to the Emperor of Japan or the Pearl Harbour veterans or the Phillipines, or the...

"Oh wait!" cry the drooling lefty sychophants. "He is just showing his knowledge and respect of other cultures unlike the troglodyte Bush"

Funny, he and his wife didn't respect our Queen in that fashion, but then again, she's a whitey.

Long live "multi-cult-urism".... sigh...
I suppose this was better than "The One" handing over a multi-billion $ check for the insult of winning WWII.

Chimpy has NO class.

When he was asked about Hiroshima it was surprising that he didn't apologise for America not ceding the Hawaiian islands to Japan and saving the Japanaese the trouble of attacking Pearl Harbour.

Chris in the Bridge:

Yeah his display of respect appears very selective.

Bow to the Emperor, bow to the Saudi King but ignore obvious protocol with the Queen.

HMMM HMMM HMMM

A slight bow would be find, it's a sign of respect. However looking like your picking up a penny, or starting a limbo dance, just shows President Obama is not researching decorum, or his prep staff is incompetent. He has people on staff to bring him up to speed on these things right?

Not a big deal I suppose but it should be consistent if it is going to be done. Elizabeth II only got a tape of his boring speeches, a royal insult if ever there was one. However the Finn would have to bow down to be able to hear what the diminutive Emperor had to say. I think I saw a curtsy or two though.

Obama has told the Chinese to loosen up on internet censorship.
""I'm a big supporter of non-censorship,"

Someone might want mention to FoxNews how much Obama supports freedom of the press, seeing as how he's declared war on them.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/11/16/china-barack-obama.html?ref=rss&loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r1:c0.120961:b28883702

He's just HOPING to find some CHANGE on the ground

IMO the POTUS bowing to anyone is a mistake. I think many Americans consider their President as an equal to any world leader, figurehead or elected. Afterall, he is the most powerful person on the planet.

I think the planet is so fortunate that the US is benign superpower (yes they do some nasty things, yada yada yada) otherwise, much of the global village might have found itself bowing to her.

The higher social status of the person you bow to in respect to your own the deeper should be your bow. Obama's bow shows that he (and the office he represents) stands very low on the social ladder.

Maybe Obama was just giving a shout out to the Emperor's willie

I guess that the US protocol office REALLY is run by Goldie Hawn.

He wasn't bowing, he was taking a bow. Different thing.

lol Aardvark

Didn't George W. take the elderly Saudi King's hand as they walked through his yard, and got nothing but bric-bats fro doing so? A simple sign of respect, not some evil plot to steal the worlds oil.

You know, I haven't had such a visceral dislike of a political leader since Glen Clark (B.C. premier 1996-2000, NDP). Bam Bam is a complete joke on the world stage.

His handlers know very well what they are doing. Obama is a "script follower" and nothing he does in front of the cameras is ever off the cuff. Those photo ops are there for a reason as they are always given approval by the handlers before they hit the wire.

I am bamboozled as to the what and why of his latest actions. He is really pi$$ing off the Americans who really care about the real America, showing subservience to those who he stands as an equal, and, like QE II, he disses her like she is a piece of trailer trash.

This is really turning into a wait and see game. Maybe that's all he wants, to do outrageous things to garner as much attention as he can, no matter the substance. Truly a showman, any press is a good thing, whether it be good or bad. Narcissist!!

perception is reality

Bet's he said "Aaasow"

Obama's bow was unseemly, at worst.

The outrage this silly little non-event has provoked is no different from the left's ridiculous, hysterical overreaction every time W committed some trivial idiocy.

It's pathetic. Are there not genuinely serious problems to get outraged about? You know, nationalizing the auto industry, government intrusion into health care and banking? General amnesties for millions of illegal immigrants? Crippling deficits and C&T?

Took less than a year for BDS to be replaced by ODS.

Notice how the little green football idiots won't touch this one. They can't see the link between bowing and apologizing for America ending a bloody shit show. Sad really.

O bow mao was tricked again like he was in the Middle yeast.

The Bow

That HAAVAARD graduates some real retards.
We have Iggy, the US has "O".

We're doomed.....

Darrell, as a one-off I'd fully agree with you. But, this incident is just another link in the chain of a pattern of behaviour that makes many folks, legitimately, uncomfortable with how the Obama administration is conducting itself on the world stage.

IMO.

I'm surprised he didn't kneel.

The video is a fake. They showed the president of Khazakstan. He had no resemblence to Borat whatsoever.

Darrell,

It's a process. The left showed us how to do it. We need to point out how ridiculous he is, time after time, to stop the rest of the insanity. Alinslky rule #12. Make the other side live up to their own standards. Obama was supposed to be the worldly, sophisticated, diplomatically suave leader who was going to show the world that the US wasn't made up of Texas rednecks.

I get the point of this compilation, but it's not evidence. We don't know what happened before or after the non-Obama handshakes. So, just as the left takes things out of context, there is a danger of that here, so I'm not passing judgement based on this video alone.

Nevertheless, a pattern is emerging, and the most important point to make is that the Queen (head of state of a historical ally of the US) is treated like a bag of soiled rags, whereas everyone else gets the "so honoured to meet you" treatment.

He just looks stupid with his ass up in the air. Looks like he is saying, "hey shorty, want a piggy back?"

President Obama in physical stature, towers above Emperor Akihito. President Obama carries with his persona the subliminal acknowledgement that, he, President Obama is the representative of the most powerful nation on the earth. In terms of brute assertiveness, President Obama could have picked up Emperor Akihito and stuffed the Emperor in his back pocket – as it were.

The “ bow “ was in effect a very short salute in military terms, but translated into the Japanese language.

President Obama acted as a gracious statesman and did so in a most respectful manner.

Many people in the Western countries wonder why the West is viewed as arrogant in dealing with the people of other countries. The criticism of President Obama on this “bow” issue reveals that underlying uncouth arrogance.

President Obama should be applauded for his gentlemanly, gracious statesmanship.

And btw, Kate;

I think you are one of the best in everything that you do! ;)

Sure, Obama is human and he makes mistakes, but every time Bush made one, the Left told us what an idiot he was.

Obama was supposed to be the smart guy. A change from the "stupid" Bush.

Should not Obama be held to at least as high a standard as Bush? If not higher, since he is so much smarter, etc.

Erik Larsen: You're right. The bow, as shown, is taking things out of context. Did you notice they haven't shown any photos of the two emperors and their leg wrestling contest held just after the bow and prior to dinner?

I'm more concerned about his non-visible (non- by LSM anyway) bow to Islamofascism than I am about this.

It's like he must have reviewed one of those 50's how to do it films the nite before on how to adress an oriental person.

Wonder if he spoke to the Emporer like Maz a la Mo Stlong;

"ahh harow honerabbble nummer one son, uhm i sen gleetings from new wohrl...uh no sushi tonite ok or i go hiri kiri. And i bling some trinkets and Horrywood dvds to tlade for um silk or sumthing"

Hey, G Montagnoso!

Your admiration for Obama is obvious from the grovelling way you express the arrogance of the west. Take a guess who you sound like ...... hero worship, perhaps?

I am beginning to think he takes a perverse pride in his behaviour. Much like Trudeau and his pirouette behind the Queen. It pi**es off his enemies. I can do as I please and if you don't like it too bad. In the mean time the agenda moves forward.

President Obama acted as a gracious statesman and did so in a most respectful manner.

No he didn't. Heads of state don't bow to each other, and certainly not submissively like President Dumb@ss did.

More importantly, American Presidents don't bow to anyone. The American flag does not dip before any king. There are more than 200 years of precedent, and the preening idiot currently occupying the White House has shown himself yet again to be utterly clueless and ignorant of history and of America's place in the world.

Two things can happen when you bend over.

Someone will either "take" your butt or kick it.

Simple explanation, I think a string broke. No doubt there are adequate spares on AF-1 for just such emergencies.

@ Posted by: BCer | November 16, 2009 1:04 PM Hey, G Montagnoso!

Your admiration for Obama is obvious from the grovelling way you express the arrogance of the west. Take a guess who you sound like ...... hero worship, perhaps?
Posted by: BCer at November 16, 2009 1:04 PM

Reply:

LOL!

I appreciate intelligence, wisdom and graciousness! Being humble is not necessarily a sign of weakness; it is quite often a sign of strength - something exercised by those who are confident in their ability to do that which is right. While President Obama is in the arena of life, down in the pit of public opinion and fighting with demonic denizens, his critics are perched high up in the bleachers - safely taking notes!

ps

Did I not make the following reply to Kate at the end of that post?

And btw, Kate;

I think you are one of the best in everything that you do! ;)

Is that grovelling as well?

Then I dare not post the following link:

http://www.netpoets.com/classic/poems/037001.htm

;)

while sailing the ocean i have many times encountered the navies of various countries passing by...

i always dip my ensign to them and they ALWAYS no matter if i'm a tiny sailboat and THEY are a battleship, dip their ensign in return.

all navies do this...EXCEPT the American Navy....they are too proud(and rightly so)to lower their flag for anyone...

and then i see that longlegged macdaddy sprat bending obsequiously for a nonentity....where's the awareness and the pride of who you represent?

Mike T, the Japanese had no intention of seizing Hawaii. They wanted the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), where the oil was, and Burma, where the rubber was, and control of China, and then whatever was necessary to hold those securely.

The attack on Pearl Harbour was for the sole purpose of destroying the American fleet, so that the Americans could not interfere as the Japanese did their thing. The idea was that once they'd seized their objectives, the Japanese would then come to the Americans, say "Sorry", and offer compensation and a return to friendly relations before the Americans could get themselves organized for war. They'd actually done something quite similar successfully, with the Russians, some thirty-five years before, and they expected the Americans to be more rational and less bellicose than the Russians. No, I don't know where they got these ideas.

Well, we still have our links to the Queen of broken England and have a governor general in charge (head of state?) as commander of our armed forces plus each province and territory has a mini-me version.

Reminds me of the Canadian human rights industry.

Bow before the Queen but do not touch her???

It's not like the POTUS has to make this up as he's going along (although Obama seems to insist on doing so). I guarantee you that there is someone in Washington whose job it is to tell the President about the etiquette on greeting foreign dignitaries. Dammit, he has advisors! He's choosing to ignore them, either because he's too arrogant/lazy to listen, or because he has another agenda (i.e. in this case, denigrating America's victory over a foreign, non-white [that's not how I think; that's how I think he thinks] power).

This is from the comment's section at Neo-NeoCon's excellent blog: Funny video about bowing in Japan

I appreciate intelligence, wisdom and graciousness!

Then why do you applaud Obama crapping all over 200+ years of American tradition? Is denigrating his own country's proud history your idea of "graciousness" and "wisdom"?

montagnoso - Obama's bow wasn't an act of graciousness, or that of a gentleman. Or wisdom. It was an act of arrogance. And stupidity.

IF he decided to bow, then, according to Japanese protocol, the correct bow is to keep your eyes on the eyes of the Other person. Obama stared at the ground at this shoes. That's considered an insult.

And why bow? Not one other leader does so and therefore, it goes against protocal. Again, if he decided that, as usual, he's be UNIQUE..and that's what it's really all about..Obama..then, he ought to have done a proper bow. Not an insulting one.

As for your suggestion that Obama behaves with grace, dignity and etc - could you explain then, his insults to the UK Prime Minister, where he refused to traditional press interview, and gave him a gift of old American films on DVD, incompatible with UK players? How's that for intelligence and grace?

And his gift to the Queen (oh..and he didn't bow to the Queen!) of an ipod with his own speeches on it? Please note - he didn't bow to the Queen.

But, he DID bow to the King of Saudi Arabia! Why?? Oh..and the White House tried to pretend he wasn't bowing and said he was picking something up off the floor. Heh. The WH also said that his bow to the Japanese Emperor was 'just following protocol'. No it wasn't. No other leader bows to the Emperor. Not one.

So, could you explain the facts that defend your opinion of Obama's 'graciousness, dignity and wisdom'? Thanks.

@ Waterhose
Then why do you applaud Obama crapping all over 200+ years of American tradition? Is denigrating his own country's proud history your idea of "graciousness" and "wisdom"?
Posted by: Waterhouse at November 16, 2009 2:35 PM

Reply:

America has a proud history of receiving people from all over the world into its bosom of safety.

Many of those people became citizens of America and subsequently gave their lives to give freedom and safety to future generations. And again, some of those citizens were once deemed to be enemies of the state – some were from Japan. They too gave their lives to protect America.

America is a “ Nation of Believers “ – a Nation that believes in freedom, safety and security. Its might is based on the strength of individuals; a gestalt.

America’s pride flows from the accomplishments of many individuals, both singularly and collectively.

President Obama has upheld America’s traditional values. He has done nothing to denigrate anyone. His commendable efforts to restore and maintain peace around the world has been mischaracterized by those who do not want peace, but a reason – any reason to create conflict.