Obama Bows Down To Saudi King
Well, at least it's out in the open now.
BTW, for those of you who think this is just simple politeness, think again- Americans don't do deep bows like this to foreign monarchs because it symbolizes recognition of the monarch's power over a subject.
Even the Queen of England doesn't demand this from foreigners. Here's the protocal from her offical website:
The Queen meets thousands of people each year in the UK and overseas. Before meeting Her Majesty, many people ask how they should behave. The simple answer is that there are no obligatory codes of behaviour - just courtesy.
However, many people wish to observe the traditional forms of greeting.
For men this is a neck bow (from the head only) whilst women do a small curtsy. Other people prefer simply to shake hands in the usual way.
On presentation to The Queen, the correct formal address is 'Your Majesty' and subsequently 'Ma'am'. "
Obviously, Barack Hussein Obama's obsequiousness towards the Saudi King comes from a very different place than mere respect.
FRIDAY, APRIL 03, 2009
President of the United States Bows To Saudi King
President Barack Obama may be tempted to blame his teleprompter for telling him to grovel in front of the king of Saudi Arabia, but I don’t see the teleprompter anywhere around in the picture below. Didn’t anyone tell President Obama that Americans don’t bow down to anyone? Didn’t anyone tell President Obama that the President of the United States especially doesn’t bow down to anyone? Didn’t anyone tell President Obama that Americans fought a long and bloody war so we wouldn’t have to bow down to a king anymore? To my knowledge, even the Queen of England (a nation with values similar to our own) didn’t get this kind of worshipful treatment.
Is it a Muslim thing? The Saudi king is, after all, a Muslim. Is it something Obama picked up while registered as a Muslim in school in Jakarta? I don’t want to make a mountain out of a mole hill, but when one bows, one signifies the superiority of the one bowed to. It is a gesture of submission. The leader of the most free nation in the world should not be slobbering on the ring of some king! It was embarrassing when President Obama ungratefully gave back the gift from the British of the bust of Winston Churchill (one of their greatest prime ministers and one of America’s greatest foreign friends). It was embarrassing when the British gave President Obama a gift made from historic wood and President Obama gave the British…some DVDs–that won’t even play in their DVD players!
It’s been embarrassing enough to see other foreign relations gaffes (e.g. the red button we gave to Russia), feeling as if the White House was being run by a 9th grade school social club, but now… It has been bad enough to hear Obama attempt to curry favor with the despots, tyrants and socialists around the world–since even before he was elected. It has been bad enough to see the President of the United States worried about what a bunch of European snivelers think of the United States. It has been bad enough to see the President of the United States treat terrorists and sponsors of terrorism as anything other than the dregs of humanity. But to now actually see the President of the United States rendering obeisance to the king of a foreign nation, one with a poor human rights record–from which 15 out of 19 hijackers on September 11 came…I’m feeling sick (and something else, too).
Is it a Muslim thing? The Saudi king is, after all, a Muslim. Is it something Obama picked up while registered as a Muslim in school in Jakarta? I don’t want to make a mountain out of a mole hill, but when one bows, one signifies the superiority of the one bowed to. It is a gesture of submission. The leader of the most free nation in the world should not be slobbering on the ring of some king! It was embarrassing when President Obama ungratefully gave back the gift from the British of the bust of Winston Churchill (one of their greatest prime ministers and one of America’s greatest foreign friends). It was embarrassing when the British gave President Obama a gift made from historic wood and President Obama gave the British…some DVDs–that won’t even play in their DVD players!It’s been embarrassing enough to see other foreign relations gaffes (e.g. the red button we gave to Russia), feeling as if the White House was being run by a 9th grade school social club, but now… It has been bad enough to hear Obama attempt to curry favor with the despots, tyrants and socialists around the world–since even before he was elected. It has been bad enough to see the President of the United States worried about what a bunch of European snivelers think of the United States. It has been bad enough to see the President of the United States treat terrorists and sponsors of terrorism as anything other than the dregs of humanity. But to now actually see the President of the United States rendering obeisance to the king of a foreign nation, one with a poor human rights record–from which 15 out of 19 hijackers on September 11 came…I’m feeling sick (and something else, too).
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