White House: No bow to Saudi King

[natty bumppo 297]

I think it is funny. I think it is especially funny that some people think this is equivelant to saying I look up to you, oh glorious foreign king! You guys are ###### up, arguing over a body gesture. What a riot and the best bit is, the president will end up apologizing for it and that will be seen as a sign of strength.

I could not give a flying #### what he does, he is not my president. That said, I would not care about this even if he was. It is no big deal but hey, I am not going to stop you from getting into a lather about it. Go right ahead and I will carry on laughing.

Yup ... this about sums up how you feel.

Don't care ... anyone who does is a "######" ... so .. you must have nothing to add other than to proclaim you are a subject ... not a citizen.

[Peikko 1,575]

Oh please, don't display your ignorance about UK citizenship. You think some small body gesture that you choose to interpret in a negative way because you can not stand your own president is worse than me finding it funny? That is even funnier.

[natty bumppo 297]

Oh please, don't display your ignorance about UK citizenship. You think some small body gesture that you choose to interpret in a negative way because you can not stand your own president is worse than me finding it funny? That is even funnier.

Okay .. so since the BNA of 1948 (I think this is the year) ... you were allowed to feel important ... and the title changed. A little late ... but it did change. Meanwhile on this shore it's been different since we tossed the misfits out many years before.

[Peikko 1,575]

Yes it is much more comfortable to pursue the English are inferior line than address the reality that you can not stand your own president which is why you choose to interpret anything he does in a negative light.

I have a lot more respect for him than you do, and he is not my president. Shock, horror. I respect him enough not to believe he deliberately insulted the office of president. Wow, how unbelievable is that?

Edited April 9, 2009 by Madame Cleo

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I think it is funny. I think it is especially funny that some people think this is equivelant to saying I look up to you, oh glorious foreign king! You guys are ###### up, arguing over a body gesture. What a riot and the best bit is, the president will end up apologizing for it and that will be seen as a sign of strength.

I could not give a flying #### what he does, he is not my president. That said, I would not care about this even if he was. It is no big deal but hey, I am not going to stop you from getting into a lather about it. Go right ahead and I will carry on laughing.

Yup ... this about sums up how you feel.

Don't care ... anyone who does is a "######" ... so .. you must have nothing to add other than to proclaim you are a subject ... not a citizen.

What else do you expect from the poster child for Apathy?

[Peikko 1,575]

Ah yes, carry on focusing your attention elsewhere rather than address the truth. You hate your POTUS and you are constantly looking to put him down.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Ah yes, carry on focusing your attention elsewhere rather than address the truth. You hate your POTUS and you are constantly looking to put him down.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

[Der Bücherwurm 1]

Youtube is blocked in Turkey so I can't see the vid. He shouldn't bow to anyone unless he's addressing someone from a culture where they bow instead of shaking hands. If he did bow, then it's still not as big an offense as George Junior's former alcohol abuse and cocaine use or George Sr.'s past affiliations with despots like Saddam.

[Pooky 3,844]

Youtube is blocked in Turkey so I can't see the vid. He shouldn't bow to anyone unless he's addressing someone from a culture where they bow instead of shaking hands. If he did bow, then it's still not as big an offense as George Junior's former alcohol abuse and cocaine use or George Sr.'s past affiliations with despots like Saddam.

So it took 6 pages for the first "Well, he's not as bad as George Bush" to appear. Give it up already! GWB is history. Goodbye, good luck, don't let the door hit your butt on the way out.

President Obama is now the Commander In Chief. And for those who think he should be given some slack, because he's still within his first 100 days, do you seriously believe that the office of President of the United States of America is the same as ANY other job? FFS, get real!

You don't get any slack. You get people who know about etiquette, about greeting foreign heads of state, about protocol, and you listen hard to how it should be done. You do not take it upon yourself to breach protocol in this way. Either the President made a mistake, or his advisors and he came up with this gesture. Whichever way you look at it, it's a screw-up.

As for the subservience take on things. If it was a genuine meeting of equals, or if the Saudi King had considered it as such, he would have returned the gesture. He did not. End of.

[MMW 2]

It's a bow folks. 53 seconds in the story video

at 5 second mark in this video

The White House is denying that the president bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at a G-20 meeting in London, a scene that drew criticism on the right and praise from some Arab outlets.

"It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah," said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Washington Times called the alleged bow a "shocking display of fealty to a foreign potentate" and said it violated centuries of American tradition of not deferring to royalty. The Weekly Standard, meanwhile, noted that American protocol apparently rules out bowing, or at least it reportedly did on the occasion of a Clinton "near-bow" to the emperor of Japan.

Interestingly, a columnist in the Saudi-backed Arabic paper Asharq Alawsat also took the gesture as a bow and appreciated the move.

"Obama wished to demonstrate his respect and appreciation of the personality of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, who has made one of the most important calls in the modern era, namely the call for inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue to defuse the hatred, conflict and wars," wrote the columnist, Muhammah Diyab.

The video shows Obama dipping toward the king as G-20 leaders greet one another at the ExCel Centre in London.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/040...w_to_Saudi.html

Personally as a conservative I don't have a problem with the bow( it was a bow!), showing respect to another world leader is not a bad thing. Having said that, I have to also say where was the bow to the Queen of England? Showing the same respect to the office as the Saudi leader, or even worse in my view was the White House stating it wasn't a bow which defeated the gesture and will let them feel he was just placating them. So which is worse "the bow" or " the denial?

[Der Bücherwurm 1]

Personally as a conservative I don't have a problem with the bow( it was a bow!), showing respect to another world leader is not a bad thing. Having said that, I have to also say where was the bow to the Queen of England? Showing the same respect to the office as the Saudi leader, or even worse in my view was the White House stating it wasn't a bow which defeated the gesture and will let them feel he was just placating them. So which is worse "the bow" or " the denial?

OK, I can agree on that. If he doesn't show the same respect to other rulers and bowed and the Saudi king didn't reciprocate, then it makes Obama look foolish. At the same time, I still think it's a minor gaffe. I don't think we've had a president yet that didn't make himself and/or the country look foolish to some degree or other at some point during their term in office. If this is the worst mistake he'll ever make then that makes me feel rather optimistic. It makes no difference if someone is a president or a king anyway. They still fart, bleed and screw up the same as the rest of us. Still, I really don't think this would be up for debate if Obama were a white republican.

[Nagishkaw 510]

If Obama was a white Republican, he wouldn't be bowing to a Saudi King.

[JimandChristy 1,689]

hahah....this thread is laughable, why is it so painfully obvious that there are people out there whining about this just for the sake of it. You know who you are when I say "people" because every thread that has been started by them has been in some way anti-Obama or an opportunity to have a sly dig at him.

Just for the record, it hasn't been the first time a President has bowed to a world leader. So why the fuss now? Let me guess, Republican supporters?

Bush bowing to the King Saud

IMPEACH BUSH!!! Ooooooppsss too late!

Edited April 9, 2009 by JimandChristy

[Der Bücherwurm 1]

If Obama was a white Republican, he wouldn't be bowing to a Saudi King.

Probably not. Instead he would have offered to sell him some WMDs only to declare war against SA a few years later for possessing said WMDs.

[JimandChristy 1,689]

George what on Earth were you playing at?! To be honest they look a lovely couple!

Edited April 9, 2009 by JimandChristy