White House: No bow to Saudi King

[JimandChristy 1,689]

As for me personally I thought Reagan was a great President & Bush Sr. was at least average, so I judge Presidents more on their actions & less on their party affliation. Now with that being said I do see a significant decline in the Republican party, with a move towards extremists like Rush Limbaugh & putting partisanship above the needs of the country. I'm not saying that democrats don't do this as well, but it's much more pronounced on the right side of the fence.

Being a Brit, I don't have a party affiliation in the USA, not yet anyway but that is exactly how I see it. Reagan in my opinion was a good President but hearing McCain during the election going on about him was cringeworthy. Hello John, here and now please?! Bush Senior, yeah average, Clinton good and Bush lastly not good at all. Obama who knows?

Well McCain ran a clean campaign in 2000 & got dragged through the mud by the Karl Rove sleaze tactics, so he figured that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em & he ran a dirty camapign in '08. The problem was the American public had their fill of negative politics & it backfired. McCain also had to deal with being associated with a very unpopular President (Bush) & after the initially postive effect of selecting Palin as VP that also backfired when americans found that she was more gimmick than substance. McCain is a POW and a good man, but he had too many things working against him in '08 (some self-imposed & some not).

Yeah that is pretty much what my American fiancee said about McCain, McCain tried to become something else so he could run for Presidency, that went against his nature. Shame that sleaze tactics by Karl Rove dictated the outcome of US President for the past eight years. The American public fell for it in 2004 but not in 2008, by that time they had enough of the nonsense the Republicans were bringing out.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Oh good I'm glad to read that Obama's curmudgeon wasn't setting precedence and that this was just as trivial as I originally thought but people were having a jovial time of going at him.

Had me going there too. Gawd why do I open these threads when I already know how it's going to go and what it's all about. Anyways it's amusing to play devils advocate for a bit.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Oh good I'm glad to read that Obama's curmudgeon wasn't setting precedence and that this was just as trivial as I originally thought but people were having a jovial time of going at him.

Had me going there too. Gawd why do I open these threads when I already know how it's going to go and what it's all about. Anyways it's amusing to play devils advocate for a bit.

This proves how twisted politics gets.

[rclouse 0]

The butthurt is strong in this thread.

[Donna A 4]

I could care less if he farts, bcz we all do it ... but to bow down before a king or president and hes our leader.... not acceptable... farting is OK bowing down is NOT.

Is this some precedent?

I wonder whether Obama (and Presidents past) have bowed to the Pope or the Queen of England.

Yes it is a precedent. Until now no president has ever bowed to a monarch. As a point of reference please note that Obama didn't bow to Queen Elizabeth during his meeting with her.

but dont forget...michelle did put her arm around the queen. a total no no.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

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!

The requested URL /_FqXD7nfEOzk/R-CNO-klpfI/AAAAAAAABF8/TX2ayYmGYeA/s1600/BushBows.jpg was not found on this server.

[Scott & Lai 12]

I wasn't happy about that one, either.

I think it's normal to respect their way of authority. Just like foreign ministers bowing in front of the Japanese Prime Minister. Just a way of greeting people. Similar to handshake.

If Saudi was at war with the US, this type of behavior wouldn't be acceptable I'd say.

The Saudi king has no authority over the POTUS. They are equals. When someone bows before a Japanese leader, he bows back; it's a mutual expression of respect. Same with a handshake; two hands meet. The king did not return any respect at all.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well you can't control what others do...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Obama should have high-fived him and said, "What's sheikin, brother?"

[Ban Hammer 13,651]

Obama should have high-fived him and said, "What's sheikin, brother?"

you're infringing on my mena nickname "sheik yabooti"

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Obama should have high-fived him and said, "What's sheikin, brother?"

Or the "Up high, down low, too slow"

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The biggest flub up, IMO, was for the WH to issue a statement denying that it was a bow. Instead, they should have not described at all what Obama was doing but say that he was misinformed on how to greet the King or he just flubbed up himself. Then it would be end of story. Pretty stupid.

[Peikko 1,575]

Agreed. That shows the team's inexperience far more. It's not important enough to require an explanation, but the fact that they gave one shows there is a degree of uncertainty as to how to respond to mistakes, real or imagined.

[Niels Bohr 72]

The Saudi king has no authority over the POTUS. They are equals. When someone bows before a Japanese leader, he bows back; it's a mutual expression of respect. Same with a handshake; two hands meet. The king did not return any respect at all.

That's why the US consider Saudi a threat.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Agreed. That shows the team's inexperience far more. It's not important enough to require an explanation, but the fact that they gave one shows there is a degree of uncertainty as to how to respond to mistakes, real or imagined.

Yep. When you need to explain yourself, there's a tendency to appear defensive and it brings on more scrutiny. It's best never to explain your actions unless absolutely necessary.