Two-thirds of Americans have no problem with Obama bowing to Japanese emperor
November 21st, 2009 at 08:34am Pat Cunningham
 
 I wasn’t going to write anything about this silly controversy, but now I can’t resist.
 On his recent trip to Asia, President Obama politely bowed (above) to the emperor of Japan — a gesture that immediately rendered American right-wingers downright apoplectic.
 The wingnut blogosphere went ballistic over the shame of it all. The rabble-rousers on Fox News showed photos and video of the disgraceful gesture over and over and over again. They were all quite sure that this would be the last straw. This would finally seal Obama’s reputation among patriotic Americans as a groveling toady on the international stage.
 Yes, the delight (masked by mock shame) among the loonies was palpable. Fox News quickly commissioned a poll to measure the domestic political damage incurred by Obama from such self-humiliation.
 But, wonder of wonders! The poll SHOWS that 67 percent of Americans consider it entirely appropriate for their president ”to bow to a foreign leader if that is the country’s custom,” and only 26 percent feel that it’s ”never appropriate for the president to bow to another leader.”
 So, I guess we won’t be hearing much more about this matter from our wingnut friends. Oh well, they can always fall back on their birtherism theories.
 For your edification, here’s a gallery of photos of various Republican presidents offering courteous gestures to dignitaries from abroad:
 AFTERTHOUGHT: This episode reminds me of the one last spring when right-wingers expressed great outrage over Obama having smiled when he shook hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
 The controversy prompted me to post this gallery of photos of various Republican presidents smiling with communist leaders:
Entry Filed under: wingnuts, Barack Obama
10 Comments Add your own
1. Pat | November 21st, 2009 at 9:11 am
Dear Sir,
I applaud your posting pictures of past presidents bowing to foreign dignitaries. But could you, or do you know who the president is in the picture and who they are bowing to? And could you post that info as a caption or list to the photos. I recognize Eisenhower and Nixon, but I think some from younger generations may not know who everyone is.
2. Pat Cunningham | November 21st, 2009 at 9:40 am
Pat: The photos, in order, show: Eisenhower with Pope John XXIII; Eisenhower with a Greek Orthodox archbishop; Eisenhower with French President Charles DeGaulle; Eisenhower with the wife of Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Gronchi; Nixon with some Japanese official;George W. Bush with Pope Benedict XVI; and the last two show Bush with a Saudi Arabian muckety-muck whose name escapes me.
3. Stilltheone | November 21st, 2009 at 10:43 am
It is a custom in Japan and the act is a sign of respect. People need to evolve and get past this pettyness. Seems they will try to make an issue out of everything that Obama does. What’s next, the controversy over his toilet paper roll going from the front instead of the back? We have much bigger issues to worry about and until we focues, as a nation, on the big picture, we will FAIL.
4. Monkey | November 21st, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Well done Pat. Too many Americans have no understanding of other cultures and customs, which is why we have so many nutjobs out there.
5. Craig Knauss | November 22nd, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Traditional Chinese do some bows too, but not quite as deep as the Japanese. Many countries have customs that differ considerably from ours. It a shame most Americans don’t take the time to learn about some of them.
6. Pat Cunningham | November 23rd, 2009 at 10:56 am
mike: Speaking of un-American, how’s that plan for a military coup coming along, Traitor Boy? Are the feds still on your trail, Traitor Boy? Why don’t you use your real name here, Traitor Boy? Oh, did I mention that I consider you to be a Traitor Boy?
7. SNuss | November 23rd, 2009 at 1:24 pm
The Chinese also like B.H.O., and know what he stands for.
http://images.google.com/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&q=Oba-Mao&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=5-AKS-zwJI7dnAf0oem3Cw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CB4QsAQwBA
8. Pat Cunningham | November 23rd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
SNuss: Why are you wasting time with silly stuff like this when you could be treating us to your idiot theory about how right-track/wrong-track polls show that Obama is soooo unpopular. Oh, wait. I’ve already popped that balloon, haven’t I? Too bad. You actually thought you had something with that nonsense. Oh, well. You can always fall back on ACORN or Bill Ayers or something. You’re kind of fun to have around. You’re always good for comic relief.
9. Pat Cunningham | November 23rd, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Come off it, Traitor Boy. Why would I want to meet you? That would only arouse suspicions about me among the feds who are trailing you for your for advocacy of a military coup.
As for your claim that “most consider you [meaning me] to be an idiot and a willing participant in the destruction of our society,” what do you mean by “most”? Most what? Most of whom?
10. snuss | November 24th, 2009 at 7:14 am
What’s the matter, Pat? The truth hurts, doesn’t it?. The Chinese have B.H.O. to thank for making us economic slaves to them, by his quadrupling of our debt, with them as the primary lien-holders. They understand that he is destroying this country from within. Oba-Mao!
Another “false” quote:
A rigid economy of the public contributions and absolute interdiction of all useless expenses will go far towards keeping the government honest and unoppressive.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to Lafayette, 1823
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