Right-wingers are criticizing President Obama for his recent bow to Japanese Emperor Ahikito. Fox News called the move “bad form,” claiming that he should have opted for a handshake because a bow displays deference, if not weakness.
The administration defended Obama’s gesture, telling Politico.com that Obama “observes protocol” and that the greeting “enhanced both the position and the status of the U.S. relative to Japan” — where a bow is just another version of a handshake.
Who really cares whether he bowed or not? Conservatives are just trying to bash Obama and shift focus from what’s actually important. Ironically, Obama’s speech to students at a town hall meeting today in Shanghai indirectly supported this sort of criticism.
According to CNN, Obama told the students he is against censorship and is a believer in the free flow of information, calling it a “source of strength” in a democracy despite the sting that sometimes comes with it.
“I have a lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me,” Obama said. “I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader, because it forces me to hear opinions that I don’t want to hear. It forces me to examine what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis to see if I’m doing the very best that I could be doing for the people of the United States.”
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Comments
Kat Ahn
November 16th, 2009 - 10:53:30 AM
Bowing in East Asian culture shows respect to the other person and doesn't mean that you're being submissive or anything like that. People need to realize that we live in a global society which means respecting customs of other cultures. Its 2010 people!!
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m carter
November 16th, 2009 - 11:18:04 AM
Actually Kat...You are incorrect. Yes people in the Asian cultures bow, but never is it as one sided unless a subject bows to their leader. And the deeper one bows, the more deference they show. Obama is bowing as deep as you will ever see anyone in Asia bow. What Obama did was wrong, and he needs to have people telling him how to handle foreign leaders because he is obviously not capable.
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Kat Ahn
November 16th, 2009 - 11:34:24 AM
hey M Carter, Actually I was born in Philadelphia, am Asian-American, spent time living in Asia and Europe...and have been an active observer of customs of various cultures. I've observed many family members of mine bowing in various degrees to each other and to other colleagues/acquaintances. No one measures the degree of bowing...perhaps they critique this in books, but not in real life.
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Tony
November 16th, 2009 - 12:03:07 PM
Lol...I think it's sad that this "bow" should foster any debate. Mr. Carter ...please dude....get a life or something. Obama acted accordingly. He wasn't bowing to some bozo, but a Chinese emperor. His gesture might create some leeway on his trip as to get certain things done. Its called diplomacy, something you wouldn't know about judging from your poor assertion of this one "bow".
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lor
November 16th, 2009 - 3:39:07 PM
Oh my goodness... people unhappy obama is being respectful of others... what next
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Michael Erickson
November 16th, 2009 - 3:59:47 PM
Goes to show what the ill-informed complain about. All the talk about bowing in different cultures, living here or there, and yet it took a 3 second search to find out what bowing in Japanese culture means. Bowing is a gesture of respect. Different bows are used for apologies and gratitude, to express different emotions, humility, sincerity, remorse, or deference, and in various traditional arts and religious ceremonies. In Japan, you can determine the type of bow by the angle of the person bowing. For example, a bow of 45 degrees is for apologies. They are also longer than other bows. That picture posted shows a 45 degree bow. One might assume it is the bow used for apology. Exactly what does the US President have to apologize to the Emperor of Japan for? Please don't say WWII.
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November 18th, 2009 - 8:19:04 AM
In another site, I saw this video of photos taken just three years ago up to present, compiled by students -- leaders from different countries greeting the emperor with a handshake and none of them bowed as low as Pres. Obama. Bowing is a nice gesture of respect but I don't think presidents should bow to anyone..
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hi
November 19th, 2009 - 4:49:02 PM
Michael Erickson: WWII.
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