Just shows that not only doesn’t Obama understand proper protocol, but neither does the “official” who commented on him observing “protocol.” I’m not sure whose protocol he was observing, but it wasn’t US protocol and it wasn’t Japanese protocol. The Japanese do not expect foreigners to bow as they are not subjects. The State Department has had a 200 year “no need to bow” protocol. So just whose protocol was Obama following?
By Obama clearing showing his ignorance of protocol, he foolishly inserts himself and the country onto the world stage of of those who actually understand it. He also reinforces what was said during the campaign that he lacks executive experience. This just proves those comments accurate. Almost a year in, he still doesn’t understand what it means to be President.

Ummmm, in Japanese culture people bow to each other the way Westerners shake hands, not really a big deal, unless, like the author of this blog, you spend all you time trying to find any excuse to put Obama down….

This was NOT protocol for 2 reasons:
1. The President’s bowing actually breaks protocol. Prior protocol has been that American dignitaries shake hands & occasionally offer a very slight bow. Not a deep one that breaks eye contact & suggests subservience.
- The State Department & New York Times also agree according to the June 14, 1994 Times article Michele references
2. The video shows Emperor Akihito approaching President Obama with his arm extended for a handshake. Our President breaks protocol again by bowing & shaking simultaneously, abnormal in Japanese culture.
Plus, Emperor Akihito did NOT return the bow. Had he returned the bow, this would have been a positive display of mutual respect. Because he did not, this becomes a disturbing show of one-sided deference inappropriate for our President in the face of a foreign leader.
I sincerely wish that this time the foreign official our nation’s leader bowed to returned the same courtesy & respect. Bowing is a common gesture in the Japanese culture, & one the Emperor should have initiated or returned without hesitation (especially as he’s the 1st Emperor not considered divine).
The first incident (with the Saudi King) may have been impulsive or simply a poor decision by President Obama & can be easily overlooked. Everyone makes mistakes. But Americans NEED to know that our President is building relationships of mutual admiration, not simply kowtowing from a subservient position or apologizing for past transgressions while ignoring all the positive work America has simultaneously done.

I am so glad I don’t have Obama’s job.
As someone who’s introverted and socially awkward I always have the nagging feeling I’m make one faux pas after another. Actually having every social misstep hyper-analyzed by the media would be my personal nightmare.

Obama is not a statesman. He’s a raging idealogue who hates the America that has elected him and views his mission and opportunity as one of radically remaking the face of the nation. It should come as no surprise that the president who hates American exceptionalism bowed lower than a housekeeper. It has an internal logical coherence.
P.S. Mr. Obama,
You keep your hands at your sides during a bow. You don’t bow while shaking hands. Act like a servant boy if you must, but do it correctly.

Hey, everybody bows to each other in Japan. At least it wasn’t as bad as when President Bush bowed, kissed, and held hands with the king of Saudi Arabia.

while at home recuperating from the flu. I see why the behaviors of students at the high school level…are the way,they are. It is so ridiculous to squabble over such issues, as a handshake or bowing down and then read some of the most idiotic comments that have been made in this format. President Obama is doing the best that he can do. It took eight years plus, for us to be in the mess that we are in. And, it is certainly going to take more than a year to get us out. We need to support our president. We need to buy into his vision/dream. We as a people need to have Faith and BElIEVE in him. Instead of looking for every negative situation to chew him down on…look for the positive that YOU can bring to support him in his change. Some people hate change. President Obama is a man who has inherited his Black genes from his from his African father and the white genes from his Caucasian mother. Who better could represent us. I am most certain that he has faced oppression, discrimination, and racism from both sides. Let’s come together seeking God’s mercy and grace to help give him the strength, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. In closing…had President Bush not had Condolesa Rice’s professional,highly intelligent, and intellectual support…President Bush would have made three times as many errors during his eight years as, the president. Chew on that thought and digest it. We are in a crisis. Support our President with vigor.”CHANGE” that is his motto. Make that your motto this year, a change for positive attitudes and behavior, then can we see HOPE in our children and young adults, who are seeing life as being, hopeless.

Nothing he would do can ever satisfy you. He can’t sneeze without you calling it unpresidential. He can’t show respect to a foreign monarch without appearing weak.
This was not a faux pas. This was a bow, a warm gesture of respect. Nothing more.

I support our current President. As much as did the lefties our last president. And I’ll remember him (BHO) fondly as I see him doing the speaking circuit after he loses re-election in 2012.
Let’s move on and stop caring how this guy dishonors the USA worldwide. The damage he does now will be forgotten the day he leaves the White House on 1-20-2013.

The exact protocols for an American President greeting a foreign monarch are extremely complex and depend a lot on where it happens as well as a whole passel of other things. Obama clearly needs a different social secretary, who is supposed to know about such things, but it is not the gesture of obesience that it is being made out to be.

I acknowledge our President for staying true to his commitment for change for the good! Obviously, he is genuine and authentic in his expression of good will which will allow other world leaders to engage in being human(e). This type of expression can only move the world forward in mutually solving global problems.

Who’s advising the Prez on protocol? Britey Spears? Whoever it is they should be shot. I like Obama, but this was another protocol (giving cheap presents and the Misses patting the Queen on the back) blunder—the president does not bow, dip or courtsey for anyone.
But to the pointy headed Rain-Man squads that will jump all over this, I’d like to send you the pic of your hero Channey clasping a warm hand shake with Sadam Hussein. (being a murderous tyrant was someone not an issue then). en).www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0501/S00116.htm

oh brother… you conservatives really need a life. seriously, how long will you blather over a bow, a show of respect from our leader to another? i especially enjoy your logic that leads you to stupid comments like, “obama hates the america that elected him” because of a bow. lame.

Anonymous reincarnate,
“i especially enjoy your logic that leads you to stupid comments”
Let me guess, you were Emily Post in your past life. No? I didn’t think so from your erudite and civil commentary. Perhaps a relative of Roseanne Barr or Andrew Dice Clay? You certainly were no Rhodes Scholar, or you would have read my statement in the context in which it was written. I won’t bother trying to teach you literacy.
Perhaps in your next life you might return as a pleasant person, reared in civil discourse. Perhaps the hope of such an iteration might even be transformative in this life.
Get Well Soon.

Dick Cheney has now weighed in: “The American President doesn’t bow to anyone.” Said by a man whose arrogance makes Newt Gingrich look modest.
This is a non-issue, at worst a faux pas.
BTW, this is the reason I’m changing my voter registration from Republican to “Independent.” I’d rather miss out on voting in the primaries than align myself with the Republicans (or the Democrats). After decades of registering Democrat, I decided to try out the Republican Party, and it took only a couple of years for Republican foolishness to wear me out. Every stupid, overblown criticism of Obama increases my respect for him. The good news is that the “Party of No” will soon become the “Party of No One.” It can’t happen soon enough, in my book.

“civil discourse”
gerard, based upon your previous comment (the one equating our first african american president to a “servant boy”) you wouldn’t know civil discourse if you saw it. oh, did you think you were conversing only with other obama-haters? so sorry to disappoint. your comment does not invite civil discourse, sir. you deserve to be handled as the ignoramus that you are, wothout pampering. if you put on the boxing gloves, expect to get a bloodied nose.
perhaps in your next life you can be promoted from republican ideologue to a swine’s ass-pimple. i’ll pray for you.
good day, sir.

and to set the record straight, those here who claim that u.s. presidents do not bow to other leaders are simply wrong. there is ample photographic evidence to the contrary. there is no protocol that says the president must bow, nor is there any which says that he should not bow.

The only people in Japan to bow that low are servants, Obama’s roots notwithstanding.