Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Obama bows to King of Saudi Arabia but not to Queen of England
Obama bows to the King of Saudi Arabia (SA)...but he did not bow to the Queen of England. Is this a ploy to show the Muslim world of his willingness to be subserviant or respectful, or was he just cleaning the floor? Protocol says that he should not have to bow to his counterpart in any foreign country. Only the subjects of the SA Kingdom are expected to bow to the King. So why do you think Obama bowed to him and none of the other heads of state (either political or representational)that he met on his trip? I think he did a fine job to try and close the gap with his "words" in Turkey. He gave a very positive speech there to try and show respect to the Muslim world. I think the bow could be misintrepted in the Muslim world. Some radicals may now think that Obama agrees that there is a natural inequality and that Westerners (Infidels) should think of themselves as less than them. I don't beleive that as a general rule all Muslims beleive that...but radicals may read something very different and it might not help the war on terror effort.
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9 comments:
This was just another gaffe in Obama's World Apology Tour. It is well-known protocol among heads of state that heads of state do not bow to each other. The former Pres. Clinton got all kinds of grief from the NY Times for an almost imperceptible nod toward the emperor of Japan. The NY Times as well as the rest of the MSM has been mostly silent about this embarrassing episode.
World Apology Tour! That's funny. I still see the bow as more than just a gaffe. They have protocol professionals on staff that should have told him he doesn't need to bow but he probably ignored it trying to score points with the Muslim world. Although...with all the recent gaffes(Mrs. Obama touching the queen etc)...maybe they aren't consulting with their Protocol Aides or they are ignoring them. Either way...it doesn't bother me so much but there are some hardliner Americans that sure didn't like it.
Did you know that in the Olympics during the opening ceremonies the United States is the only nation that does not dip its flag to the host head of state in the opening precession? The rule is, the U.S. dips its flag to no foreign power.
That's interesting. Sounds a little bit arrogant to me. But on the other hand....maybe not. After all if the Queen of England doesn't allow any one to touch her unless she touches them first....it's just a protocol thing. Every country has their own.
I have no idea why he bowed to anyone at all. It doesn't upset me that he bowed to the King of SA.
I am fine with the notion that we dip our flag to any host country we visit for any reason. We must look mighty arrogant to others. What would be the harm?
It has nothing to do with arrogance folks. It is about Pride. Captial "P". The fact that anyone would even think that the leader of the free world would bow to anyone is just insane! How long will we put up with this lack of pride in America. Before I read this posting I made a posting on my blog about this very thing!
Have we become so accepting that we have become submissive to other powers? I cannot believe the lack of patriotism that exists in our country today.
At a recent soccer game for Shawn and Dallan when the national anthem was played three high school students didn't even stand! They just sat there and carried on their conversation.
I can see the decay of our nation and are falling from a once GREAT nation to a good nation to an okay nation and by the time our kids are grown with kids of their own we will be just another nation. Nothing great at all.
We must take a stance, we bow to no one, we dip our banner to no one, we submit to no one. If we do, we will be no one.
Protocol is defined in advance for reason: to ensure that people know what to expect during a meeting between diverse cultures. To ignore protocol is to make the other people feel uncomfortable. Protocol is followed to avoid making hand gestures or body movements that can be wrongly interpreted. Perhaps bowing to the SA king had little meaning to the king, or it might mean something totally embarrassing. Hence the need to follow protocol. As for the flag dipping thing, I don't see the harm if it is Olympic protocol that is followed by all nations every two years.
I don't have a problem with flag dipping either in that case. but I agree that bowing to the King against protocol was not a good choice. Alan's discription of protocol is a very good one.
I still disagree. The flag should not be dipped or lowered to anyone. It is just as much a symbol of our nation as the office of the President. If they want to give a nod of the head or remove any hat when passing the host country then fine...just not a national emblem. Nor do I think Norway, Botswana or any other country should dip or lower their flag when the games are in our country.
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