Was Obama's Bow to King of Saudi Arabia Appropriate?

[Alfi]

Traditions have to start somewhere.

 

[WhoWee]

This is the REAL problem...not the bow itself

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/09/obama-bow-to-saudis-cnn-r_n_185281.html

..."spin" for no reason...makes you wonder how something that does matter will be handled.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Here is real the significance of this story: Obama has been in office less than 100 days. By the time the spin on this would matter, it won't. By then he can be judged on the success of his economic plan and real foreign policy decisions.

 

[buffordboy23]

This is the REAL problem...not the bow itself

Your likely right, probably not. It could become a problem though if he is consistently unprepared to engage international leaders.

..."spin" for no reason...makes you wonder how something that does matter will be handled.

From what I have seen, most of the spin has come from conservatives. Liberals have been just as guilty on occasions before.

 

[Moonbear]

I don't care if it was a bow or not a bow. I think the leader of any country is entitled to greet the leaders of any other country any way they darn well please. Whose protocol are you supposed to follow anyway? Ours? Theirs? And, gosh, wouldn't it be nice if they could all just say, "The heck with protocol, let's just talk."

Actually, the only thing that bugged me about the whole incident was the White House staff trying to come up with lame explanations for it rather than just saying, "We don't know, we'll ask him next time we talk to him." I think that just made it worse, because it just sounded like they were making excuses for the president, sounding like they were embarrassed.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

What about a President bowing to a religious figure?

I heard about this on the radio and the explanation was similar to Drankin's. Supposedly the US traditionally does not recognize monarchs as such and so the president is not supposed to bow to a monarch because this supposedly gives the impression that the US (or at least its president) recognizes the monarch's throne.

 

[Cyrus]

I heard about this on the radio and the explanation was similar to Drankin's. Supposedly the US traditionally does not recognize monarchs as such and so the president is not supposed to bow to a monarch because this supposedly gives the impression that the US (or at least its president) recognizes the monarch's throne.

The same applies to not touching the queen of England (The monarch we specifically made this no bowing custom about!) Talk about irony.

 

[mgb_phys]

I always thought it was funny when a visiting leader inspects the honor guard at the plane.
Even if the leader is a military guy what is he supposed to do ? Walk down the line and check if the buttons are all shiny? Is he allowed to put someone on a charge if they aren't?

I wonder if there are any heads of state who are former drill sergeants?

 

[mheslep]

Yes, yes, before this whole Obama-bowing fiasco, us Americans have never had to submit to anyone, right? Tax collectors, land lords, teachers, bosses, they've never had any power over us free, independent Americans, right?

Those are all examples of people we as US citizens freely choose or democratically elect to positions of authority, and even then that authority is always limited to the bounds of the particular relationship, and not deserving of any gratuitous displays of submission. Nobody elected Abdullah to any position, certainly not over an American. What any foreign official deserves is a simple display of respect; I read that in the Islamic culture a bow is just that, perhaps it was, I dunno.

 

[mgb_phys]

What about a President bowing to a religious figure?

On a similair note, the vatican has rejected a new US ambassador because of their views on abortion
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7998688.stm
Does this happen with all countries?
Can the Brits reject an ambassador in London who isn't a monarchist, does the ambassador to Iran have to share their views on Isreal?

 

[Evo]

On a similair note, the vatican has rejected a new US ambassador because of their views on abortion
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7998688.stm
Does this happen with all countries?
Can the Brits reject an ambassador in London who isn't a monarchist, does the ambassador to Iran have to share their views on Isreal?

A country does not have to allow an ambassador from another country as far as I know, but I don't know how common screening of appointees to an established embassy is.

IMO, that kind of discrimination reflects poorly on the Vatican.

 

[LowlyPion]

A country does not have to allow an ambassador from another country as far as I know, but I don't know how common screening of appointees to an established embassy is.

IMO, that kind of discrimination reflects poorly on the Vatican.

I think Ray Flynn and the Papists are out of line. Obama can still designate Caroline Kennedy, and the Pope and the snooty Cardinals can go suck eggs with whatever objections they want to make. By not accepting the US Ambassador, whoever that person is, the Vatican position would devolve into a rejection of relations with the US, not any moral reservation about the political position of the Ambassador to the Vatican. The Pope needs the US more than the US has any use for the Pope. Render unto Caesar.

Caroline Kennedy is a Catholic. So what exactly is the Pope upset about? That the US would hold positions about stem cell research and women's rights to choose, because their displeasure isn't changing that, or is it that a life-long Catholic was not bowing to the will of the Pope? I think the Pope has apparently been taking his job description a little too seriously if that's the case.

 

[Hans de Vries]

That's just it. No President in the history of our nation has ever bowed to a foriegn leader. Protocol is, out of respect for the office of US President, you don't bow to anyone. It's seen as disrespect towards our American concept of equality among people and the struggle our nation has gone through to be what we have been for a few hundred years. People had to bow to kings, queens, anyone in power. We got away from that and now were back. I don't care if he starts bowing to his new dog, whatever that ended up being. He doesn't seem to care about the traditions of the office of the American Presidency in this respect.

As I understand you Obama could take some protocol advice from the queen of England
on how to act and behave and how to avoid any informal gestures which could undermine
the absolute authority of his office?

In most of the world "kings and queens" are powerless historical antiquities, puppet role
models which are maintained because of the nostalgic feelings of the most conservative
part of the population who care about these traditions and protocols. You may not realize
but the world has changed quite a bit since you guys immigrated...

Honestly, I feel that people who manage to see anything wrong in Obama's gesture do
so rather because people in that part of the world have a different religion, and at the
same time I feel that Obama's gesture was meant to heal some wounds in that respect.
The fact that the man was not democratically chosen has little to do with the incident.
Regards, Hans

 

[Flat]

Caroline Kennedy is a Catholic. So what exactly is the Pope upset about? That the US would hold positions about stem cell research and women's rights to choose, because their displeasure isn't changing that, or is it that a life-long Catholic was not bowing to the will of the Pope? I think the Pope has apparently been taking his job description a little too seriously if that's the case.

On a slightly relevant note, I found this on my parent's church website. I chuckled a bit.

http://notredamescandal.com/

 

[Alfi]

As I understand you Obama could take some protocol advice from the queen of England
on how to act and behave and how to avoid any informal gestures which could undermine
the absolute authority of his office?
Regards, Hans

Have you seen the picture of the Queen with her arm around Mrs. Obama?
My Mothers jaw dropped when she saw the Queen breaking her own protocols.

I thought it was charming.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090402/ap_on_re_eu/g20_michelle_obama

 

[Hans de Vries]

Have you seen the picture of the Queen with her arm around Mrs. Obama?
My Mothers jaw dropped when she saw the Queen breaking her own protocols.

I thought it was charming.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090402/ap_on_re_eu/g20_michelle_obama

better isn't it.