While at the G20 Summit in London, Obama had the opportunity to meet and talk the ears off the heads of state of the 20 top economies in the world. When he met the King of Saudi Arabia, he bowed to him. A photo and the video of that bow are below.
Obama Bows to Saudi King
Bowing to royalty is symbolic of that monarch’s power over his or her subjects. That’s why Americans don’t bow to the British Queen while the subjects of the Crown do. Our forefathers fought a pretty nasty war called the American Revolution, so that we would not be subjected to the will of the British monarchy.
I know things have changed a lot since then and some Americans choose to give a quick curtsy to Queen Elizabeth as a courtesy. Not a huge big deal. Inappropriate and indicates a lack of understanding of the dynamics between to two countries, but not a sign of treason any more.
In fact, when Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, met the Queen this week, they did a quick little perfectly executed bow. That was probably an effort on their part to make up for their series of insults to the British in the short time Obama has been President of the United States. Regardless of their reasons, it was still not proper for an American President to bow to the Queen.
One does not bow or curtsy to a foreign monarch because the gesture symbolizes recognition of her power over her subjects.
Even the English found it to be inappropriate and wondered about the heyday the press would have had if President George W. Bush had been so out of touch with proper protocol. We know he’d have been laughed at endlessly in the media and had those images broadcast out to the public 24/7 with ‘journalist’ asserting it was proof that he was just an ignorant American (as though being American is an insult).
It turns out that Obama has yet to appoint a chief of protocol. Seriously.
When someone has spent two years campaigning for the presidency, don’t you think they might have been a tad bit better prepared then this?
Much worse than the curtsy to the Queen of England was the deep subservient bow to the Saudi King. When Obama met Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, he sank into a bow that made some watching wonder if he was fixing to lick the king’s shoes. At its best it is unbecoming of an American President to bow to a foreign king, or its just clueless.
Does bowing, deep bowing, to the King of Saudi Arabia leave much doubt as to where Obama’s loyalties lie? His has made numerous attempts to court the Arab world since he’s been president.
The Saudi king himself has stated that ‘the faithful’ bow only to God. That makes me wonder how King Abdullah himself viewed the subservience of the American President.
New Saudi King Abdullah has effectively banned citizens from kissing his hand or that of any member of the royal family, saying only fathers and mothers deserved such reverence.
“Brothers, there is something on my mind I want to tell you,” King Abdullah told delegations of princes, officials and ordinary citizens at his palace in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
“Kissing hands is something alien to our values and ethics, and is refused by free and honest souls,” he said, quoted by the official SPA news agency.
“Moreover, it leads to bowing, which violates God’s law as the faithful bows only to the one and only God.
The whole thing is embarrassing. Its like the ‘American Hillbillies go to Europe’. Yet the slobbering American press will just gush over them as though they are the most sophisticated people ever to reside in the White House.
I can’t really laugh at Obama’s antics in Europe. He is throwing American power and prestige out with both hands as fast as he can. I can’t laugh at it, because he’s taking all of us with him.
Obama Bows to Saudi King - Video
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Who is being elitist? I know that GW and his keeper, Dick Cheney were trying for an American Empire, but if you haven’t realized by now that instead they alienated most of the free world and other not so free nations you’re deluding yourself. Obama and wife have garnered rave reviews around the world. People the world over were hoping against hope that hope would prevail. That American Imperialist leaders would be replaced by American egalitarians (which by the way we are supposed to be.) Thank goodness that has happened. Better a few gaffes in protocol than a bankrupting invasion and war based on lies and selfinterest. (Oh and torture!) Now we have a chance to make friends abroad since this is a global world.
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Lisa - that’s a sad comment. If you really believe that, its very sad indeed.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:53 pm
yep beth. the ‘evil twin’ clampetts. geez these interlopers are just too much.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Obama is an embarrassment. The left and the left-leaning press can’t admit it because they’re so deep in the tank for Obama. Everyone with even a speck of objectivity can see that the man is a disaster. The “rave reviews” that Lisa mentions are manufactured. It’s funny listening to the Obamabots rationalize and justify Obama’s missteps, gaffes and mistakes.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:11 pm
You know what was on the iPod he gave the Queen? Videos of himself!! Oh geezzz.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Exactly Irvin. The foreign press doesn’t have to justify their allegiance to him so they are being more honest in their assessments of him. Its just mortifying.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:06 am
HAHA. I reckon that your president owes more than a bow to the man.
The Saudi royal family is owed a debt in the trillions from America. I’d say he’s almost working for them
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:14 am
obama is a Muslim lier , the American people is completely naive don’t know any thing about the Muslim evil mentality
April 3rd, 2009 at 7:32 am
Obama’s bow wreaks of dhimmitude. It’s much worse than a breach of protocol, BHO is haphazardly displaying his weakness and incompetence before the world.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
As a life-long conservative Republican, I can’t understand “throwing American power and prestige out with both hands.” All the power and prestige we had with Clinton and Bush? The whole world thought we were as dumb as they were, like deer caught in headlights. If large crowds of Europeans showing up to cheer for our President, for our policies, for the Marshall Plan, for past cooperation, etc., etc., is throwing our prestige out, maybe it’s just as well.