Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
April 5, 2009
Obama Bows

Pat Lang is outraged the Obama bowed to the Saudi King as is the Agonist's Sean Paul Kelly:

Repeat after me: American presidents do not bow to kings.

Hey – the bow will lower oil prices and sell lots of Treasuries. What is bad about that? And where was the outrage when Obama lowered his head to the queen of England?

I wonder why U.S. people are so touchy on this issue. Both royals are much older than Obama is and to lower the head while greeting them is simply good manners.

Meanwhile Obama held a pretty noteworthy speech in Prague. Besides the usual nonsense he said:

"To put an end to Cold War thinking, we will reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy and urge others to do the same," Mr. Obama said. "Make no mistake, as long as these weapons exist, the United States will maintain a safe, secure and effective arsenal to deter any adversary and guarantee that defense to our allies, including the Czech Republic. But we will begin the work of reducing our arsenal, to reduce our warheads and stockpiles. We will negotiate a new strategic arms reduction treaty with the Russians this year."

Reducing the number of nuclear weapons and a new treaty with Russia are significant policy changes. The big public announcement in Prague will make it difficult to step back from these promises.

Of course some will get outraged about that too as it likely includes a (reciprocal) bow to Medevev.

Comments

oh well
“The United States is the world’s foremost republic. It is utterly inappropriate for our head of state to make a gesture of submission to any kind of foreign ruler.”
I would suggest that it is very wise to bow if you intend to borrow money …
I would also suggest that politeness is not submission

Posted by: outsider | Apr 5 2009 17:01 utc | 1

You wonder why we’re so “touchy” about it? Perhaps you should study our history just a teeny tiny bit.
So-called “monarchy” is a fabrication that is completely undeserving of any respect whatsoever. Any American who bows before some self-styled “king” is betraying our values.

Posted by: matter | Apr 5 2009 18:13 utc | 2

every american president for the next thousand years ought to bow to the people of the world especially the oppressed for the evil they have willingly practiced against them. if the truth be told all succesive president ought to be on their knees as one italian women demanded of andreotti & his criminal parliamentarian at the funeral of her husband
yes on their knees

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 5 2009 18:37 utc | 3

Better a president bowing to heads of state than giving head to banks here in the states.

Posted by: DavidS | Apr 5 2009 18:37 utc | 4

it is a sign of respect and should not be taken out of context. to afford someone the courtesies of their own culture when they are a guest in your country is admirable.

Posted by: annie | Apr 5 2009 19:24 utc | 5

deducing then that lang et al likely got a charge out of gaddafi’s behavior the other day
I am the king of kings, Muammar Gaddafi tells ‘lying’ Saudi ruler

Maverick Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi stole the show at the Arab summit, insulting Saudi King Abdullah and proclaiming himself “king of kings of Africa” before storming out to visit a museum.
But the flamboyant Mr Gaddafi also left the door open for reconciliation with King Abdullah, whose Western-backed kingdom is a regional heavyweight and the largest oil exporter.
“It has been six years since you have been avoiding a confrontation with me,” Gaddafi snapped yesterday, just as summit host Qatari emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani was ending his speech.
“You are always lying and you’re facing the grave, and you were made by Britain and protected by the US,” Mr Gaddafi told King Abdullah in front of 15 other leaders at the gathering.
Tensions have run high between the two countries since articles in US and Saudi newspapers in June 2004 accused Mr Gaddafi of allegedly plotting to assassinate King Abdullah, then the crown prince.

Posted by: b real | Apr 5 2009 19:38 utc | 6

we will have to see if Obama’s words about cutting nukes are followed by actions. the current budget request for 2010 includes 22 Billion Dollars for nuclear weapons
will he still deploy missiles to Poland and radar stations to Czech? although he hints that the program would not be needed if the Iranians give up their nuclear weapon plans, that is already a lie since even his own national intelligence estimate says the Iranians have no nuclear weapons program. the current Czech government was voted out of power and their decision to host the US radar stations probably contributed to the loss on the vote of confidence. Speaking to some young Czechs I had stay at my house, they were quite adamant about not wanting foreign military bases in their land. I doubt they are/were a minority in Czech.
Sadly, as nice as it is to hear a US president speak in complete sentences and actually sound like an educated person, Mr Obama is still singing the same tune that bush the lesser sang. He lies, and he is covering up the lies of the previous administration and continuing to break the same laws that cheneyco did. Glenn Greenwald has been documenting this with the meticulousness of a trial lawyer. should anyone in our government ever discover that they have a pair, it would be a walk in the park to put anyone of the criminals away for a long time if the jury is generous enough not to have them exec uted.
yeah, I am bitter. and yes I know Obama is just one man.

Posted by: dan of steele | Apr 5 2009 20:45 utc | 7

Ha, ask Aramco!

Posted by: Cloned Poster | Apr 5 2009 21:04 utc | 8

I don’t think anybody should bow to a king or queen. the very concept of royalty is revolting to me.
it is truly baffling to think any US citizen should think it is proper for the head of our country to bow to a monarch.
as Pat Lang says, perhaps we need to reevaluate the reasons for forming the US in the first place.
if on the other hand you bow to everyone you meet, I have no problem with that. bowing to cab drivers and janitors as well as so called blue bloods would be just fine.

Posted by: dan of steele | Apr 5 2009 21:36 utc | 9

As the leader of the foremost republic of the world (no – universe), no American President should stand to attention and hold hand over heart as the Brit national anthem “God Save Our Gracious Queen” is played.

Posted by: MJG | Apr 5 2009 21:37 utc | 10

If the world had legitimate governments and not a bunch of pompous assholes, then beyond the normal politeness people should show one another, there would be no need for the dog and pony show.
What a waste of time… bowing and saluting and acting like a bunch of idiots while their banker friends stuff more money into there personal pockets.
Grrrrr!

Posted by: DavidS | Apr 5 2009 21:59 utc | 11

but when Obama & practically every other American politician literally grovels before AIPAC, its OK ?

Posted by: jony_b_cool | Apr 5 2009 23:10 utc | 12

jb cool is quite correct politicians obsequiousness & servility before aipac takes bowinf to a whole other level

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 5 2009 23:22 utc | 13

But as others pointed out, Hillary is giving head to Bibi, what’re ya gonna do?
GM will be taken bankrupt in the third week of April, GMAC will be separated
from GM and nationalized. GM will renegotiate wages and pensions the same way
the airlines cut salaries in half and wiped out pensions, then GM will become
the American alternative to Tata. Then the Fed/Treasury will rip out the juicy
parts of GMAC, and throw the corpse on the Taxpayer Bailout charnel burn pile.
We will see many horrors in the next few months, and our kids will understand
these, and become mute witnesses to our passive acceptance of their slavery.
How’d you like to be a grad medical student, knowing 111th Congress is going
to cut physician salaries in half under a national socialized medical program,
so US medical grads end up in perpetual debt for their overpriced US schooling, while Chindian physicians take their jobs, working for former autoworker wages.
No Fed, State or local ‘workers’ have been laid off, and Cap & Trade is coming.
You have absolutely no say in this “democracy”, where voters repeatedly reject
legislation and deficit spending, that government leaders then enact anyway.
The Great Liquidation has begun. All bow!

Posted by: Mellow Yellow | Apr 6 2009 1:28 utc | 14

I wrote over a Pat Lang’s blog that it’s at least as bad for POTUS to be saluting to the military. They need to respect his proper, constitutional role as their CIVILIAN boss. And civilians DO NOT show deference to the military by saluting to them.

Posted by: JohnH | Apr 6 2009 1:34 utc | 15

dan of steele:
will he still deploy missiles to Poland and radar stations to Czech?
I think it depends on whether the Russians deploy the S-300 to Iran.

Posted by: Sam | Apr 6 2009 2:59 utc | 16

Should anyone be addressed by an honorific? I prefer not to. I suspect that if I were ever to come face-to-face with the Pope, I’d address him as “Mr. Ratzinger”. Those who demand to be shown obeisance would deny their own humanity and commonality with other humans–a sure sign of a sociopath.

Posted by: Obelix | Apr 6 2009 4:58 utc | 17

If I met the Pope, I’d want to give him a cool miniature cross with a chip of the Cross of Jesus wrapped in silver, fresh water pearls and a large amethyst, then maybe His Eminence would remember me from among the throngs of starving supplicants outside the Holy City, after the Israelis drop the Bomb on Iran and it all goes sideways. You need to start meandering around looking for defensible bunker locations with food and fuel stashes, not worrying about who your CiC is bowing his head to, de jeure.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/777751/will_israel_bomb_iran/

Posted by: Soapy Adams | Apr 6 2009 5:39 utc | 18

It’s tough being Clean: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-HJzLLl1Q1gw/israel_tribute_idf/

Posted by: Adnan Koshoghi | Apr 6 2009 5:43 utc | 19

Where was Pat’s outrage when George W. walked around holding hands and kissing Saudi Prince Abdullah?

Posted by: susan | Apr 6 2009 18:14 utc | 20

matter, what are “our values”?

Posted by: ran | Apr 6 2009 19:04 utc | 21

sorry susan but that is not the same thing. holding hands is a sign of affection, not subservience.

Posted by: dan of steele | Apr 6 2009 19:06 utc | 22

@DoS holding hands is a sign of affection, not subservience.
What is worse – having affections for the Saudi King or being subservient?
🙂
I still believe its about oil and dollars …

Posted by: b | Apr 6 2009 19:27 utc | 23

I guess I have been living over here in old europe too long. I greet old male friends and give them a kiss on the cheek. that probably freaks out some of my fellow countrymen. I know it took a little while for me to get used to it as I was raised a Lutheran and we are all quite stoic with emotions being for small children and girls.
of course it is all about business. that is what they do. my bitch is that bowing to someone who calls himself king or queen is repugnant and not something a person elected as the head of a republic based on equality should ever do. it would make no difference to me if I should come from Ghana or Vanuatu, I refuse to recognize kings. I would have to be forcibly pushed down.

Posted by: dan of steele | Apr 6 2009 19:53 utc | 24

Obama bent over for the Queen…she’s about 5ft tall (if that). No American President has ever bowed to anyone (until now). Our forefathers refused to bow down, they stood and built a nation.

Posted by: c | Apr 10 2009 5:36 utc | 25

WOW! Obama bowing, Mrs. Obama putting her arm around the Queen….these two need to be educated when in other countries, of the protocal….

Posted by: nancy | Apr 10 2009 17:31 utc | 26

obama is a weak coward that does not deseve to be leader of such a strong nation he and his big goverment is destroing this country and we as a nation must stop it he must be stopped

Posted by: destroy big goverment | Apr 10 2009 21:18 utc | 27

when we end up eventualy sending multitudes of troops over to wrap up the Iraq conflict and we claim Iraq as a protectorate of the United States, then all of the money brought in by the oil will quitely dismiss the arguing over the trillions we are spending at home.

Posted by: rick | Apr 11 2009 2:22 utc | 28

I do not know the ins and outs of protocol and cannot comment on whether it was good or bad for the President to make a short bow from the waist. Had he knelt down on his knees before the King, I am sure I would be offended. I believe what he did was nothing more than showing respect for a powerful leader in his own country.

Posted by: Douglas Goodall | Apr 11 2009 8:59 utc | 29

#2, and exactly what ARE “American values”? The ´history´ you refer to is the official U.S. version with which Americans are brainwashed from birth. The REAL history of the U.S.A. is better summarized in this short piece by University of San Francisco Professor of politics Robert Elias, who was brave enough to write this Essay just 2 weeks after 9/11.
The U.S. President shouldn´t just bow but grovel before the leaders of those nations the U.S. has bribed, coerced, perverted and devastated:

“Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy”

Posted by: Parviz | Apr 11 2009 10:07 utc | 30

What I find to be almost nauseating is how Obama’s people, as well as our slanted media machines here at home keep trying to tell us we didn’t actually see what we obviously all witnessed on “FILM”.
Obama bowed, no doubt, no question about it, the useless turd bowed to our enemies. And don’t tell me he wasn’t bowing, don’t even try telling me he was just stooping over because he is taller than this so called KING?? Obama actually bowed down so low I thought there for a brief moment that he was going to kiss the very head of the king’s dick!
It’s these things that trouble me the most..
1st when I watched him meet the Queen he simply shook her hand, I really found that odd since bowing is a huge custom of the British.
2nd these people are nothing short of tyrants over there, and for our president to bow made me sick, I was ashamed for my country and thought it showed total weakness.
3rd since when is it customary to bow to Saudi kings? Maybe if you’re in the orient meeting the emperor I could perhaps over look a bow, but a Saudi king, please!
I was willing to give Mr. Obama a chance, but now not at all, I am done with him. He is a kiss ass weakling, and I am curious how he is going to deal with the president of Iran here in the not to distant future??
Cus its comin’ folks, this guy has his eye on us, can we say EMP anyone??

Posted by: Scape | Apr 14 2009 19:47 utc | 31