President Barack Obama Broke U.S. Protocol and Bowed to Saudi King During G20 Summit
Upon returning home from his 8-day tour of Europe and the Middle East, President Barack Obama has been greeted with some pretty harsh criticism over photographs and video footage which show him bowing to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia during the G20 Summit. While the mainstream media has largely ignored this major political gaffe, it has not gone unnoticed.
The Washington Times called the bow a "shocking display of fealty to a foreign potentate", which runs contrary to a long-held American tradition of not deferring to royalty.
The Times continued:
"By bending over to show greater respect to Islam, the US president belittled the power and independence of the United States. Such an act is a traditional obeisance befitting a king's subjects, not his peer. There is no precedent for U.S. presidents bowing to Saudi or any other royals."
One can't help but wonder why Obama did not bow to Queen Elizabeth when meeting with her in England, but saw it befitting to show reverence to the royal head of a Muslim nation that is the home of 15 of the 19 September 11th terrorists.
The Weekly Standard reiterated the tradition, stating:
"American presidents do not bow before foreign dignitaries, whether they are princes, kings, or emperors."
The White House has denied that President Obama bowed to the King, however photographs suggest otherwise. One Obama aide spoke anonymously to Politico.com, stating:
"It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."
Many have dismissed that excuse as absurd. Getty Images had even captioned a photo of the gesture as him "bowing".
The Saudis themselves believe it to have been a bow. Muhammah Diyab, a commentator for a Saudi paper, approved of Obama's gesture and says that he saw it as a clear blow:
"Obama wished to demonstrate his respect and appreciation of the personality of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, who has made one of the most important calls in the modern era, namely the call for interfaith and intercultural dialogue to defuse the hatred, conflict and wars".
As many times as the Obama administration might like to deny that the President bowed to the King of a foreign nation, pictures don't lie, and neither do videos. Enough were taken that we are able to see the gesture from multiple angles. Such a low "stoop" could not simply be chalked up to a difference in height.
Watch the video of the bow:
Comments
Obama finally revealed his
Obama finally revealed his true identity. As a Christian, he did not bow to the Queen of England or the Pope, and yet he bowed to the King of Saudi. Moreover, he denied repeatedly during last two year tht he is a muslim, but now he proudly admitted during this overseas tour that he is in fact one of them. As an American, I truly believe his recent behaviors greatly degrade American values and constitution and should be impeachable by the congress.
What's the big deal?
What's the big deal? Seriously...Americans...go watch your American idols..you are all stupid anyways
bowing
Americans are stupid?? well you are a coward
What really irks me about
What really irks me about this whole thing is our gov't trying to say he didn't bow. Do you they think we are stupid. I voted for Obama but actions like these will make me rethink that in 2012.
Protocol
First, I want to state clearly that I supported Obama in Nov, and still think that was the right choice. But I'm no politician or diplomat, and I know that the US president should NOT bow to any foreign power. All this rewriting history by the WH that this was not a bow is patently absurd. W's walking and holding hands with Saudi royalty did not bother in the least; but I was stunned by Obama's deferential gesture.
Obama's advisers re: protocol are NOT serving him well. Time to hire someone who knows what they're doing so we don't have endless fiascoes about poorly chosen gifts and inappropriate physical gestures.
Bad Protocol again - and you can keep the change...
Well, unfortunately Obama bowed to the Japanese emperor (much to the delight of the gentleman). No wonder Obama won a Nobel Prize ;)!
Unfortunately...
Unfortunately, the American people elected an unintelligent man as president of the United States. The US constitution clearly states that the President is not to give any foreign ruler or authority any "title of nobility"...and that's just what Obama did. In bowing to the king of Saudi, he said...you and your country are above me and mine. I understand wanting to make peace, but this was definitely not the way to go about it. Maybe we should educate our president on some important aspects of being president such as...the Constitution of the United States?!
Oh yeah, and the previous
Oh yeah, and the previous eight years were exemplars of intelligence and Constitutionality. Please.
Bow to the Saudi King
I think the MSM and pundits are missing the point. Obama was raised and educated in Muslim tradition including study of the Quran. In his late 20s, he converted to Christianity. However, I believe he is unable to relinquish his spiritual roots and it must be remembered that Saudi Arabia is the protector of the most holy Muslim sites, including Mecca, where all Muslim men are required to visit once in their lives. This deep belief could be the cause of the bow to the King of Saudi Arabia.
The bow was bad enough
But for Robert Gibbs to stand there with a straight face and deny that it was not is a joke. How about staying home and working on the economy instead of globetrotting on your USA apology tour.
Obama
This "President" is a disgrace and a fraud. He displays no knowledge or pride in the history or tradition of this great nation. If he has this knowledge he is knowingly casting it aside which is approaching treason. He will sell us down the river after embarassing us. Our enemies are celebrating - what else do you need to know?
President Obama
First our President tells the world that the U.S. is arrogant and now he bows to a King and then his staff lies about it. What have we done electing a fool who has more respect for another country than his own.
What did the new media say about it? nothing. In 2012 we will get our chance.
The bow
Personally I see nothing wrong with bowing. It is nothing more than a show of respect for a very important US ally and world leader. I hope respect is shown by US presidents to all worthy figures, regardless of how it is manifested, be it bow, gift, huge, or whatever.
King Abdullah deserves respect. Saudi Arabia is a very authoritarian and undemocratic country but King Abdullah is trying to institute reforms and a gradual opening of his society. Things can't change there overnight but he is doing what he can.
the bow
Leaders shaking hands and nodding their heads is a sign of greeting among equals.
A bow of one leader to another is a symbol of subservience; the lesser acknowledging his position to the greater.
There is no way around it. As the "leader of the free world", Chairman Obama was acknowledging western subservience to Islam.
Maybe it was simply a Muslim faithful bowing to a Muslim leader, which would have been proper protocol. But when Obama bowed, he bowed for All Americans.
This is only the tip of the Obama iceberg, lying in wait for the unsuspecting American People. When you take into account his desire to take over the banks, control our food supply with the new Food Police, and now he wants to have the authority to control and if necessary SHUT DOWN the internet. And the guy hasn't even been in office a hundred days yet, What will America look like after four years? It will not be the America that any of us would recognize. This bow is the least of our problems with this guy.
US Presidents - bowing to any King, Princes of foreign State
Article I, Section #9 of the U.S. Constitution states:
"No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United
States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust
under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress,
accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any
kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State."
SORRY, THE COSTITUTION STATES "NO BOWING ALLOWED".
Bowing
Where do you get by Article 1, Section 9 that says no bowing? It says elected official are not get titles (knighthood, etc), gifts, or monetary items from other nations. Funny, because gifts are given all the time.
Obama bowing
It does not matter how this man was raised. What matters is that he is the head of OUR country, an elected official that should be supporting what the majority of AMERICA wants and bottom line, I do not think the majority of America, whether they voted for him or not, wants the most powerful man in the world bowing down to any king, especially a king that has so many terrorist ties.
And everyone complained about gas prices under George W. Everyone complained about trying to get out of the Saudi gas reign, yet, we are now bigger supporters of the Saudi's than ever before! That country NOW has a noose around our neck. Are we the most powerful and respected country anymore....according to our own president....no.
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