Alright, they really have already started but I thought I would make clear my thoughts on President Obama bowing to the Emperor of Japan. As some might remember when I addressed the controversy regarding Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia I have no problem with this sort of thing and really fail to understand why anyone else would. My position remains unchanged. Obama is a common man, HIM Akihito in an Emperor and as such I see no reason why he shouldn't bow to him. Regardless of which, bowing to someone is a common form of greeting in Japan (one reason they've been less troubled with plague than the western world) and he is on the Emperor's turf here after all. I am certainly not a member of the Obama fan club but I think there are plenty of bigger issues and reasons to condemn him than for bowing to the Emperor of Japan. As far as I'm concerned it was the correct, polite and respectful thing to do and probably set a good example for the local Obama-fanatics that he shows all due respect to His Majesty the Emperor. He's done other things on this same visit that I have a problem with but bowing to the Emperor certainly does not make the list. On this issue, let Obama be I say.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Before They Even Start......
Alright, they really have already started but I thought I would make clear my thoughts on President Obama bowing to the Emperor of Japan. As some might remember when I addressed the controversy regarding Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia I have no problem with this sort of thing and really fail to understand why anyone else would. My position remains unchanged. Obama is a common man, HIM Akihito in an Emperor and as such I see no reason why he shouldn't bow to him. Regardless of which, bowing to someone is a common form of greeting in Japan (one reason they've been less troubled with plague than the western world) and he is on the Emperor's turf here after all. I am certainly not a member of the Obama fan club but I think there are plenty of bigger issues and reasons to condemn him than for bowing to the Emperor of Japan. As far as I'm concerned it was the correct, polite and respectful thing to do and probably set a good example for the local Obama-fanatics that he shows all due respect to His Majesty the Emperor. He's done other things on this same visit that I have a problem with but bowing to the Emperor certainly does not make the list. On this issue, let Obama be I say.
Sir, in a previous post you mentioned the Obamas' apparent hostility to Britain.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you are right on this score. But do you think that this hostility derives from malice? From conscious policy? Or simply from ignorantly believing the nonsense so many millions of American kids were taught at schools about how George III was like Hitler, only even worse?
(Joseph Sobran, as you probably know, once wrote: "King George didn't care a hoot whether you smoked or how much water your toilet tank held.")
http://www.sobran.com/columns/1999-2001/000309.shtml
Well, I think that is part of it but of course Obama did not go to an American school as a kid, he was at that age in Indonesia. But that has usually been put aside, at least in the 20th Century, when US leaders accepted the "special relationship" with Britain which Obama has denied. What makes me more inclined to think that Obama has an active dislike of Britain is the fact that his grandfather was arrested by the British and his family's complicity with the revolutionary faction in Kenya against British rule. I have also heard that his wife is even more hostile than he is but of course that's heresay and you can take it or leave it.
ReplyDeleteThat's right, I'd forgotten about Obama's Kenyan and Indonesian connections. Of course some former revolutionaries against Britain ended up becoming quite fond of the mother country in spite of everything. Nehru for example.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.life.com/image/53379788
That's certainly true in some cases. Of course, it's always easier to be friends when you've been the winner and gotten your own way.
ReplyDeleteAS much as I think it an important topic to discuss Obama's dislike of the British, especially given my own HEritage is British, I fail to understand the relevance such sentiment has in this particular story.
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't to this story but I assume the reference was to the previous post I linked to when Obama was in London and bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia while being quite less respectful toward the Queen and her prime minister. Given that I referenced it in the post it's not out of order, besides which I'm glad for anyone to leave comments on the latest post as those who leave comments on posts that are quite old often leave me struggling to find out which post their comment was meant to address and thus harder to respond to.
ReplyDeleteAgreed----this was the polite thing to do. And I'm no Obama fan either, not by a long shot.
ReplyDelete