Obama bows to Emperor Akihito excessively deferentially. Photo: Google Images
Barack Obama Dream Fades as China Visit Fails to Bring Change
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Even his allies feel let down by the president’s lack of progress both in Asia and at home

Gazing serenely from the Great Wall of China last week, President Barack Obama appeared to be making the most of one of the supreme perks of White House occupancy — a private guided tour of Asia’s most spectacular tourist destination.

White House aides exulted that perfectly choreographed pictures of this moment would make front pages around the world. Yet an experience Obama declared to be “magical” turned sour as he returned home to a spreading domestic revolt that is fanning Democratic unease.

It was not just that the US media have suddenly turned a lot more sceptical about a president with grand ambitions to reshape politics at home and abroad — even one previously friendly newspaper noted dismissively: “Obama goes to China, brings home a T-shirt.”

Nor was the steady decline in the president’s approval ratings — which fell below 50% for the first time in a Gallup poll last week — the main cause of White House angst. Obama remains more popular than either Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton a year after their elections, and both presidents eventually cruised to second terms.

The real problem may be Obama’s friends — or rather, those among his formerly most enthusiastic supporters who are now having second thoughts.

The doubters are suddenly stretching across a broad section of the Democratic party’s natural constituency. They include black congressional leaders upset by the sluggish economy; women and Hispanics appalled by concessions made to Republicans on healthcare; anti-war liberals depressed by the debate over troops for Afghanistan; and growing numbers of blue-collar workers who are continuing to lose their jobs and homes.

Obama’s Asian adventure perceptibly increased the murmurings of dissent when he returned to Washington last week, having failed to wring any public concessions from China on any major issue.

For most Americans, the most talked-about moment of the trip was not the Great Wall visit but his low bow to Emperor Akihito of Japan, which the president’s right-wing critics assailed as “a spineless blunder” and excessively deferential. >>> Tony Allen-Mills in New York | Sunday, November 22, 2009

Outrage in Washington Over Obama's Japan Bow
U.S. President Barack Obama is greeted by Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo November 14, 2009. Photo: Canada.com
CANADA.COM: WASHINGTON - News photos of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor have incensed critics here, who said the U.S. leader should stand tall when representing America overseas.

Obama on Monday was in China, having wrapped up the Japan leg of his Asia trip two days earlier. But Washington's punditocracy was still weighing whether or not the U.S. president had disgraced his country two days earlier by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan's Emperor Akihito.

Political talk shows have played and replayed the moment from the second day of Obama's week-long Asia tour, which set the blogosphere on fire and chat show tongues wagging.

"I don't know why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan. But it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one," said conservative pundit William Kristol speaking on the Fox News Sunday program, adding that the gesture bespoke a United States that has become weak and overly-deferential under Obama.

Another conservative voice, Bill Bennett, said on CNN's "State of the Union" program: "It's ugly. I don't want to see it."

"We don't defer to emperors. We don't defer to kings or emperors. The president of the United States -- this coupled with so many apologies from the United States -- is just another thing," said Bennett.

Some conservative critics juxtaposed the image of Obama with one of former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, who greeted the emperor in 2007 with a firm handshake but no bow.

"I'll bet if you look at pictures of world leaders over 20 years meeting the emperor in Japan, they don't bow," Kristol said.

Some said the gesture was particularly grating coming after Obama's bow to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at a G20 meeting in April. >>> Stephanie Griffiths, AFP | Monday, November 16, 2009

Obama Bows to Japanese Emperor Akihito

Obama Bows to Emperor of Japan

Barack Obama Bows and Talks of Green Tea Ice Cream as He Pushes US Ties in Asia
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has bowed to the Emperor of Japan and revealed his childhood affection for green tea icecream as he pushes stronger US ties with Asia.

President Barack Obama is greeted by Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Photo: The Telegraph
There was talk of green tea ice cream, memories of a childhood visit to Japan and even a reference to the remote fishing town Obama as the US President set out his vision for US relations with Asia in a keynote speech.

He later bowed deeply to Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, upon arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo for a private lunch before he headed to Singapore on the next leg of his Asian tour.

Beneath the signature charm and rhetoric, President Barack Obama's message was clear: the US fully intends to deepen dialogue with China and pursue greater cooperation with countries across Asia.

Speaking before 1,500 people in a central Tokyo concert hall on the second day of his whistlestop tour of Asia, Mr Obama also pledged his "unshakeable" commitment to Asian security and insisted that the US would not be "cowed" by North Korea's nuclear tests.

Calling himself "America's first Pacific President" during a 40-minute address, Mr Obama said: "I want every American to know that we have a stake in the future of this region, because what happens here has a direct effect on our lives at home.

"This is where we engage in much of our commerce and buy many of our goods. And this is where we can export more of our own products and create jobs back home in the process."

The president reaffirmed the alliance between Japan and the US, which spans nearly five decades and has recently been overshadowed by a dispute over the relocation of American troops in the southern Okinawa region, and their continued presence in Japan overall. >>> Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo | Saturday, November 14, 2009

Diana West: Obama Bows To No One, Unless You're a Saudi King
Obeisant Obama
TOWNHALL: Chances are good you haven't heard this one: that, while in Buckingham Palace last week, milling about with G-20 leaders, the current president of the United States bowed deeply at the waist, one knee bent, on meeting the current King, so-called, of Saudi Arabia, who did not bow back. Chances are even better you haven't seen the video.

That's because Big Media, from viewer-deprived networks to newspapers considering bailouts, have neither aired the video of the incident nor reported on it. ("The O'Reilly Factor" doesn't count.) Washington Post reporter Michael A. Fletcher's breezy dismissal of a reader's online query exemplifies media disinterest: "I'm not sure what the etiquette is for such greetings, but I'm sure the president was only trying to convey respect ... Remember some years ago when President Bush touched cheeks with and held the hand of a Saudi monarch during a visit to his Texas ranch? Another sign of respect. I would not make too much of it."
Well, I would. >>> By Diana West | Thursday, April 9, 2009

Obama Brown-noses King Abdullah: A Bow to End All Bows!
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Conservative American commentators have accused Barack Obama of "grovelling" to an Arab monarch at the G20 summit in London.

A photo and video footage of the US President bowing to Saudi Arabian King Abdullah at yesterday's G20 meet-and-greet has been doing the rounds on the internet today.

Obama grovels to the Saudi king.
Mr Obama appears to shake the King's hand and then bow from the waist while French President Nicholas Sarkozy looks on.
Leading conservative blogger Michelle Malkin and Dakota Voice both wrote of their outrage at the President's deference to a foreign monarch.

"The whole thing is embarrassing. Its like the 'American Hillbillies go to Europe'," Malkin wrote.

"He is throwing American power and prestige out with both hands as fast as he can."

Dakota Voice contributor Bob Ellis said the bow was a gesture of submission.

"The leader of the most free nation in the world should not be slobbering on the ring of some king," Ellis wrote. Obama and the King: A Right Royal Bow Row >>> Georgina Robinson | Friday, April 3, 2009

Obama fawning to the Saudi king in a disgusting act of extreme dhimmitude. From now on, it would be more appropriate to call the president Barack Hussein Abdulmalik (meaning: 'slave of the king').