When President Obama met Emperor Akihito of Japan he reached out with his right hand, lurched forward into a full bow from the waist. The Japanese were so shocked by his rude gesture they refused to run a photo of it in their news.
According to Jake Tapper at ABCNews, the event was a big embarrassment. He received a letter from an Obama supporter and Japanese expert who pointed out the huge gaffe by Barry O.
"Obama's handshake/forward lurch was so jarring and inappropriate it recalls Bush's back-rub of Merkel.
"Kyodo News is running his appropriate and reciprocated nod and shake with the Empress, certainly to show the president as dignified, and not in the form of a first year English teacher trying to impress with Karate Kid-level knowledge of Japanese customs.
"The bow as he performed did not just display weakness in Red State terms, but evoked weakness in Japanese terms....The last thing the Japanese want or need is a weak looking American president and, again, in all ways, he unintentionally played that part.
"But if Obama can get the dollar to stop bowing to the Yen I take it all back."
What a dipstick.
A bow which inadvertently led to the near freezing of our private sector last fall and the ensuing economic recession.
Wait- that was Bush.
Posted by: Goldilocks | November 17, 2009 at 12:47 PM