Obligatory Bowing Post

I really tried to avoid this, but now it seems things have ratcheted up a notch, so here's an obligatory post.

As part of his gaffe-tastic world apology tour, Barack Obama visited Saudi Arabia. His meeting with King Abdullah provided yet another faux paus of protocol that has generated a great deal of buzz throughout the punditry of this country: he bowed deeply to the King.

For those of you -- like me -- not thorougly briefed on the protocol of such situations, it seems that for one head of state to bow deeply to another head of state is completely unnecessary, and almost self-belittling. A mere bend of the neck is apparently quite appropriate; to do more would indicate subservience, which would be inappropriate for any head of state, much less the leader of the most powerful nation on the planet.

President Obama bowed like wheat in a summer wind.

Take a look and decide for yourself (the key moment is about 0:55 seconds in):

It seems pretty clear to me that he inspects his shoes pretty thoroughly right there. So what's the tizzy? Well, three things. First, this is just another example of his inexperience -- ahem, ahem, some people warned of that long ago... -- and lack of the proper understanding of protocol. It's only a matter of time until he legitimately angers someone simply by being stupid and/or clueless. He's got enough on his plate without having to make amends for a simple lack of etiquette.

Second, it illustrates his extreme arrogance - he can't just admit that he made a protocol blunder and move on. I really don't think most people will care one bit about it...everyone makes mistakes, so I think most people would shrug off such an admission and let it go, but they may start to care if Obama outright lies about his actions.

Third, and most importantly, the White House kicked off the spin machine:

The White House is denying that the president bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at a G-20 meeting in London, a scene that drew criticism on the right and praise from some Arab outlets.

"It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah," said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Eh...I'm not buying it. And, anytime the White House spins something that's rather obvious into something else, that usually means they're nervous about it becoming a problem. I don't think most people would have cared much about this, and probably wouldn't even have known about it, but for the White House to address it with a clear distortion simply makes this a juicy tidbit that is suddenly newsworthy.

I'm greatly entertained by Hillbuzz's characterization of the event, calling it 'Breaking News from The Ministry of Truth: that was not a bow Obama gave to the King of Saudi Arabia, it was a doubleplusgood prostratedhandshake':

Obama clearly bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia and prostrated himself to kiss the king’s ring, in much the same fashion Catholics bow to the Pope and subjects of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth bow respectfully to her. The current President of the United States, however, shows this sort of love and adoration to the King of Saudi Arabia.

Think of that what you want, but it was indeed a bow.

Will it kill them in the press? Nah. Is it another brick on the impression that this White House is lousy? Yep. And, I think the wall is going up more quickly than anyone suspected it would.

There's my two cents.