Very interesting story on whether President Obama bowed to Saudi King Abdullah or it was just a hand shake!

What interests me is the way this story has been underplayed by the media. Just imagine if Bush had done something similar, it would have become a major controversy!

I like the aide quote: “It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah,” Did Obama think the King was three feet tall? Looked like a bow to me! And yeah, if it had been President Bush, it would have been all over the media.

Perhaps he thought that if his wife could get away with breeching British protocol by touching the Queen and giving her a hug then he can bow to a king.

Presumably his action was appreciated and could have done wonders for the US reputation in some quarters.

I have no problem with the 'breech of protocol' with the Queen (I find that a bit much myself) and apparently she was not offended by it in any way either. I do have a problem with the bow. There is no way, that I can see, to call it anything but that and it bothers me for a whole lot of reasons, but this is not the place to go into that.

Makes you wonder two things:

1. How can the White House deny it, or claim he was taking the King by both hands when he obviously wasn't?

2. Why does the mainstream media ignore this?

I'm skeptical enough not to believe everything I read/hear/see, but this one seems true.

I thought he was just being polite - like George W Bush when he held hands with the former Saudi king. It's "what's done" in that country and he was sticking to protocol - trying to be culturally sensitive. He also bowed his head when he met the Queen of England - just not so low. I don't think he dishonored the U.S. In fact, I think it really showed that America is starting to play with others nicely - a necessity in this increasingly globalized world. IMHO. A bow doesn't signify weakness, just niceness - the world could use more of that.

I heard about it on CBS News this evening, so the mainstream is definitely not ignoring this.

Y

Ysmay, Wikipedia calls the Chicago Sun-Times a tabloid, and I searched high and low on CBS--one of my bookmarked sites--the other day and could find nothing. Now I see they have a response just posted April 9, almost a week after the alleged event, as a question. Can't find any hard reporting from them. Likewise, USNWR, certainly a mainstream news organ, as of yesterday relegated it to a question on an opinion page. Even rabble-rousing Fox refuses to acknowledge the obvious, calling it an "apparent" bow.

Being the kind of analytic person I am, I have to agree that it was "apparent," but for heaven's sakes--it was filmed and there were many witnesses. No, I wasn't there, and I wasn't inside Pres. Obama's head when he bowed from the waist as he greeted King Abdullah, but the denials are patently lame. Maybe he suffers from Addison's disease like JFK did and doesn't want to let on.

Maybe you can provide a link of actual reporting from a major, "respected" news agency.

The underlying assumption that many of us are making is that the news media want to cast the President in a favorable light and so are choosing to ignore this event.

The difference we see is that handshaking and handholding connote an equality while bowing connotes subservience.

The link you provided is the same as my link, "response." It was a week after the event and quotes this tabloid report as claiming

"The President of the United States executed a bow to a monarch so deep that he literally had to take a step back to balance himself," wrote Hot Air.

"'No American President should ever make such an obsequious display to any monarch — ever,'" added the blogger."

Bottom line--it matters to some people and not to others. I appreciate hearing how you see it.

(Sorry for the edit--I accidentally posted this mid-sentence.)

I saw it replayed over and over on the news. It doesn't look like a bow, it looks like he's bending down to pick something up while shaking hands. That would have been a breach of protocol, in my opinion.

It seems to me this is exactly why 12 people see the same thing 12 different ways. Witnesses are so unreliable! 12 people see an accident, 12 versions are told to the police.

As for me, I watched his left hand which can be seen just "there." Not using two hands to shake, not picking something off the floor, just was hanging there for a brief second. This witness to the video saw a clear bow. Makes no difference to me the political affiliation.

I figured I could find something that originally reported the incident, but lo and behold, found nothing on national news sources that started at the beginning. They all seem to be "responding." In my humble opinion, it should have been reported to start with.

George Bush, Jr. kissed the dude and held his hand.

I don't know if that's a breech of protocol, but damn.

I may just be a "dim witted country bumpkin" from Australia but I fail to see how this is a faux pas. Is America so great and wonderful that it doesn't need to show respect to world leaders?

And queproblema we've been told a million times at university, don't use Wikipedia as a source.