[speechlesstx]

You said that it was treated seriously; what did you mean by that?

I know, we all look alike. You might ask tom that question since he was the one who made the statement.

You may have a point though. The last time a Republican president held hands with a saudi king over 3,000 lives were lost at the hands of terrorists from... Saudi Arabia! Yet you still keep a strong alliance with them. Why is that?

That was in 2005, 4 years after 9/11 and as far as I for one do not excuse Bush's hand holding. Let's see the same kind of bipartisan scorn Bush received for that when it comes to Obama's kowtowing and groveling. Fair enough?

[tomder55]

What I meant about the world taking it seriously can be found in the Jake Tapper report about the incident .
“The bow as he performed it 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.”

I'll quote the Slimes article about the Clintoon bow

It lasted no longer than a snapshot, but the image on the South Lawn was indelible: an obsequent President, and the Emperor of Japan. Canadians still bow to England Queen. So do Australians. Americans shake hands. If not to stand eye-to-eye with royalty, what else were 1776 and all that about?”

His bow is not intended to show his politeness .It is intended to diminish his own country.
Michael Ramirez Cartoon

[NeedKarma]

That was in 2005, 4 years after 9/11 and as far as I for one do not excuse Bush's hand holding. Let's see the same kind of bipartisan scorn Bush received for that when it comes to Obama's kowtowing and groveling. Fair enough?

So obviously Bush's dimishing of your country had no ill effects did it.

[excon]

His bow is not intended to show his politeness .It is intended to diminish his own country.

Hello again, tom:

Do you hate my country so much that you would denigrate my president simply because you disagree with his policies??

I suppose anybody who would besmirch my country's name by turning us into torturers, doesn't care much what he says about his president.

America, love it or leave it!

excon

[speechlesstx]

So obviously Bush's dimishing of your country had no ill effects did it.

I don't know what "dimishing" is, but it was not a proud moment. You've raised the issue how many times as an embarrassment? You tell me if it had any ill effects.

[tomder55]

Ex I want to know why he hates his country so much. Even the NY Slimes called bowing inappropriate and gave the same reason I have been giving.

Take your blinders off .He is embarrassed by the country ;it's history and traditions .So he attempts to embarrass it in turn.

[NeedKarma]

I want to know why he hates his country so much.

Judging by your posts and threads I have the same question for you: why do you hate your country so much? You say absolutely nothing positive about it.

[excon]

Hello again, tom:

I want to offer my apologies for accusing you of not loving your country.. It's not true, and I know it. As a patriot myself, I how much it hurts to be accused of that.

Frankly, it's not my style, and I only did it to parody the right, anyway. But it fell on deaf ears. It IS a right wing schtick, after all. I promise that MY participation on these pages will not drop to that level again...

On that same note, no matter what the policy under discussion is, I'm going to presume that the speaker, or the presenter of that policy ALSO loves his country, even though HIS fix may be different than mine. So, if you accuse HIM of not loving his country just because you don't agree with his fix, I'm going to call you on it.

excon

[tomder55]

Ex He may love the country . I made no judgement on that . But he has been very blunt on his intention to diminish the country .That appears to be the central plank of his doctrine. Maybe that's done out of love . I don't know .

I intend to go with the same mantra I heard from the Bush opponents ;that all dissent is patriotic regardless of the merit of the position being opposed . I saw them when they were the minority call American soldiers terrorists, Nazis, and cold-blooded murderers. They snubbed and insulted our allies, and did everything in their power to prevent the successful prosecution of the war against jihadistan. I see no difference in their policies now that they are the majority .

I see their approach as dangerous to the country because I think that indeed our enemies see exaggerated bowing as a weakness ;and even if that is not real ,it is still a dangerous perception to foster . We have responsibilities to free nations in the region from alliances we have with them. They include nations like Japan ,South Korea,Taiwan and others.They face real threats with a China that is growing in strength ,and a rogue North Korea .The perception of weakness makes out allies unsure of our commitments .

[excon]

Ex He may love the country . I made no judgement on that . But he has been very blunt on his intention to diminish the country .

Hello again, tom:

I suspect that he wouldn't have been elected if he said that he was going to "diminish" the country. That's YOUR word, and YOUR opinion about what his policies will do...

Of course, I could say that he was very blunt about his intention to re-establish America's greatness... In fact, I'm going to say that..

excon

[George_1950]

Of course, I could say that he was very blunt about his intention to re-establish America's greatness... In fact, I'm gonna say that..

excon

Obama's off to a 'great' start, in his "war of necessity":

"Morale has fallen among soldiers in Afghanistan, where troops are seeing record violence in the 8-year-old war, while those in Iraq show much improved mental health amid much less violence, the Army said Friday." Army: Soldiers' morale is down in Afghanistan - St. Petersburg Times

[speechlesstx]

Maybe he's a little prouder of his country than his wife...

"For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country."

I must have missed Obama's words that said he was going to reestablish America's greatness, I do recall him repeatedly claiming he would restore America's 'standing' in the world, whatever the heck that means.

[George_1950]

I have a hunch Obama is directing the Afghanistan situation into a 'crisis', so that he can get his 'fix' on it, as well.

Let's see: how many of these 'crises' do we have for this 'great' leader to solve? Perhaps there is a branch of Acorn in Afghanistan?

[inthebox]

Looking at that photo again:
Obama is what 6'1'' and the Japanese in that picture look like 5' tall - maybe that is why Obama bent so low. :confused:

This scene has probably been in several kung fu movies: the student and the teacher bow to each before sparring, but the teacher smacks the student in the head as he bows saying that grasshopper, or any such nickname, should keep his eye on the opponent at all times.

Obama should always keep his eyes open, lest he gets smacked ;)


G&P

[tomder55]

Here was the diagram he used to study proper form for the grovel bow

[ETWolverine]

Looking at that photo again:
Obama is what 6'1'' and the Japanese in that picture look like 5' tall - maybe that is why Obama bent so low. :confused:

This scene has probably been in several kung fu movies: the student and the teacher bow to each before sparring, but the teacher smacks the student in the head as he bows saying that grasshopper, or any such nickname, should keep his eye on the opponent at all times.

Obama should always keep his eyes open, lest he gets smacked ;)


G&P

ITB, you just proved my point. All of this stuff about a President not bowing being some form of insult is just chop-saki flick nonsense. Nobody in Japan actually expects ANY American to bow as part of a normal greeting, much less the President of the United States.

Elliot

[speechlesstx]

Of course, I could say that he was very blunt about his intention to re-establish America's greatness... In fact, I'm gonna say that..

Like I said before, his pledge was to "restore America's standing in the world," not America's greatness. Well, mission accomplished...

Obama: 'We've restored America's standing'

[speechlesstx]

Did you catch Barack "I love myself" Obama's video commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall (he didn't have time to make a personal appearance)?

PRESIDENT OBAMA was too busy to attend the celebrations in Germany this week marking the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago. But he did appear by video, delivering a few brief and bloodless remarks about how the wall was "a painful barrier between family and friends" that symbolized "a system that denied people the freedoms that should be the right of every human being." He referred to "tyranny," but never identified the tyrants -- he never uttered the words "Soviet Union" or "communism," for example. He said nothing about the men and women who died trying to cross the wall. Nor did he mention Harry Truman or Ronald Reagan -- or even Mikhail Gorbachev.

He did, however, talk about Barack Obama.

"Few would have foreseen," declared the president, "that a united Germany would be led by a woman from [the former East German state of] Brandenburg or that their American ally would be led by a man of African descent. But human destiny is what human beings make of it."

As presidential rhetoric goes, this was hardly a match for "Ich bin ein Berliner," still less another "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." But as a specimen of presidential narcissism, it is hard to beat. Obama couldn't be troubled to visit Berlin to commemorate a momentous milestone in the history of human liberty. But he was glad to explain to those who were there why reflections on that milestone should inspire appreciation for the self-made "destiny" of his own rise to power.

Was there ever a president as deeply enamored of himself as Barack Obama?

The first President Bush, taught from childhood to shun what his mother called "The Great I Am," regularly instructed his speechwriters not to include too many "I's" in his prepared remarks. Ronald Reagan maintained that there was no limit to what someone could achieve if he didn't mind who got the credit. George Washington, one of the most accomplished men of his day, said with characteristic modesty on becoming president that he was "peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies."

Obama, on the other hand, positively revels in The Great I Am.

"I think that I'm a better speechwriter than my speechwriters," he told campaign aides when he was running for the White House. "I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I'll tell you right now that . . . I'm a better political director than my political director."

At the start of his presidency, Obama seemed to content himself with the royal "we" -- "We will build the roads and bridges . . . We will restore science to its rightful place . . . We will harness the sun and winds," he declaimed at his inauguration.

But as the literary theorist Stanley Fish points out, "By the time of the address to the Congress on Feb. 24, the royal we [had] flowered into the naked 'I': 'As soon as I took office, I asked this Congress.' 'I called for action.' 'I pushed for quick action.' 'I have told each of my cabinet.' 'I've appointed a proven and aggressive inspector general.' 'I refuse to let that happen.' 'I will not spend a single penny.' 'I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves.' 'I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half.'" In his speech on the federal takeover of GM, Obama likewise found it necessary to use the first-person singular pronoun 34 times. ("Congress" he mentioned just once.)

At this rate, it won't be long before the president's ego is so inflated that it will require a ZIP code of its own.

Whatever happened to "yes we can?"

[Hardy23]

Thanks for these interesting pictures. Obama is really a nice human being.

[tomder55]