Saturday, November 28, 2009

Obama's Bow.

I couldn't understand what the big deal was about Obama's bow to the Japanese emperor was when we were discussing it in class. So I decided to go and read some more on it.Of course I got an overwhelming amount of information. I was actually surprised at how much media attention that bow had received. I figured since it had made the weeks agenda and so prominently, it must be a big deal and it really was!One article by The Los Angeles Times online incoorperated this video that compared a number of bows to Obama's with the objective of showing how drastic Obama's bow was and how embarrassing this was for America.

One article went as far as to say as a private citizen Obama can choose to make a "jackass" of himself but, as President of the United States, his actions not only denigrate a nation that other nations rely on for survival, but also raise questions on how reliable America's judgment and resolve are — which in turn raises questions about whether those nations will consider themselves better off to make the best deal they can with our enemies.In short, the author accused Obama of putting America at threat with a bow like that. Any president that bows like that must have a weak defense force!

Now this article on National Post.com made me laugh. It has an intense analysis of the bow with diagrams ranging from a 5 angle degree head nod to a 45 degree angle bow and what each one means. Please check it out at http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2009/11/17/353742.aspx Now this article unlike the article in the Los Angles Times, this one was in support of the bow. The author emphasized the fact that bowing was a sign of respect in Japanese culture for Obama to bow that low because he was taller than the emperor and wanted to make eye contact.
I still do not understand why in a world full of wars, hunger and a climate crisis, Obama's bow was such a big issue. Please,feel free to enlighten me.
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