The Point: Obama's Bow Enrages Critics

(Nov. 16) -- President Barack Obama's deep bow to Japan's emperor this weekend symbolized a culture clash -- East versus West and Right versus Left.

Conservatives were incensed by the way the president greeted Emperor Akihito in Tokyo on Saturday. Unlike in April, when the White House insisted Obama's bow to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia wasn't a bow at all, a senior administration official told Politico the president was just observing protocol.

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In a Los Angeles Times blog post titled "How Low Will He Go?," Andrew Malcolm predicted Obama "could receive some frowns back home" for bowing to the emperor. The response among conservative commentators went way beyond frowns.

"He means to teach Americans to bow before monarchs and tyrants," railed Power Line's Scott Johnson, who charged that Obama is sending a message that the U.S. "now willingly prostrates itself before the rest of the world."

Some were especially angry that the man the president bowed to is the son of Emperor Hirohito, who led Japan during World War II. RedState's Mark Impomeni -- whose blog post included iconic photos of the Iwo Jima flag-raising and Japan's surrender along with the picture of Obama's bow -- called the president "an embarrassment" who's "bent on dishonoring" the service and sacrifice of Americans who fought against Japan.

Others made their point with photos and videos contrasting Obama's bow to the standard handshakes exchanged by the emperor and dozens of other world leaders.

Obama's online defenders fired back with photos of their own -- including shots of President George W. Bush bowing to Pope Benedict and kissing and holding hands with the Saudi king.

The Moderate Voice's Kathy Kattenburg saw Obama's bow as an innocent effort to be "culturally appropriate" and accused conservatives who are raising a fuss of being fixated on style instead of substance.

But it is "a big deal," argued Rick Moran of Rightwing Nuthouse, who said Americans fought for independence so they would never have to "bow to another sovereign."

"No bowing -- ever. That has been the standard American presidents have followed for 240 years," Moran wrote.

Not exactly.

"His bow is neither (1) unprecedented nor (2) a sign of cultural understanding," an academic who knows Japanese culture well explained in a message to ABC's Jake Tapper. In 1971, President Nixon bowed to
Emperor Hirohito and his wife and repeatedly referred to them as "Your Imperial Majesties."

Nixon got the bow right, though -- a slight bend from the waist with hands at his side. "Obama's handshake/forward lurch was ... jarring and inappropriate," according to Tapper's friend.

Thomas Lifson, who lived in Japan for years and taught hundreds of foreign executives the right way to bow, agreed that -- regardless of any political subtext -- Obama's combination low-bow/handshake was a mess.

It "violates a fundamental precept: NO TOUCHING while bowing," Lifson wrote for the American Thinker blog.

He also noted that Emperor Akihito had a big smile on his face as Obama bowed.

"That's pretty much polite Japanese for 'falling down laughing,'" Lifson explained.