A Tale Of Two Bows

I was withholding judgment on Obama’s bow to the Saudi King, because I was hearing conflicting reports about how the Obama’s greeted the Queen. Some reports said that they neglected to bow and curtsy, other reports were saying that they did. I concluded that if Obama bowed to the Queen of England, then his bow to the King of Saudi Arabia was at least consistent, if inappropriate, and I wasn’t in the mood to jump on the outrage bandwagon.

But both bows were captured on film, and this video tells the story:

Draw your own conclusions.

Keep in mind, that although President Bush was roundly criticized and ridiculed for holding hands with the Saudi King, there was nothing improper about it. Holding hands is a sign of friendship, not submission.

Also notice that the King didn’t bother to return the gesture. Perhaps that is because The Saudi King, himself believes it was inappropriate:

New Saudi King Abdullah has effectively banned citizens from kissing his hand or that of any member of the royal family, saying only fathers and mothers deserved such reverence.

“Brothers, there is something on my mind I want to tell you,” King Abdullah told delegations of princes, officials and ordinary citizens at his palace in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

“Kissing hands is something alien to our values and ethics, and is refused by free and honest souls,” he said, quoted by the official SPA news agency.

“Moreover, it leads to bowing, which violates God’s law as the faithful bows only to the one and only God.

Hat tip: Hot Air

MORE:

Just thinking…you know, if Obama wasn’t sure what the proper protocol was for greeting the Saudi King, he could have watched what the other heads of states did.

But no, Obama chose to stand out…his  deep bow seems to be a deliberate sign of reverence.

Listen to Beth at Blue Star Chronicles:

Much worse than the curtsy to the Queen of England was the deep subservient bow to the Saudi King. When Obama met Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, he sank into a bow that made some watching wonder if he was fixing to lick the king’s shoes. At its best it is unbecoming of an American President to bow to a foreign king, or its just clueless.

Does bowing, deep bowing, to the King of Saudi Arabia leave much doubt as to where Obama’s loyalties lie? His has made numerous attempts to court the Arab world since he’s been president.

Indeed.

UPDATE:

Lucianne.com is even more blunt, calling this “The difference between Obama’s greeting to an Episcopalian and to a Muslim”.

UPDATE II:

Captain Ed has thinks he’s figured out why the press has been AWOL on this story – they’ve been told that it wasn’t a bow…Obama was simply picking something up off of the floor:

So where would they get the idea that President Obama assigned himself
the task of cleaning the floor? I’d assume that Obama’s press office
pushed that meme out hard yesterday when the video first came out, and
they didn’t bother to check it. Considering Anderson Cooper’s long missive about the Obama’s brief head nod to Queen Elizabeth, the silence on this greeting seems astonishing.

National media — when will you report this? 2013?

I’d say, mid-November, 2012.

UPDATE:

Those of us who have taken the initiative to look into Obama’s background do know of at least one Saudi connection, one Dr. Khalid al-Mansour, who facilitated the funding for Obama’s education at Harvard.

See No Quarter for more.