I've been waiting for someone to do this... I'm kind of disappointed to see it though. File this one under, chyaaa right!
Obama Administration: There Was No Bow
By Dave
Apr 8th 2009 7:53PM
POLITICO.com
"It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah," said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Yeah, right. Watch the tape...
No, it wasn't a bow, Obama just wanted a really good look at the King's belly button... Har!
As Ben Smith points out, the Saudi media knows it was a bow, but says, what's the big deal?!
President Barack Obama's bow in front of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz during their meeting at the sidelines of the G20 conference in London has aroused suspicion once again over Obama's religious identity. Gary Bauer, a former Republican Presidential primary candidate said that "he [Obama] is courting the Muslims in a way that arouses suspicion" and this makes clear that Obama's opponents are omitting a lot of facts when interpreting this bow.
Obama lived part of his childhood in Indonesia and in his meeting with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques attempted to evoke this. For bowing is an expression of affection in Indonesian culture and in East Asia in general. And so Obama wished to demonstrate his respect and appreciation of the personality of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, who has made one of the most important calls in the modern era, namely the call for inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue to defuse the hatred, conflict and wars. And so the American right-wing –and the media which is sympathetic towards them- is reading too much into Obama's bow. |
