I don't know how we missed it, but it was recently brought to Rex's and my attention that President Obama has been receiving criticism for bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito during his recent Asian tour. According to William Kristol, during an interview with Fox News Sunday program, "...it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one."
Perhaps someone should enlighten Mr Kristol. Firstly, to speak on Fox News reduces ones credibility to a minuscule degree amongst those of us who still believe that we have freedom of thought. Secondly, Akihito San is Emperor of Japan, not a President. Japan has no President - a faux pas of Republican parochialism which, in itself, further demonstrates why the Republicans are unfit to lead.
Thirdly, the assertion that Americans should not bow to anyone, even at the risk of giving offense to a major trading partner, is ludicrous to the extreme. Rex and I assert the contrary - to visit a foreign country and not offer the diplomatic courtesies of the host nation is inappropriate.
Mr Bush took the stance that America could "go it alone" - that America was so almighty powerful that no respect need be given to any nation. This attitude was demonstrated at the 2006 G8 Summit where Mr Bush showed himself to have no respect for foreign powers, firstly by catching the attention of British Prime Minister Tony Blair with the now infamous frat boy catcall "Yo, Blair" and later with the uninvited (and completely disrespectful) massage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
So what would have been acceptable to these right-wing critics of Mr Obama? Perhaps high-five to the Emperor and a "Yo, Akibaby!" followed by a fond groping of Empress Michiko. Clearly not, because that would have been "shocking!" Oddly enough these people seem to think that it was alright when Mr Bush did it.
Rex was tellling me the other day that he looked up "hypocrite" in the dictionary and the entry said "see Republican". Together we decided that it was time for someone to stand up for Mr Obama - the press have been spending far too much time featuring the critics. While it's true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, no one seems to acknowledge that it's the squeaky wheel that is probably broken.
So, from Rex and myself, we say, "well done, Mr President." The United States is not a collection of hypocritical, jingoistic frat boys, after all!
Here's something Rex and I stumbled across - if you're familiar with these guys then this should be a nice flashback - if not, then you've missed something and it's time to catch up.
I don't know how we missed it, but it was recently brought to Rex's and my attention that President Obama has been receiving criticism for bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito during his recent Asian tour. According to William Kristol, during an interview with Fox News Sunday program, "...it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one."