Barack Obama is currently visiting the Asian continent with the intention of convincing the various regimes to continue buying our debt. And for good reason. According to the London Telegraph, America is about $2 trillion in the hole to China alone.That's $2,000,000,000,000. The amount may as well be a "sideways eight."
Although one could ponder the extensive talking points of Obama's Far East tour, it is perhaps our President's submissive bow to Japan's Emperor Akihito -- a gesture which makes his obeisance to Saudi King Abdullah last April look almost exultant -- that has proven every bit as intriguing.
Don't let the picture fool you. Viewpoints from other shots make it seem as if Obama was about to grab his own ankles. Even a blog for the Los Angeles Times contrasted the difference between President Obama's henpecked bows and the manner in which previous representatives such as Vice President Dick Cheney and General Douglas MacArthur respected Japanese dignitaries without embarrassing the United States.
George Bush might have set the standard for presidential gaffes, but our current Commander-in-Chief has also made his share in just 10 months. Whether it was Obama's flub of the presidential oath, knocking his dome on the entrance to Marine One, his various misadventures with the all-important teleprompter, or the Special Olympics blast about his own bowling game, it seems this most recent faux pas smacks of something else -- as if Obama is somehow apologizing for America yet again.
According to NPR, the President recovered somewhat by hedging a reporter's question about the atomic bomb America dropped on Hiroshima that helped to end World War II. Obama did the right thing by not taking her bait, but I wish he would have responded with a redirect of sorts, something like...
"Was Japan right for siding with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy? What about Pearl Harbor, sweetheart? You gonna blame us for that one, too?"
At least he didn't bend over.
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