80,000 Views For A Saturday Night. (VIDEO)
Written by Tom Dilling on November 17, 2009
My video of Obama is now famous. But let me explain.
Nothing ruins a Saturday night more than getting back to your dorm room and logging into Facebook only to find a picture of your President bent down at 90 degrees at the top of your News feed! Well, that’s what happened this past Saturday.
If you are reading this, you most likely know what picture I’m talking about. President Obama, once again, bowed to a foreign leader. Last time it was a King that Obama bowed to, this time it was Japan’s Emperor Akihito. (which is like a king^2).
Despite the Press Secretary’s assertion that Obama did not bow to the King, the pictures across the web show otherwise. This time, spin cannot change the fact that Obama is clearly bowing. So, now, Obama’s sheep are forced to take a different defense: “Obama’s bow was the right move to show courtesy.”
Of course, we are all aware that Karate students bow to their Sensei and perhaps we know that Japanese great each other with a slight bow. But Obama’s bow could be lined up with a T-square!
I didn’t know what protocol is for a President greeting an Emperor, but if one person did, I was sure that person would be Google. So, I went to Google Images to see if bowing (especially Obama’s “right-angle bow”) was a common form of greeting the Emperor, for the head of another country. The result led me to make a video of 46 handshakes between the Emperor and other dignitaries compared to Obama’s meet and greet. The video was then dubbed by Ed Morrissey at Hotair.com as “46 Handshakes, One Bow.”
When I started the project, I was only expecting to make a video with 10 photos or so, but I kept finding more photos helping the case that this was yet another Obama gaffe (I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt). There still are more photos, and admittedly, maybe 1-2 out of the hundred out there, you will find someone bowing while shaking the Emperor’s hand, but nowhere will you find a low bow like Obama’s. I would know, since I have probably seen almost every picture taken of the Emperor shaking hands that is out there!
As of now, the video montage that I created has gotten over 80,000 views and has been featured or mentioned in a litany of online blogs, forums, and news outlets including Hot Air and The Drudge Report, as well as mentioned on television via Fox & Friends. Isn’t it amazing how a few hours of work with a purpose can attract national (and some international) attention in less than 24 hours? I surely think so.
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Tom Dilling is a sophomore at the University of Connecticut.
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Comments (1)
Biden mocks Obama by bowing to John Stewart | Parcbench
November 18th, 2009 at 10:33 am
[...] Joe Biden, the gift that keeps on giving, once again proves that President Obama would be better off locking him in a closet and leaving him there until 2012. On his latest appearance on The Daily Show, Mr. Vice President greets John Stewart with a deep bow, akin to the one given by Mr. Obama to the Emperor of Japan. [...]
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