Low blow: Ex-VP Dick Cheney slams President Obama for bowing to Japanese Emperor Akihito
Dick Cheney is blasting Barack Obama for plunging the presidency to a new low - by bowing to the Japanese emperor.
The White House deemed the weekend gesture a sign of respect. But Cheney chided it was downright wimpy.
"There is no reason for an American president to bow to anyone," Cheney complained to the Politico.com. "Our friends and allies don't expect it, and our enemies see it as a sign of weakness."
Maybe Cheney would prefer if Obama and Emperor Akihito had simply walked hand-in-hand, as former President George W. Bush did with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in 2005 - a traditional sign of Middle Eastern friendship.
Or perhaps Cheney is forgetting that ex-President Richard Nixon, a Republican, bowed in 1971 to Akihito's father, Emperor Hirohito - who ruled when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941.
No matter, Obama's bow - a full-on, bend-to-the-waist affair - had the Miss Manners set all atwitter yesterday as those on both sides debated the diplomatic meaning of the gesture.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters that the bow was "a sign of respect to the emperor."
In an online State Department posting from 2007 titled "Protocol for the Modern Diplomat," envoys are advised to be aware of greeting rituals such as kisses, handshakes or bows and to follow a country's tradition.
"Failure to abide with tradition may be interpreted as rudeness or a lack of respect for colleagues," advises the posting, which make no mention of whether the rules should apply to a President as well.
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