Obama bows to Japan's emperor - really bows, gets way down there, practically prostrates self - the optics of it are certainly ugly, and if I had a relative who died on Iwo Jima or Okinawa et al trying to root out a fanaticism embodied by the emperor I'd certainly have trouble keeping the breakfast down waking up to that photo - but aside from the embarrassing optics, is it right to infer a darker more disturbing presence behind the gesture? Can it be seen as emblematic of Obama's view of America and its place in the world? Does it demonstrate an ingratiating naiveté about what it means to be a global power in a dangerous world and the bedrock upon which democratic principles and Western values rest?
Conservatives obviously think so - livid, shamed, repulsed pretty much sums up what I'm hearing from the right regarding the photo - and one cannot deny that since taking office the message Obama has sent out to the world, either explicitly in the Muslim apology speech, or implicitly in various other speeches and actions [Afghanistan, Iran, missile defense, the F-22 etc etc] that telegraphed a chastened America, a humbled America, an America in retreat, an America no longer exceptional or fit to unilaterally lead like-minded nations - the message he has sent out is that America under him will be governed by ideals and priorities possibly not in keeping with or commensurate to its status and role as a great and paramount power.
That may be to put it too harshly - but essentially accurate all the same I think. Still, that being said, I'm not so sure the photo can be taken as a definite expression of this new American persona under Obama - it could just be him trying to impress the Japanese in a way that his handlers thought astute - in which case I'd say their motive may have been reasonable but the way they pursued it was entirely misguided. It's an ugly photo that verges on disturbing.
[it's not possible, is it - is it? - that they stage these things on purpose in order to rile up the right wing base knowing full well that the more animated and vexed the republican extremes are the easier it will be to pass Obama off as a moderate?]
