"Heads of state are the symbolic embodiments of their countries, and the greeting gesture is itself symbolic...When Miss Manners sees American citizens delighting in bowing or curtseying to royalty, she tries to remind herself that they are just being silly, not treasonous. When an American official does it, we can only hope it was because he was noticing that his own shoelace was undone -- and not that he recognizes the divine right of kings in general, or the authority over us of that king in particular."
She notes that the traditional American handshake reflects the values of our country:
"Because we officially consider all people to be equal and equally worthy of respect, the same gesture, the handshake -- simple, dignified and egalitarian -- [works] for all."
In summary: Obama was symbolically subservient to the Japanese emperor. The bow was a bad idea.
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