This Isn't A Bow?

"It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah," said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity reports Politico. At least that's the Obama White House's story explaining why Obama bent down to greet King Abdullah and they're sticking to it. Never mind that his greeting of a 5'4" Queen Elizabeth II didn't require him to bend over. A leading Saudi newspaper saw the gesture for what it was:

Obama lived part of his childhood in Indonesia and in his meeting with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques attempted to evoke this. For bowing is an expression of affection in Indonesian culture and in East Asia in general. And so Obama wished to demonstrate his respect and appreciation of the personality of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, who has made one of the most important calls in the modern era, namely the call for inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue to defuse the hatred, conflict and wars. And so the American right-wing –and the media which is sympathetic towards them- is reading too much into Obama's bow.

Laying aside the Saudi journalist's attack on America's right wing, at least he knows a bow when he sees one. By lying about the obvious, the Obama administration only provides more reason for the American people to have greater suspicions about his loyalties.