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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Mr. President -- Americans Don't Bow to Royalty! | |
| 2009-11-24 | |
Gregg Easterbrook, "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" @ ESPN
Local custom, you say? TMQ does not much like Dick Cheney, but when he met Akihito in 2007, they shook hands. When Norman Schwarzkopf received an honorary knighthood in 1991, he said he would do so only if he were not required to kneel, because Americans do not prostrate themselves before royalty, even the royalty of good friends. Elizabeth II gave Schwarzkopf a box containing emblems of his knighthood, then they shook hands. If Akihito had bowed back to Obama, maybe that would have been OK as local custom. (You take turns bowing in Japanese culture.) If Obama had bowed to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, the democratically elected leader of Japan, and Hatoyama had bowed back, that would have been fine -- Hatoyama represents the free choice of his people. For the democratically elected leader of the United States to humble himself before a royal who acquired his wealth and status entirely by accident of birth, while the "emperor" looks on smiling, is outlandish. | |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #6 Yall are assuming he thinks of himself as an American. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2009-11-24 18:49 |
| #5 "The danger for the present ruling caste is that if they keep the economy down, others far more competent will turn to their venue to seek their fortune at their expense." What's the downside, P2k? And can we hurry it up a little? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-11-24 14:33 |
| #4 America, F#$K YEA. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2009-11-24 14:30 |
| #3 It's not inherited here. It's the family business. The record of the Adams in Massachusetts predates the Kennedys. Ohio has its Tafts. Shorter runs on the Browns in California and Cuomos in New York. Not much different than families with a history of some military service, though most don't make it a lifetime career. It's done because we've had other opportunities to apply our energies to that reaped acceptable rewards and have left the political arena to others. The danger for the present ruling caste is that if they keep the economy down, others far more competent will turn to their venue to seek their fortune at their expense. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-11-24 13:36 |
| #2 You've got a semi-point, BP - but there's an essential difference. Royalty is royalty just by being born. The Kennedys, Bushes, et al., had to at least do the rubber chicken circuit to get their posts - and the people can (with the Kennedys, probably won't, but can) toss 'em out on their ears. I think most countries with figurehead royalty can't vote out the royals quite so easily. Don't get me wrong - I love England (at least the one I knew) and think if y'all want royalty, it's y'all's business. Queen Elizabeth is quite impressive (though I can't say the same for her No. 1 son). The anecdote in the story about her and Schwarzkopf says a lot about her character, as did her behavior during WWII. But she doesn't have to run every few years for her office, as even the most entrenched American pol has to (even it's pretty much a slam dunk). |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-11-24 13:25 |
| #1 > Our national spirit rejects the legitimacy of inherited positions. Oh really? Are Kennedy & Bush names that ring a bell? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2009-11-24 12:51 |