Tuesday, November 17, 2009

My New Motto

If you look at the motto under the Title, you may notice the new Right As Usual motto:
Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity
It's being given as a Heinlein quote (although I am not sure). Several references credited him; it does sound like his rather sardonic humor.

How does this all fit into the news of the day?

Well, it fits into the brouhaha about Obama's bow to the Emperor of Japan. No, he really shouldn't have done it, anymore than he did when he bowed to the mideast ruler (yes, he did - any lame excuses about how he didn't are just that - lame).

On the other hand, who does it harm?

Well, it harms the image of America. We call ourselves sovereign; but Obama's actions say that we are subservient. That's bad in international relations. Image is nearly everything - a low image emboldens other countries to attack, on the theory that we won't have the *&^%$# to do anything about it. It's happened before; it could happen again.

Myself, I think that Obama is embarrassed about his reflexive bow to the Saudi king; this bow is deliberate, and intended to minimize the meaning of the previous bow. If that's true, the only question is: will future bows be the norm?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

No. Bullying cowboy diplomacy harms the image of America. Running roughshod over countries and forcing democracy at the end of a gun barrel harm the image of America. Acting like we own the world and can do whatever we please - other cultures, customs, religions and people be dammed - harms the image of America.

Being polite and respectful isn't subservient. It shows what kind of a person you are that you think it is.

Francis W. Porretto said...

And it shows what kind of person you are, "Anonymous," that you think it's appropriate for America's chief of state, the leader of the free world, to bow to the unelected monarch of another country.

Shortly after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, George Washington's subordinate officers got together and offered to make him King of America -- by force. Washington declined the honor, speaking thus:

"I think that this nation will not bow again to a king."

If only he knew.

Anonymous said...

Francis, I wonder what you'd be saying if a foreign president had come to meet G.W. Bush and when Bush extended his hand to greet him, the foreign president hadn't offered his hand back?

You'd be crying and whining about how they DISRESPECTED AMERICA!!!! WAAAAAAAA!!!!

When you're in someone else's house, the polite thing to do is to respect their culture.

Obviously you have no respect for others. Luckily, real Americans do.

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