I don’t have a problem with his bowing or not bowing, I could care less either way. My problem is the consistency. If you’re not going to bow to our closest ally (and protocol says you don’t, but that’s beside the point), then you sure as hell don’t go and bow to the Saudi King who represents the greatest threat to our country right now (dependence on oil AND their underhanded [allegedly] sponsoring of terrorism). If he bows to one, he better be bowing to them all, or not at all.

But to watch the left fall all over themselves defending this guy is hilarious. After eight years of them calling US brainwashed/sheep/Bushbots, etc., it’s really classic. Pot and the kettle and all that stuff.

I think it’s another sign that Obama is in way over his head. He’s completely unprepared and out of his league in that job (of course, most of us here knew that a year ago, but that’s another story).

Consider: after a series of non-stop gaffes that’s made many Americans either wince (giving the Wal-Mart special DVDs to PM Brown) or laugh (Hillary giving a big red button to the Russians), he went to the UK and blew it when meeting the Queen.

First he gave her an iPod with his greatest teleprompter readings, then Michelle did everything but slap the queen on the back. Result? More criticism at home for their lack of class and respect.

So I can see Axelrod and the rest of his PR flacks telling him to watch the informality with foreign leaders, show a little more decorum, and act more like you’re governing than campaigning.

So of when he meets Abdullah, I think THAT’s what was going through his head. He’s reacting to the bad press he got for the way he bungled things in England, and naturally enough, he overcompensated.

Not unexpected, incidentally, when you take a Chicago politician and community agitator and put him in a job that actually requires visibility and accountability.

While giving his Strasbourg ‘Town Hall’ speech, made the following idiotic utterances:

“Two religions have flourished in your [Strasbourg's] churches.” {Really? Christianity and….?)

“We also know that the pollution from cars in Boston or from factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, and that that will disrupt weather patterns everywhere.” (We ‘know’ no such thing.)

“We take for granted the peace of a Europe that’s united, but for centuries Strasbourg has been attacked and occupied and claimed by the warring nations of this continent. Now, today in this city, the presence of the European Parliament and the Council of Europe stand as symbols of a Europe that is united, peaceful and free.” (So much for Russia, then…this should really make them feel loved and wanted.)

“And by the way, history has shown us that we are most vulnerable to war and conflict when people are desperate economically.” (That would explain the Revolution, the Civil War, and World War I then….)

“I have not had to drag France kicking and screaming into Afghanistan.” (As if you COULD, Mr. President; not only is this an arrogant assumption on your part regarding France, but an implied insult to any country which doesn’t want to involve itself. Imagine if Bush had made this comment…)

In fact, imagine if Bush had made ANY of these remarks.

And let’s not forget Obama’s magnificent delicacy in telling the Turks that they needed to face up to ‘Armenian genocide’. Lovely. What’s next? A reminder to the Netherlands of all the many Dutch who collaborated with Nazis these many years past?

And of course, Bush was castigated by Europe for supporting Turkey’s entry into the EU (opposed by several EU states); Obama likewise supports Turkey’s admission, and nobody says a word.

Obama: Arrogance for the 21st Century.