The president takes another bow

posted at 12:43 pm on October 9, 2011 by Howard Portnoy
[ Obama ]   

As an act of dutiful contrition for America’s past arrogance, Barack Obama has now bowed in obeisance to leaders ranging from the Saudi king to the mayor of Tampa. In November of 2009, after bowing before Japanese Emperor Akihito, Obama explained:

Since taking office, I have worked to renew American leadership and pursue a new era of engagement with the world.

The strategy has worked like a charm. The number of times the president has been burned in effigy in the past three years (approximately 400) is still lower than the number of curtseys he has dropped in front of disbelieving world leaders.

You’d think that by now Obama would have realized that America has long been regarded by the international community as a pillar of strength, not a temple to arrogance, and that prostrating himself in the presence of peers diminishes—rather than elevates—the nation’s standing.

And you’d have thought wrong. The Charlotte Observer reports that the family of slain anti-American terrorist Samir Khan was called by an official with the U.S. State Department to express his condolences.  Khan, a propagandist for al Qaeda, was taken out in the same missile strike that killed cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.The Observer, which serves the North Carolina city where Khan’s survivors live, writes:

The phone call came a day after the family released a statement through [Jibril] Hough that condemned the ‘assassination’ of their 25-year-old son—a U.S. citizen—and said they were ‘appalled’ that they had not heard from the U.S. government to discuss their son’s remains or answer questions about why Khan was not afforded due process.

Isn’t that special? Our own state department does a mea culpa maxima to the family of an enemy combatant sworn to killing innocent Americans. Among Khan’s “life achievements” was his stewardship of the radical al Qaeda English-language online magazine Inspire, in an early edition of which he declared himself “proud to be a traitor to America.” He went on to author a number of articles, including one charmingly titled “How to Build a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.”

The Khans have not spoken to the press since receiving the phone call, but if they’re still miffed, no problem. The president can pack his “bowing” gear and be in Charlotte in nothing flat.

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