Washington DC, Nov 17 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Official photographs of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan’s emperor Akihito have raised the ire of critics in Washington, who said that the US leader should stand tall when representing America overseas. They deemed the bow as a sign of weakness whereas the White House deemed the gesture a sign of respect.

Obama is currently in China, after having visited Japan two days earlier. But the political leaders like Dick Cheney and all are going the whole way in blasting off Obama for bowing to the Japanese Emperor Akihito. “There is no reason for an American president to bow to anyone,” Cheney said “Our friends and allies don’t expect it, and our enemies see it as a sign of weakness.”

Some critics who have nothing against Obama’s bow say that perhaps Dick Cheney is forgetting that ex-President Richard Nixon, a Republican, bowed in 1971 to Akihito’s father, Emperor Hirohito, who ruled when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Political talk shows, public opinion polls, and other chat shows have found a new topic to discuss and debate and simply do it to death.