President Obama’s bow to Japan’s Emperor Akihito was deeply insulting to the American people he was elected to represent. Sadly, it came as no surprise: For the past nine months, Obama has traveled around the world apologizing for America’s alleged multitude of past sins and errors. These mea culpas have been delivered to nations ruled by corrupt authoritarians (Egypt), terrorist-supporting monarchs (Saudi Arabia) and virulently anti-Semitic despots (Iran), among so many others. He has even apologized to countries in Europe that might not exist in anything remotely like their current form were it not for the repeated shedding of American blood on their soil.

So seeing Obama obsequiously bowing and scraping to the head of state of the nation that launched the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor doesn’t exactly come as a shock. But it is no less egregious for not being unexpected.