When Obama bowed before the Saudi King, it was only slightly more unseemly than Bush’s romantic, hand-in-hand walk with the same monarch, but unlike Bush’s bromance with Abdullah, Obama violated protocol. American presidents do not bow before foreign dignitaries, whether they are princes, kings, or emperors. Right-wing blogs went nuts over Obama’s deep bow, but left-wing blogs and mainstream publications ignored the affront to American tradition. The New York Times made no mention at all of Obama’s submissive posture, which was odd because, as one blogger noted, the paper used to consider such a gaffe “unthinkable.” Here is Doug Jehl in 1994 on Bill Clinton’s near bow to Emperor Akihito: