Actually, that’s getting the definition back to front. In their OWN language, “Slav” means “famous, renowned”, so the Slavs referred to themselves as “the famous/glorious people”. When they were captured in great numbers and used as slaves, their word entered the Latin language, and became a synonym for bound labourer.

It’s sort of the same way “Caesar” went from being a family name of a particular clan to a general word for “emperor”, and so travelled all the way to Germany (Kaiser) and Russia (Tsar).

And I do not think that Obama made this bow in error or by chance.

Still, I question the bowing business. In Japan the depth of the bow is significant. The Mulatto Messiah couldn’t have bowed much lower without giving the Japanese Prime Minister a “Hollywood Hello.”

In my view, the proper thing to do – which I myself have done, on numerous occasions – is a quick, brief bow largely from the neck, to indicate respect for the individual and the customs of his culture, but without suggesting subservience.

One would think that Obama, coming from the race that was most recently servile (as opposed to those who were previously servile, such as the Slavs, whose name meant “slaves”), would be sensitive to symbolic displays of subservience. But then, one would be wrong.

A fairly informed sounding reader sent an email to Glen Reynolds explaining that bowing to the Japanese Prime Minister was probably an ok thing to do.

Its not ok in just about any other culture. But in Japan its probably fine. Japan is also a very good friend. Probably even better than that other country we turned into a democracy after WWII.

James