ABOUT THAT PICTURE - AT 5:01 P.M. ET:  You've all undoubtedly seen the photo of President Obama deeply bowing to the emperor of Japan, son of Hirohito.  There has been an entirely appropriate uproar, and the administraton has reacted...with an anonymous statement, as the Weekly Standard notes:

Politico reports that “A senior administration official said President Barack Obama was simply observing protocol when he bowed to Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arriving at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday.”

Why won’t that “senior administration official” come out from behind the curtain and make that assertion in his own name? Because it’s nonsense....

...numerous heads of state and the former U.S. vice president didn't bow to the emperor; they shook hands. The New York Times criticized Bill Clinton in 1994 for almost bowing to the Japanese emperor.

We await the release of a State Department briefing paper that says it’s “protocol” for an American president to bow to a Japanese emperor.

COMMENT:  The term "senior administration official" normally applies to someone very senior - the president, the secretary of state, the White House chief of staff - that level.  It is remarkable that someone that senior would claim that the photo represented protocol.

The president's bow was inappropriate, embarrassing, and disgraceful.  But, of course, it was Bush's fault.

November 15,  2009