Ignorance is not bliss. Whether through ignorance or intent, our boy Obama bowed in obeisance before a foreign king and turned more than 200 years of diplomatic principle—hard-won in courage and blood and tested at individual peril— on end. American diplomats neither kowtow nor bow before foreign thrones, whether dealing with Barbary Pirates, old-world royalty or emperors with whom we seek trade. Perry did not do it before the Japanese emperor in 1853- 54, and no emissary of any worth has done so since. It doesn't seem to bother many Americans — perhaps because they do not realize the gravity of the faux pas, but they should. And Obama and/or his handlers certainly should have known better. To other nations, it reduces us to junior G-Man status.