I don't believe Obama was bowing to his suzerain or anything of the sort (though I have little doubt that some will spin it that way). I do think he's a little lacking in respect for some of our "chip on the shoulder" traditions -- President never bows, flag doesn't get dipped, etc. -- because his sense of America as a nation is quite different from mine. Sure, they are little things and largely symbolic, but to me it is part of national pride. I have a sense that Obama's pride in the USA is less of the old-fashioned kind than is mine.

Raising a wee lass is WAY different than raising a little laddie. Both need your protection for many years, but girls think/act/relate to the world differently. In many ways, they have the advantage, but ...