As a commenter at Hot Air quips, he’s speechless because he’s clueless.

The One really can’t understand outrage over an American president showing a sign of subordination to an emperor in Japan? Americans watch as other leaders simply shake Emperor Akihito’s hand as a symbol of respect, and then along comes Obama to show a sign of submission to the son of the emperor who lead Japan during WWII.

And Mr. Pacific President can’t understand why that might spark some outrage.

Now the president is responding – kind of. The Atlantic quotes “a US government official who was on the trip” who says the president was left “speechless” by the controversy.

“Obama’s attitude was, this is an elderly gentleman in a country where this kind of greeting is customary,” said the official. “It does not seem extraordinary to show this kind of gesture to him.”

Shaking the emperor’s hand would be a kind gesture. Simply bowing or nodding your head would be a sign of respect. Doing a full bow that embarrasses even the Japanese press and that experts on Japan say was “inappropriate” isn’t just some sign of respect. It’s a sign of submission that doesn’t even please the Japanese.

“The Fox News poll said that 67 percent of Americans thought [the bow] was a good thing for him to have done,” the official continued. “When the president heard that some people had complained, I’d characterize his reaction as: The notion that the United States is somehow humbling or humiliating itself by showing respect for a local custom, when it is transparently the most powerful country in the world, leaves me speechless.”

Wait. I thought Fox News wasn’t a real news outlet? Suddenly senior government officials have a new respect for the News Corp. subsidiary? It wasn’t long ago that the White House was attacking Fox as the propaganda arm of the GOP. Now its poll results are the word of God.

And again, obviously bowing as Mr. Obama did wasn’t a “local custom”. To quote an expert for ABC News:

“Obama’s handshake/forward lurch was so jarring and inappropriate it recalls Bush’s back-rub of Merkel.

“Kyodo News is running his appropriate and reciprocated nod and shake with the Empress, certainly to show the president as dignified, and not in the form of a first year English teacher trying to impress with Karate Kid-level knowledge of Japanese customs.

“The bow as he performed did not just display weakness in Red State terms, but evoked weakness in Japanese terms….The last thing the Japanese want or need is a weak looking American president and, again, in all ways, he unintentionally played that part.

It wasn’t a sign of respect. It was a wrong-headed and cheesy move that embarrassed the Japanese to the extent that they’re pretending it never happened. Obama’s not a cultured man of the world. He just plays one on television.