Madam, – The decision by President Obama to kowtow to the Emperor of Japan was disconcerting to a lot of people, not just US conservatives (World News, November 18th).
Any republican, in its broadest sense, who witnessed it would have felt uneasy. Here was the putative leader of the free world, democratically elected, showing extraordinary fealty to a representative of the divine right of kings. One can only imagine the reaction in Ireland if President Mary McAleese bowed or curtsied on meeting Queen Elizabeth. – Yours, etc,