“I think that those who try to politicize those things are just way, way, way off base,” the official said. “He observes protocol. But I don’t think anybody who was in Japan – who saw his speech and the reaction to it, certainly those who witnesses his bilateral meetings there – would say anything other than that he enhanced both the position and the status of the U.S., relative to Japan. It was a good, positive visit at an important time, because there’s a lot going on in Japan.”

The Drudge Report gave a banner headline to a photo of the encounter: “OBAMA BOWS BEFORE JAPAN’S EMPEROR.” Drudge linked to a Los Angeles Times blog post that headlined the photo: “How low will he go?”That led to a raft of e-mail to POLITICO asking why we weren’t covering this big story.