“In his entertaining book Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World, Roger Axtell describes a botched 1995 meeting between Saddam Hussein and Bill Richardson, who was then a U.S. Congressman from New Mexico. Richardson was trying to bring about the release of a pair of American hostages, but almost ended the meeting at its start because he crossed his legs and flashed a little sole. In some Arab cultures, as in other cultures, to show a person the bottom of your shoe is a major insult…How would you feel if someone did that to you while conducting business?” —— Columnist Martha Brockenbrough, http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/columns/?article=rudefeet Unlike many Americans, Obama has more then a little knowledge of Arab culture and etiquette. Perhaps, depending upon the viewers' country of origin, the meeting sent the correct and intended messages to all. Just thinking…
