Hugs, Not Thugs

While President Obama may have less than cordial relations with many foreign allies — not to mention leaders in his own party — on his visit to India, he did receive a warm welcome from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

[AFP photo]

Note the security detail standing by with watchful eyes, prepared to wrestle at least one of them to the ground.

But it seems PM Modi isn’t so reluctant to share the love.

Photo collage courtesy The Quint

I’m not familiar with most of these people, but presumably all are at least equally as worthy of a bear hug from the prime minister. It’s a shame the president has to travel a third of the way around the world to get some affection.

Obama was actually invited to India to mark the anniversary of the country’s democratic constitution. I hope they were careful enough to keep theirs under pen-and-phone-proof glass during his visit.

Before he had to rush off to Saudi Arabia to bow and scrape pay his respects to the late King Abdullah – whose reforms managed to drag his kingdom kicking and screaming into the 8th century, and whose country brought us 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers – the president did manage to get in a namaste gesture, which conveys a special meaning in Hinduism: “The divine in me bows to the divine in you.”

[AP Photo/Saurabh Das]

Must...keep...from snickering...