By Sodium
This blog is all about some observations I have observed, on the Internet, through the years, concerning the protocol under which some Heads of States and Prime Ministers walk as they move from one governmental building or office to another, and I wish to share such observations with you:
Some of such political leaders walk alone, and some of them walk with a bunch of body guards or governmental servants walk behind them and beside them. One fundamental observation came out of years of follow-up from such observations is the following observational fact:
The observational fact about all of those I have followed the protocol they follow in such walk is inversely proportional to the degree of power the country each one of them represents, meaning, the more powerful the country which such a Head of State or Prime Minister represents, the loneliest he or she has appeared in his walk. By the same token, the least powerful country, in comparison, he or she represents, the greater the number of bodyguards or governmental servants walk behind him and beside him or her.
President Barack Obama of the U.S.A:
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He has always walked alone, as he leaves his copter, heading to his office in the White House. Same is true as he appears for his press conferences, unless it is necessary that his Vice President, Joe Biden and/or his Secretary of State (Foreign Minister), John Kerry, are standing beside him. However, most of the time he appears all alone.
President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation:
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He is also a lonely man in his walk and he has stood all alone, as he receives visiting Heads of States. And he has always stood all alone, at the edge of a beautiful carpet in the reception hall of the Kremlin, as he receives the various visiting Heads of States.
President Francois Hollande of France:
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This guy walks rather slowly, in comparison to Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain. .
The most remarkable in his walking or standing is the way he makes a appoint in receiving the visiting Heads of States to his presidential premises. He always stands at the top of the two or three steps which are located just a few feet from the entrance gate to his offices. He never tries to show a bit of sense of humility by stepping just one step down in his protocol of receiving Heads of States. In a sense, this guy's behavior is similar to President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Hollande stands at the top of the two or three steps stair way, while Putin stands at the edge of the beautiful carpet, as each one of them receives the visiting Heads of States. The irony that stems from such "Show Off of Nationalistic Power" has been imitated by some of the rulers of some of the Third World. Such rulers grant themselves the delusion that they are as powerful as Putin and Hollande. Acting powerful when when they are not is just sheer hallucinations. .
Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom (Britain):
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This guy really walks fast, but all alone. In fact, he is the fastest Head of Government I have seen walking all alone. And he certainly looks so youthful and full of energy, under his disposal to spend as he pleases.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany:
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If this lady is not talking with both David Cameron of Britain and Francois Hollande of France, one may see her walking or setting with one of the Prime Ministers of the countries which either owes Germany billions of dollars that needed a rescheduling of payments or setting or walking with one of the Prime Ministers of one of the countries which needs to borrow billion of dollars from the cash rich Germany. She does show a sense of humility, as she sits or walks with such the prime ministers of the countries that need financial help from Germany or from the European Union, since Germany is a financial power house in such a union. The power of Germany stems from its economic and financial muscles, and not from a military might, since it depends, for protection, on the American military troops being stationed on its soil, since the end of World War Two (WW II ).
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel:
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I have never seen this guy walking alone once, as he walks from one government building or government office to another. He has always surrounded himself with a bunch of people numbering from six to eight people and some times I lost counting the crowd walking behind him and beside him. And he walks rather fast, but not as fast as Prime Minister David Cameron. Most likely, he walks with so many people walking behind and beside him is either due to his personal fear of assassination, since he is not exactly a likable person, or due to his arrogant habit of show off and his propensity for Hasbara (Propaganda), as a man of power. To me, he stinks, even in his walk.
Arab Head of States:
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They have never walked alone. They always are surrounded by assistants and other governmental officials and courtiers.. A case in point was the late Muamar El-Qadafi, of Libya, who had surrounded himself with women bodyguards, wearing some fancy military uniforms. They were all imported from some Eastern European countries, plus some Libyan nationals who were nothing more than courtiers whom he needed to raise his tent for him and for providing other services, as he pleased and when he travelled, as it had happened once in one September, in his travel to New York city to attend the General Assembly session of the United Nations-just about one year before he was overthrown and assassinated in the process. In that particular travel to New York, his travelling companions were, indeed, just too many.
I can go on and on providing the readers with more examples similar to the foregoing samples, but the above examples should suffice to convey to the readers what I had observed as I watched, on the Internet, the behaviors of the leaders mentioned in the above list. In short, the ratio between power and walking or standing is an inverse ratio, in mathematical terms.
Final Words:
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As I watched both Presidents Putin and Hollande as to how the former had stuck to his carpet and the latter stuck to the top of the two or three steps of the entrance gate to his presidential offices, I could not avoid remembering the sense of presidential humility that President Dwight Eisenhower had shown to King Saud of Saudi Arabia, as the King paid an official visit to the United States of America, in the 1950's.. It was truly touching, as I witnessed, on my Black & White television, President Eisenhower receiving King Said as he stepped out of the last step of the stair connected to his parked airplane. It must be recorded, in history books, as a big plus for Eisenhower's sense of humility. To my knowledge, no other American President has shown such a presidential humility as Eisenhower had warmly shown in receiving King Saud of Saudi Arabia, at the airport.
Some cynical critics may say that was done by Eisenhower because of the huge oil ( petroleum ) fields discovered in Saudi Arabia. Such a cynical claim might have been partly true, but as one studied the entire career of Eisenhower, one might discover that humility was an integral part of President Eisenhower's character. Even if the humility he had received the king with because of the oil fields that had been discovered by American companies, it remains a big plus for Eisenhower, due to the fact that he had placed the interest of the American people's future needs for oil ahead of presidential protocol and power. Therefore, the cynical critics will remain just that: cynical.
END.
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