By Scott Ott

President Obama demonstrates the new fad he sparked.

(2009-04-03) — When the most powerful man in the world bent at the waist, and lowered his gaze to greet a Muslim monarch at the G-20 summit in London this week, he could not have known how the gesture would catch on back home. But that’s just what’s happened.

The so-called ‘Obama Power Bow’ has become a new craze embraced by the rich and famous, as they continue to emulate everything about their chic new American president.

Saudi Arabian King Abdullah received the traditional expression of fealty and servitude from the U.S. commander in chief with evident glee, smiling broadly — his grin superseded only by that of French President Nicolas Sarkozy who looked on with apparent admiration and a touch of envy.

Now, from the offices of Wall Street to the corridors of power in Washington DC, executives, senators and corporate leaders have taken to kowtowing to their subordinates as an expression of ultimate power.

“When you approach a man and lower your head like that,” said one unnamed CEO, “and you expose your unprotected neck, it’s like you’ve got swagger on steroids. If the guy had a sword, he could chop your head off and you’re saying, ‘I’m not afraid of you’.”

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president was not actually bowing, but “merely assumed the position before the Arab king in an effort to see if he could find common ground.”