Welcome home, Barry

The Jakarta Post ^ | November 9,2010 | Editorial staff

[snowsislander]

President Barack Obama arrives in Jakarta on Tuesday for a whirlwind visit, assuming that the skies in Jakarta are clear of volcanic ash from Mount Merapi.

This is a visit that is long overdue. Indonesia is the country where Obama spent four years of his childhood and where his late mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, dedicated most of her professional life to helping the poor. For those very personal reasons, Indonesia must have a special place in the heart of the American president.

The feeling was mutual, at least until recently. Indonesians cheered with Americans when they voted the first African-American into the White House two years ago. Many said relations between the two countries would be significantly bolstered under Obama.

Unfortunately, almost two years into his presidency, Obama has not set foot in his adopted country. The novelty of the idea that Obama would raise bilateral relations to a whole new level has virtually worn off. The fact that he canceled on Indonesia twice this year due to pressing domestic issues has not helped, no matter how justifiable.

When Obama comes to Indonesia, he will be seen as a little more than another American president who has set foot here — and not that much more.

Probably it is just as well.

Relations between Indonesia and the US have proceeded from strength to strength in the absence of Obama. It is a trend that preceded his presidency. After Indonesia became a democracy, the two countries have forged relations not only based on their mutual national interests, but more importantly, based on shared principles and values.

If Obama had visited Indonesia earlier in his presidency, it could have created undue expectations on both sides. Many people would have rightly asked what Obama could do for Indonesia. This would have placed unnecessary pressures on both governments to try to create an “Obama imprint” on bilateral relations.

As events have proven, the Obama factor was not necessary to bolster relations. The comprehensive partnership that will be signed during his visit testifies to how broad and deep relations have grown in recent years. Indonesia and the United States have grown closer, in spite of Obama’s presidency.

Going by the program of his Indonesian trip, this really is an official state visit. Nothing in the program indicates that it will include a trip down memory lane. He is not visiting his old Indonesian schools and he is not bringing his daughters to show them around, as he had hoped he would.

Coming fresh from a major defeat in the mid-term elections, Obama has told the American public that his Asian tour, which includes India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan, is intended to generate jobs for Americans by forging closer economic relations with major Asian countries. Indonesia, a member of the G20 with an ever expanding economy, is well placed to help his plan. The economy will be one of the principal items on the agenda.

Still, we cannot ignore the fact that when Obama lands in Indonesia, it will have personal and emotional affect on him. He will still be given special treatment that no other American president has received. He is sure to be well received by his hosts if he speaks the Indonesian language, as he surely will.

The “Obama spark” might be gone, but Indonesians will give him a hearty and warm homecoming welcome. We look forward to his return to Indonesia for the East Asia Summit meeting in Bali next year, hopefully for a longer stay — and with his daughters.

Selamat datang, Barry.

[snowsislander]

Here a couple of others:

‘Barry’ to return home (also from the Jakarta Post)

Indonesia awaits Obama homecoming‎ (from Aljazeera)

[goldstategop]

Let him stay there and never come back!

[Cvengr]

I thought his mother went there to study anthropology after she found somebody there to marry. Now it appears she went there as an unemployed philanthropist on welfare.

I suspect she would have done far more good for all humanity, had she raised her son by more conventional moral standards.

[Enchante]

re: “Welcome Home, Barry”

gosh one might think a FReeper had written this headline, but there it is in the Jakarta Post!!!

Yes, stay there, Barry!!!

[snowsislander]

Let him stay there and never come back!

That would be nice, but I imagine that the Kenyan Clown and his circus are not yet ready to give up their place of privilege here in the U.S.

[snowsislander]

I thought his mother went there to study anthropology after she found somebody there to marry. Now it appears she went there as an unemployed philanthropist on welfare.

Yes, the Kenyan Clown's version of history does seem to differ from the Jakarta Post's version.

[snowsislander]

gosh one might think a FReeper had written this headline, but there it is in the Jakarta Post!!!

BTTT.

[cake_crumb]

Saw a pic on Drudge this morning of the First Spenders posed dramatically with their hands over their hearts; I figured they had to be listening to a foreign national anthem, because they sure don’t do that for ours or our Pledge of Allegiance.

[cake_crumb]

"gosh one might think a FReeper had written this headline, but there it is in the Jakarta Post!!!"

You never know where those extremist "Birthers" are gonna show up.

[snowsislander]

Saw a pic on Drudge this morning of the First Spenders posed dramatically with their hands over their hearts; I figured they had to be listening to a foreign national anthem, because they sure don’t do that for ours or our Pledge of Allegiance.

It wouldn't surprise me.

[WilliamHouston]

Isn’t there an Indonesian film about young Obama the Muslim?

[snowsislander]

It's certainly a good question as to where this marvel of mystery was born.

Having had a few years to observe the Kenyan Clown's personality, my own guess is that once he leaves the Oval Office that he will be happy to grind our faces in the fact that he was born in Kenya.

[snowsislander]

Isn’t there an Indonesian film about young Obama the Muslim?

I am not aware of one, but I don't know much about the Indonesian film world.

[WilliamHouston]

Thought so.

They keep saying he is not a Muslim.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8677234.stm

An Indonesian director is to begin work on a film about US President Barack Obama’s early years in the country.

The film will be called Obama the Child of Menteng, after the suburb of Jakarta where Mr Obama lived from 1967 to 1971. . ..

But the BBC’s Karishma Vaswani, in Jakarta, says Obama the Child of Menteng has generated controversy even before production has begun, after local newspapers pointed out that the original novel includes scenes of the young Obama reciting the Koran and praying towards Mecca.

[Beckwith]

I thought his mother went there to study anthropology

Anna did major in anthropology (MA Anthropology, 1983 -- PhD Anthropology, 1992), however she made her living in international banking.

She was an international banking consultant. She traveled around Southeast Asia, pursuing a career in international banking and rural development that took her to Ghana, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Being an anthropologist fits the Obama narrative better than her real role as a tool of "fat-cat bankers."

Anna went to work for the Ford Foundation from 1981 through 1984. She was employed as a program officer for "Women and Employment" at the "Regional Southeast Asia Office of the Ford Foundation in Jakarta.

In 1986, Anna worked on a developmental project in Pakistan. Later that year, Anna and her daughter traveled the Silk Road in China. Anna monitored the funds received for this program from the Asian Development Bank and trained the Mobile Credit Officers of the Agricultural Bank. This program was controlled from the Gujranwalla Regional Office. She stayed for five years in the Hilton International Hotel (now Avari Hotel), Lahore. She travelled daily from Lahore to Gujranwalla. When Barack Obama visited Pakistan, he stayed in the same hotel. After returning from Pakistan, she died from cancer within three years.

Anna also worked for the Ford Foundation and Women’s World Bank, establishing micro-credit loans in developing countries. Her antipathy for America and Americans didn't prevent her from funneling its money to third-world countries.

She lived in Pakistan for the five years beginning in 1987 and ending in 1992. During this time, Obama visited his mother and stayed for a few months. Anna was hired as a consultant by the Asian Development Bank for Pakistan Agricultural Development Bank’s Gujranwalla Agricultural Development Program.

She worked at Bank Rakyat of Indonesia, where she facilitated the practice "macrofinancing," making loans to people with poor credit and low incomes. You know the one, exactly what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were pushing -- loans to people with poor credit and low incomes that created the mortgage meltdown.

Bank Rakyat is 70% government owned (Persero) and has been government owned for the entire period since the war of independence in 1945. It is also part of the "Islamic banking cooperative."

Sometimes, Anna forgot to pay the tax man.

Anna in Southeast Asia

[chainsaw]

Tomorrow we will be treated to the news that zero dropped a few billion $ on Jakarta for old time sake.

[snowsislander]

Tomorrow we will be treated to the news that zero dropped a few billion $ on Jakarta for old time sake.

It would certainly be par for the course.

[chainsaw]

“Kenyan Clown and his circus”

I like your characterization! It fits him perfectly, especially the circus part.

[StayoutdaBushesWay]

Unfortunately, almost two years into his presidency, Obama has not set foot in his adopted country.

Yes he has, first as a community organizer then a professor, Senator and finally President of his adopted country.

[Carley]

OMG, there’s a Baghdad Bob in Indonesia too!