bonnie Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Indonesia mulls tearing down Obama statue JAKARTA — Indonesian authorities said Monday they are considering a petition to tear down a statue of US President Barack Obama as a boy, only a month after the bronze was unveiled in Jakarta. The statue of "Little Barry" -- as Obama was known when he lived in the capital in the late 1960s -- stands in central Jakarta's Menteng Park, a short walk from the US president's former elementary school. Critics say the site should have been used to honour an Indonesian and 55,000 people have joined a page on social networking website Facebook calling for the statue to be removed. "We've been discussing for the past two weeks what to do with the statue... whether to take it down, move it elsewhere or retain it. We're finding the best solution," Jakarta parks agency official Dwi Bintarto said. Obama, who was born in Hawaii, lived for four years as a child in Jakarta from 1967 after his divorced mother married an Indonesian. The bronze was designed by Indonesian artists and depicts the boy Obama dressed in shorts and a T-shirt with a butterfly perched on his hand. "The statue is of Obama as a child, not as the US president. His relatives and friends who erected it said it's meant to motivate children to study hard and dream big," Bintarto said. Members of the "Take Down the Barack Obama Statue in Menteng Park" group on Facebook say Obama has done nothing for Indonesia. "Barack Obama has yet to make a significant contribution to the Indonesian nation. We could say Obama only ate and s (expletive) in Menteng. He spent his subsequent days living as an American," the web page says. "For the dignity of a sovereign nation, Barack Obama's monument in Menteng Park must be removed immediately." The childhood connection and his knowledge of a few words of Indonesian made Obama popular in the mainly Muslim country of 234 million people. Obama said in November he would visit Indonesia this year along with First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha. Quote Everything you do is based on the choices you make. It's not your parents, your past relationships, your job, the economy, the weather, an argument, or your age that is to blame. You and only you are responsible for every decision and choice you make, period ... ... Wish more people would realize this. Quotes by Susan Gottesman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 What? The Indonesians want SUBSTANCE?? They actually want something beneficial? They're not going to give him the Peace Prize for mere rhetoric? How disgustingly unliberal of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonnie Posted January 27, 2010 Author Share Posted January 27, 2010 What? The Indonesians want SUBSTANCE?? They actually want something beneficial? They're not going to give him the Peace Prize for mere rhetoric? How disgustingly unliberal of them. I think it shows that it is not only conservatives that are opposed to Obama. More and more you can read op-eds by those that formerly wholeheartedly supported him. Many have been as scathing as has come from those on the right. Quote Everything you do is based on the choices you make. It's not your parents, your past relationships, your job, the economy, the weather, an argument, or your age that is to blame. You and only you are responsible for every decision and choice you make, period ... ... Wish more people would realize this. Quotes by Susan Gottesman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 I think it shows that it is not only conservatives that are opposed to Obama. More and more you can read op-eds by those that formerly wholeheartedly supported him. Many have been as scathing as has come from those on the right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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