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When Bugs Cry   

Indonesians of all ages turn out to see a splendid new statue commemorating Barack Obama’s brief childhood sojourn in the capitol Jakarta.
The BBC has locals hero worshiping Barack In Bronze, but the Jakarta Globe talked to a less happy resident.

Raditya Ayu speaks for youth:

“I think people should make a statue of someone if that person has done something for the people. And I don’t think Obama has done anything for Indonesia. …I think they should have erected a statue of SBY [Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] here, or even a statue of Michael Jackson. If you travel to a place where there is no TV, I’m sure you will find that people will still know him [Jackson]. He is really great.”

Pre-Presidential knees in representational art have proud precedence of course in the Michigan Boy Scouts stirring tribute to local Eagle Gerry Ford.

Now With Added Stature!

In an intriguing political parallel universe, pollsters matched up the sitting president with his term-limited predecessor. And the out guy is a comer.

From his popularity depths in the 20s, George W. Bush has clawed his way back to a position where 44% of poll-ees want him in office over Barack Obama.

Laying low, raising library money and a thoughtful assist from the beloved Bill Clinton appear to have done the trick.

Old Acquaintance Been Forgot  

The Shadow Knows  

As a curious world awaits Sarah Palin’s looming Oprah encounter, tiny shards  of her upcoming polemic are emerging.

For all her roguishness, the Governor follows a predicable political path, lying about Ronald Reagan.

The Associated Press prepared a catalog of her detachments from reality, and her Reagan claims are true to the spirit of the man, in that she confidently proffers demonstrably falsehoods with a smile.

“Palin: Says Ronald Reagan faced an even worse recession than the one that appears to be ending now, and ”showed us how to get out of one. If you want real job growth, cut capital gains taxes and slay the death tax once and for all.”

THE FACTS: The estate tax,which some call the death tax, was not repealed under Reagan and capital gains taxes are lower now than when Reagan was president.

Economists overwhelmingly say the current recession is far worse. The recession Reagan faced lasted for 16 months; this one is in its 23rd month. The recession of the early 1980s did not have a financial meltdown. Unemployment peaked at 10.8 percent, worse than the October 2009 high of 10.2 percent, but the jobless rate is still expected to climb.“

 Retiring Type    

The Washington Post’s Howard Kutz is puzzled at the incessant media coverage of Barack Obama minutia, and for guidance he turns to grizzled George W. Bush handler Mark McKinnon

McKinnon is professionally awed at Obama’s mastery of image burnishing, contrasting him to Bush’s modest self effacement:

“the former president liked his privacy, was wary of the media and had an aversion ‘to anything that smacks of self-promotion.’“

Kurtz’s probing questions continue, turning to burly, bandito-mustachioed Thomas Friedman to understand why those leftest whiners seem so upset with Obama.

Puzzler 

…And We’ll Never Hear The End Of It

French President Nicolas Sarkozy joins the line of hero’s taking credit for Communism’s demise.

From the Daily Mail via Wonkette comes news that the small but perfectly formed pol has posted a Facebook photo and copy which appears to place him amidst Freedom’s Chiselers® taking a whack at the Wall the night it fell.

Sarko is in Berlin for the anniversary festivities, so his invented heroics should make him many new friends.

Also among the Berlin throng is Ronald Reagan offspring Michael Reagan. He is there to dedicate a Reagan room at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, an event so momentous it is unmentioned on the Museum’s website.

One of Michael Reagan’s honored guests will be the German Democratic Republic’s last Prime Minister, Lothar de Maiziere. The former PM may feel a special bond with former FBI informant Ronald Reagan as de Maiziere was forced from politics by accusations he’d been a Stazi informant under the DDR.

Barack Obama is not in Berlin, and his “World Freedom Day” proclamation leaves both Reagan and Sarkozy unmentioned.  Obama does coyly use the  phrase “Kiev to Capetown” in describing the consequences of the Wall falling, cruelly recalling Reagan’s, shall we say, complex  approach to Apartheid