Jakarta (President Obama – Bung Karno Stadium)

Photo: Reuters

Jakarta is in need of  a large dose of “the fierce urgency of now” and “the audacity of hope”.  There is so much to be done. I hope in the coming months that President Obama has the opportunity to travel to Jakarta and to speak directly to the people of Indonesia. He could fill Bung Karno Stadium ten times over. This may seem both improbable and impossible but that is the character of the events which has brought us to today. Think of these words in the context of Indonesia…

…that the lines of tribes shall soon dissolve…

Selected quotes:

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them – that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, health care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

And so, to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.

And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society’s ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.

And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

 Full text of inauguration speech here …>

 

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Jakarta (Obama WINS!!!)

Obama WINS!!!

 

 

 Jakarta! You have a new President!!

 

From: The New York Times  OBAMA WINS

From: The Jakarta Post

 

STUDENTS CELEBRATE
Wed, 11/05/2008 – 12:59 PM
A group of students from Menteng 01 state elementary school in Central Jakarta, where U.S. president-elect Barrack Obama studied while he lived in Indonesia, cheer as Obama is declared the winner…

UPDATE 11/5/2008

From: The New York Times Election Unleashes a Flood of Hope Worldwide

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Jakarta (186,000 miles per second)

186,000 mile per second: the speed of light (Obama campaign workers in Florida)

I have been busy with my attention being drawn to the final days of the U.S. Presidential election. This is the most important election in my lifetime or yours or yours or yours. One web site I visit frequently which examines the polling is fivethirtyeight.com run by Nate Silver. 538 is the total number of electoral votes in the electoral college. We elect our President in State-by-State polling. If you win the State you win the electoral votes for that State (the number of electoral votes is determined by the population of a particular State). To win you need 270 electoral votes. That is the magic number. I know, it is a bit confusing. A candidate can win the popular vote but lose the electoral vote and lose the election or win the electoral vote and lose the popular vote and win the election. To win you have to win the electoral vote by a margin of 1 vote. Make sense? Anyway, this scheme was devised to equalize the influence of elections between small States and large States. A State like Hawaii, with only four electoral votes could be very important in a close vote. 

Here is where the race stands as of November 2, 2008. Forty-eight hours to go. 

 

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Jakarta (meet me in St. Louis)

Barack Obama today in St. Louis, Missouri. Another picture worth a thousand words.

From: National Public Radio

As many as 100,000 people gathered under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Mo., on Saturday for a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. With just 17 days left before the election, the candidate has been focusing on battleground states like Missouri, which is seen as critical to winning the race.

 

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Jakarta (Obama vs. McCain)

From: Common Dreams

This photo is from last night’s Presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.

As they say, one picture is worth a thousand words and this sums it all up pretty well and saves me a lot of time having to write something.

Now, who would YOU vote for?

 

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Jakarta (Maya Soetoro-Ng, Barack Obama, grass roots politics)

   

 

Last night I was present, along with about 300 people, at the Hawaii Democratic Party rally held at Mo’oheau Park in downtown Hilo. This year marked the 54th time this rally has been held. As you can see Barack Obama was present and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng was guest speaker.

Small events such as these are now taking place all over the United States. All politics are local, as the saying goes. And no less in our small town of Hilo, Hawaii. Maya Soetoro-Ng decribed her brother’s candidacy for President as “as act of love”.  Now, this might sound over the top for sure but as I scanned the faces in the crowd and as I listened carefully to what she was saying and as I was contemplating the state of affairs that my country has fallen to I had to agree with her.  Barack Obama never, in a thousand years, needed to do what he is attempting now. The easy thing would be to forget it all and go back to living a quiet life. And if (hopefully when) he is elected he faces the unprecedented problems of a wrecked economy, an energy crisis, and two wars. Who would want that? 

I have seen how Jakarta families hold together in troubled times, which is almost all the time. Here we call it aloha.  At the very core of it all, when it is all said and done, all we have is each other.

OBAMA 08!

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Jakarta (the hope we confess)

I thought I never would live to see this in America. Tonight I watched a son of Jakarta present one of the great political speeches in American history. Remarkable and stunning.

 

                                           Photo: Reuters      

from NY Times 8/28/2008

Obama Takes Aim at Bush and McCain With a Forceful Call to Change America

DENVER – Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party presidential nomination on Thursday, declaring that the “American promise has been threatened” by eight years under President Bush and that John McCain represented a continuation of policies that undermined the nation’s economy and imperiled its standing around the world.

The speech by Senator Obama, in front of an audience of nearly 80,000 people on a warm night in a football stadium refashioned into a vast political stage for television viewers, left little doubt how he intended to press his campaign against Mr. McCain this fall.

In cutting language, and to cheers that echoed across the stadium, he linked Mr. McCain to what he described as the “failed presidency of George W. Bush” and – reflecting what has been a central theme of his campaign since he entered the race – “the broken politics in Washington.”

“America, we are better than these last eight years,” he said. “We are a better country than this.” …> go to article

Indeed we are.

“You know, this country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit, that American promise, that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It’s a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night and a promise that you make to yours, a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west, a promise that led workers to picket lines and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that, 45 years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln’s Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could’ve heard many things. They could’ve heard words of anger and discord. They could’ve been told to succumb to the fear and frustrations of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead — people of every creed and color, from every walk of life — is that, in America, our destiny is inextricably linked, that together our dreams can be one.

“We cannot walk alone,” the preacher cried. “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”

America, we cannot turn back…”

from Barack Obama’s speech ...>full text here

 

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Jakarta (Obama – Biden)

 

 

Photo: Reuters

From the AP:

8/23/2008

 

Obama introduces running mate Biden
By BETH FOUHY and CHRISTOPHER WILLS – 1 hour ago

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Barack Obama introduced Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware on Saturday as a man “ready to step in and be president,” and the newly minted running mate quickly turned his campaign debut into a slashing attack on Republicans seeking four more years in the White House.
Sen. John McCain would have to “figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at” when considering his own economic future, said Biden, jabbing at the man he called his personal friend.
It was a reference to McCain’s recent inartful admission – in a time of economic uncertainty – that he was not sure how many homes he owns.
Before a vast crowd spilling out from the front of the Old State Capitol, Obama said Biden was “what many others pretend to be – a statesman with sound judgment who doesn’t have to hide behind bluster to keep America strong.” …> go to article

 

YES WE CAN!

 

OBAMA-BIDEN

 

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Jakarta (Barack Obama)

Jakarta’s favorite son…

From Reuters, June 3, 2008:

 

OBAMA CLINCHES NOMINATION

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Barack Obama captured the Democratic presidential nomination, capping a rapid rise from political obscurity to become the first black to lead a major U.S. party into a race for the White House. …> go to artcile

dari Jakarta (Barack Obama)

Barry

Here is an idea for “thinking outside the Indonesian box“.

Barack Sukarno for governor of Jakarta.

We need a new paradigm. We need a new way to live on this planet. And we need it now.

After five years of war in Iraq the United States is now facing an economic implosion of debt. Here we are on the verge of our own krismon. The war(s) drag on at enormous costs in life and treasure.  There is a perfect storm of economic trouble brewing. 

Rome burns while Nero fiddles. 

Barack Obama never has claimed that he is perfect. He does have a clear and consistent message. His speeches, which I have seen, have been astonishing in delivery and content. His demeanor is that of an honest man.  His connection to Jakarta is of interest.

A Free-Spirited Wanderer Who Set Obama’s Path …>go to article

New York Times 3.14.08 

Janny Scott

The article is about Ms. Soetoro, Barack Obama’s mother. Well worth reading…

“She felt that somehow, wandering through uncharted territory, we might stumble upon something that will, in an instant, seem to represent who we are at the core,” said Maya Soetoro-Ng, Mr. Obama’s half-sister. “That was very much her philosophy of life – to not be limited by fear or narrow definitions, to not build walls around ourselves and to do our best to find kinship and beauty in unexpected places…”

“…She loved living in Java,” said Dr. Dewey, who recalled accompanying Ms. Soetoro to a metalworking village. “People said: ‘Hi! How are you?’ She said: ‘How’s your wife? Did your daughter have the baby?’ They were friends. Then she’d whip out her notebook and she’d say: ‘How many of you have electricity? Are you having trouble getting iron?’ “

She became a consultant for the United States Agency for International Development on setting up a village credit program, then a Ford Foundation program officer in Jakarta specializing in women’s work. Later, she was a consultant in Pakistan, then joined Indonesia’s oldest bank to work on what is described as the world’s largest sustainable microfinance program, creating services like credit and savings for the poor.

She died in November 1995, as Mr. Obama was starting his first campaign for public office. After a memorial service at the University of Hawaii, one friend said, a small group of friends drove to the South Shore in Oahu. With the wind whipping the waves onto the rocks, Mr. Obama and Ms. Soetoro-Ng placed their mother’s ashes in the Pacific, sending them off in the direction of Indonesia”.

Still, the politics of fear haunt the American political scene.

CNN debunks false report about Obama …>go to article

“JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) — Allegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a “madrassa” are not accurate, according to CNN reporting”.

 Obama’s own response to this and other allegations has been to say calmly and with intent that it is “ridiculous”.

There has also been quite a bit of interest about Obama in Jakarta.

CAMPAIGN OUTSIDER

The Indonesian candidate …>go to article

Asia Times 2.20.08

 Muhammad Cohen

“Award-winning Indonesian poet and writer Laksmi Pamuntjak sees a further impact on Obama from spending time in a country that has “Unity in Diversity” as its motto.”Having lived in Indonesia, at the very least, would have acquainted him with the idea of living with difference, as Indonesia itself, a modern 20th century invention for all intents and purposes, is made up of some 17,000 islands, some 450 languages, is continuously in flux and is never the ‘one’ thing – something, in the words of a friend, of a patchwork of old/new, here/there, high tech/new tech materials, and always with a sense of bricolage.”The young Obama would have probably had an early taste of the vacillations, ambiguities and imperfections of such a place, but also of the richness of viewpoints and interpretations, the struggle with history, and the sense of hope that comes, as young nations always do, from finding oneself anew.”

A week before the Hawaii Democratic caucus voting occurred I attended a Barack Obama organizational meeting in Hilo. Congressman Neil Abercrombie gave a short introductory speech in which he said “the day Barack Obama is inaugurated as President of the United States you will hear the enitre planet heave a sigh of relief.”

Barack Obama also likes to say that none of this will be easy. To find oneself anew you must participate.

Yes, we can.