PrintMarch 19, 2010
President Ahab and Moby ObamaCare
ObamaCare has crossed the line separating political initiatives from obsessions. President Obama has snubbed Indonesia again, at a cost yet to be determined. The President is damaging our relationship with Indonesia thanks to his obsession with ObamaCare. He already delayed his departure by three days, thereby throwing the schedules of thousands of Indonesian officials and security forces into chaos. Now, he has delayed the trip until June. Here is the interview with Indonesian television in which he broke the news publicly.
I certainly hope the news was communicated to Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before announcing it to a television audience. But either way, the decision demonstrates stunning indifference to the inconvenience foisted upon an ally which Obama supposedly wants to cultivate for America.
The amount of work that goes into arranging a presidential overseas visit is stunning. The entire Indonesian government has re-arranged events and schedules, twice already, to accommodate our president's whims. Now, they are left with holes in their own schedules, and are embarrassed before all the people they put on hold in order to clear time for activities related to the visit.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. It and its leaders have been humiliated twice, in order for Obama to focus on a bill most Americans do not want to see passed.
Obama is looking more like Captain Ahab obsessed with Moby Dick, in the great American novel. He should be advised that it didn't end well for Ahab.
