Some fascinating stuff (future MoDo column alert) from Indonesia here. Rather than selectively poring through the endless writings of authors Obama once read (Kurtz), or just fabricating racist rage (D'Souza), you can simply go back and talk to Barry's Indonesian friends if you really need a Rosebud. Yes, he grew up around extreme poverty, and his inner nerd was never far from view:
“It was a very poor area when the family came here,” said Coenraad Satjakoesoemah, 79, a retired airline manager and a neighborhood leader. “There were still dirt roads, only a few houses and lots of large trees.” ... While the residents regarded Mr. Obama’s mother as a “free spirit,” Barry, who was chubby, was referred to as the “boy who runs like a duck,” said Mrs. Satjakoesoemah, 69.
We are reminded that, far from attending a Jihadist madrassa, he went to Catholic school:
Mr. Obama has spoken about growing up here and hearing the Muslim call to prayer, but Ms. Amirah said that since the school’s founding, everyone had hewed to the institution’s official religion. “Barry followed church services like everybody else,” Ms. Amirah said.
And then Indonesia's version of Sidwell Friends. And his nanny was a tranny:
His nanny was an openly gay man who, in keeping with Indonesia’s relaxed attitudes toward homosexuality, carried on an affair with a local butcher, longtime residents said. The nanny later joined a group of transvestites called Fantastic Dolls, who, like the many transvestites who remain fixtures of Jakarta’s streetscape, entertained people by dancing and playing volleyball.
This, however, is total Limbaugh bait:
In the compound, Mr. Obama often played with the two sons of the physician’s driver. One time, recalled the elder son, Slamet Januadi, now 52, Mr. Obama asked a group of boys whether they wanted to grow up to be president, a soldier or a businessman. A president would own nothing while a soldier would possess weapons and a businessmen would have money, the young Obama explained.
Mr. Januadi and his younger brother, both of whom later joined the Indonesian military, said they wanted to become soldiers. Another boy, a future banker, said he would become a businessman.
“Then Barry said he would become president and order the soldier to guard him and the businessman to use his money to build him something,” Mr. Januadi said. “We told him, You cheated. You didn’t give us those details.’ ”