Fidogate has just gone international. Already the Left is defending Obama for eating dog meat on the grounds that his stepfather–who was Indonesian–wanted to share his culture and customs with him. But there’s just one problem with this: it wasn’t his culture or custom.
In fact, in Jakarta, where the Obamas lived with their Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, dog meat is illegal. In majority Muslim Indonesia, eating dog is forbidden among most ethnic groups in the islands, though a small black market is said to exist for those looking for it. The only exception are the Batak people, principally of Northern Sumatra, who eat it on holidays–but Obama’s stepfather, who was raised in West Java, isn’t a part of that ethnic group. Besides, the Obamas lived hundreds of miles and several islands away.
A diplomatic source close to the Indonesian delegation in the U.S. confirms that while dog is sometimes eaten in Indonesia, it is done so very rarely. “Obama had to go hunting for dog meat,” the source, who didn’t want to be identified, told me.
“I don’t know of anyone who eats it and frankly, I’m a little offended you would ask.”
Breitbart.com scoured Indonesian cook books. Not one mentions ways to prepare dog.
Still, the bit in Dreams from My Father where Obama says that a man can take on the powers of whatever he eats is a traditional animist belief among some tribesmen in Indonesia.
But the question remains: having confessed to eating dog, grasshopper, and snake, which one’s powers did Obama pick up?