Obama in India (Photos, Video): Dancing, Protests

So far, the liberal media are focusing on the "grandeur" of Obama and Michelle's visit to India, and their dancing.

From the Associated Press:

President Barack Obama heralded the relationship between the United States and India as a "defining partnership" of the 21st century Monday during a grand ceremony marking his visit to the world's largest democracy.

Obama's limousine was escorted to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the palatial residence of India's president, by guards on horseback. Obama greeted Indian dignitaries, then stood with his hand on his heart as a military band played the U.S. national anthem.

The president spoke briefly, thanking the Indian people for their hospitality and saying he hoped his trip here would strengthen the friendship between the two nations.

"The partnership between the United States and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," Obama said.

Following the arrival ceremony, Obama and first lady Michelle Obama placed a wreath at Raj Ghat, a memorial to Mohandas Gandhi. As a sign of respect, the Obamas removed their shoes before placing a large white wreath on a flower-covered tablet in front of an eternal flame.

Monday morning's grandeur kicked off a day heavy on diplomacy. Obama was to meet privately with India's Prime Minister Manmoham Singh, and the two leaders were then to take questions from the press. Later Monday, Obama planned to speak to the Indian Parliament, with announcements expected on counterterrorism, regional security, clean energy, climate change and economic growth.

It's being reported that images of the Obamas dancing with children in India have charmed the people there.

From McClatchy:

They have dubbed it "the Obama Indian Tango."

It might be better known as "How Barack's Wife Got the President's Groove Back."

One of the biggest questions facing President Barack Obama in the wake of the Democrats' Election Day "shellacking" was whether he'd still have that "Yes We Can" charisma that energized people around the world. Apparently, in India, the answer is yes.

On Sunday, Obama won accolades among Indians for at least trying out his moves with folk dance performers at a Mumbai high school, though it was First Lady Michelle Obama that did most of the charming by sticking with the dance until the song was over. The president only lasted about 20 seconds.

But the clip of Barack and Michelle Obama's dancing dominated India's airwaves, replayed over and over again, to the seeming delight of Indian viewers.

...On the eve of the presidential visit, some Indian analysts were wondering if Obama still had the charms.

"Obama has still to prove to Indians that he is swoon-worthy," Indian newspaper columnist Santosh Desai told The Washington Post last week.

But on Sunday, that concern seemed to have vanished.

[Shikha Tejpal, 23, a guest relations executive at the luxury ITC Maurya hotel, where the president and his wife are staying while in New Delhi,] said she was home with her mom when she first saw footage of the president dancing.

"I was like, 'Mom! The biggest man on the earth is dancing. I can't believe that!'" she said. "When I came to work my colleagues were saying 'He's so down to earth, he's so humble.'"

Here's video of the "biggest man on the earth" and his wife dancing:

Michelle looks relaxed. Obama looks terribly uncomfortable and awkward. The quality of their dance moves aside, India supposedly is captivated by the Obamas. Some people undoubtedly are impressed. Others are not welcoming the American president and first lady to Asia. From the Times of India:

Maoist guerrillas on Monday blew up a newly constructed school building in Orissa's Malkangiri district to protest US President Barack Obama's India visit, police said. No one was injured. Around 30-40 rebels blew up the double-storey school building at Gomphakunda village, some 55 km from the district headquarters of Malkangiri. No one was inside the building at the time of the attack. "The building was recently constructed. The rebels blasted it using landmines," inspector Debashis Mishra, in charge of the police station there, said. Maoist posters found from nearby areas indicated that they triggered the blast to protest Obama's visit to India, he said. The rebels have also felled trees in several places on the highway connecting Tanginiguda and Gobindapali village, affecting vehicular movement on the route, he said.

Blowing up a school isn't exactly a welcoming gesture. Other protests have taken place and still others are planned. From Jakarta Globe:

One of the country’s most conservative hard-line Islamic groups has lashed out against the upcoming visit by the “cruel” US President Barack Obama, despite most commentators viewing it as an embrace of the Muslim world. On Saturday and Sunday, there were rallies organized by Hizbut Tahrir in Jakarta, Mataram in East Nusa Tenggara, and Makassar in South Sulawesi. A spokesman for the group estimated that across the three cities 20,000 took part, while independent estimates put the Jakarta protest at about 2,000. Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for the group, called Obama “a cruel president, no different from [George W.] Bush, with blood on his hands, and without [showing] the slightest compassion.” He lashed out against the role he said the US played in the “destruction of Muslim countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan and the killing of the people there.” “Obama may be a guest, but there are two kinds of guests: the good kind and the problematic kind,” Ismail said, adding that Obama fell in the latter category.

Here's video of protests: Clearly, there are people not impressed with the Obamas. This must be hard for the Leftists to swallow, but the protesters view Obama as no different than President George W. Bush.

Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for the group, called Obama “a cruel president, no different from [George W.] Bush, with blood on his hands, and without [showing] the slightest compassion.”

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Everything was going to change after Obama was elected. He's been in office nearly two years and, apparently, nothing has changed. Obama is hated as much as Bush. These people hate America, and the American president. It doesn't matter if his name is Bush or Obama.