Yesterday, Hillary Clinton took a break from meeting with government leaders on her pan-Asian tour to drop by the set of the Indonesian youth-oriented music show Dahsyat, which means “Awesome” in English. To think about how odd a pairing of person and setting this is, consider what it would be like if the Indonesian defense minister visited the set of TRL (which, yes, we’re vaguely aware is no longer on TV). Clinton was able to hold her own despite the language and generational barriers, discussing topics from her music preferences (Stones and Beatles) to the Middle East peace process. However, Clinton may have seriously strained U.S.-Indo relations when she declined a request to sing, a faux pas diplomats are likely scrambling to correct. But she tried to make up for it by successfully repeating some unknown Indonesian phrase fed to her by one of the hosts, possibly agreeing to a new nuclear arms compact.
