Tommy Soeharto Mulling A Presidential Run...

Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle.

It is not like Indonesia does not have serious enough problems to deal with already. But, this kind of announcement is always mildly amusing and distracting enough to divert people's attention for at least a little while from the more serious problems, like increasing religious intolerance.

However, when you feel like the press is not giving you enough attention, then an absurd announcement will undoubtedly get you that attention. This is in addition to doing something sufficiently scandalous to get the gossip shows to show you a little love.

So, in this vein, Tommy Soeharto, the youngest and most ambitious of the former president's children has acknowledged that if political parties were interested in nominating him for the top job in 2014, then he would be more than willing to consider it. My main man for the 2014 nomination is actually a woman. I think Sri Mulyani Indrawati (SMI) would make an excellent reforming president. She would be up against it, but I reckon she has the ovarian fortitude to go hammer and tong against established interests like Aburizal Bakrie, and win.

But, I digress, this is a post about how funny it is that a convicted murderer and purveyor of graft reckons he is seriously a shot at a nomination. Tommy Soeharto was sentenced to 15 years in the slammer for his part in the assassination of an Indonesian Supreme Court Justice, Syafiuddin Kartasasmita. Kartasasmita was the judge that sentenced him in an earlier graft case.

What is truly funny is that Soeharto thinks he is even a chance at getting any votes. Let's face it, his most recent foray into the political arena was a crack at the Chair of Golkar which was a failure of super proportions; the man could not garner any votes. So, any political parties out there thinking that Tommy is an option, really need to consider taking a reality pill.

The man is tarnished goods.

It is time that someone got into Tommy's ear and told him some home truths, "Son, you are a convicted murderer, you have been convicted for being corrupt, you are no shot at political office, you are so tarnished as a political entity that we could not sell your candidacy to people who were all deaf, blind and dumb. Sorry mate, but even those people who could not hear, see or talk the sorts of evil that you are about could still not be convinced to vote for you!"