Why do people make such a big deal about Barack Obama's time as a young child in Indonesia?

Answer 1

There are some people who have been told by conservative talk show hosts and political pundits that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim or that he went to a Muslim country to study in a madrassa. These stories are demonstrably false, and have been debunked repeatedly (not that there is anything wrong with being a Muslim, but Mr. Obama was not born into Islam, never practiced Islam, and never studied at a madrassa); but for some people, no matter how many times the facts are provided, they continue to believe the myth that somehow, having a foreign-sounding name and spending four years living in a Muslim country makes one suspicious. Fortunately, most Americans don't accept such biased views, and for them, the fact that the president lived in Indonesia for four years is not especially noteworthy, although it certainly is something unique for an American president.