Is Obama in Burma or in Myanmar?

First the news:

Officially, President Obama visited "Burma" on Monday -- but at one point he also cited the name used by the nation's military junta, "Myanmar."

Talk about covering both the bases!

When talking with the military government, the President went with "Myanmar" and when talking with the leader of the opposition, who was under house-arrest for years, Aung San Suu Kyi, Obama referred to "Burma."

What is the big deal?  It is, in the words of the Vice President, a "big fucking deal" :)

I wrote about this in an opinion column back in September 2007, and I noted there:

By referring to the country as Myanmar, are they then loading the story in favor of the junta?  If we are sympathetic to democracy and Suu Kyi, then should we insist on Burma as the correct usage?

Looks like the professor-in-chief split the Solomonic baby!

In the same column, I wrote, quoting Shakespeare's “all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players” 

Perhaps the bad actors in Burma and other places will soon have their exits, and the good ones will quickly step in and put a halt to the geopolitical tragedies that are hidden behind names.  And, maybe before long Rangoon will, once again, become a favorite destination for Indians, and the rest of the world.

Back in 2007, I would not have placed any money on the bets that Aung San Suu Kyi would be allowed to travel, or that the American President would visit Burma.  We can only hope that the mad military men would soon exit the Burmese stage.

Until then, it will be only Burma to me, even if the President toggles between the two names.