President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

[Boomhower]

It took Mother Theresa 60 years of work to get that prize, and she's been nominated for Sainthood. Just imagine what the President could be nominated for after getting it for 2 weeks of work.

Is "God-ship" a word?

 

[Mos]

Politically, the best thing the President could do would be to humbly refuse to accept it. "I hope someday this administration will achieve the high distinctions the Nobel is intended to honor, but too much remains to be done," or something like that. Takes the wind out of the Right and makes the Left fall even more in love with him.

Indeed, if I were Obama, I'd be insulted by this awarding. It seems patronizing to extend this award supposedly for taking a stance on nuclear disarmament early in the presidency, something not unique to him as a president or world leader in the least. I'd reject it too and probbly ask what the committee had been smoking when they made the decision.

 

[lowflier03]

So a couple of Norwegians decide that someone who had done 2 weeks of nothing deserves a prize. Who cares.

 

[usmarinemike]

How ironic will it be when the president sends 60k more people to Afghanistan? How is that press conference going to go? I had to think for a minute this morning after looking at the news feed on my homepage whether or not today was supposed to be something like April Fool's Day. How long can the citation possibly be? 5 or 6 sentences, tops?


The Nobel Peace Prize has unquestionably jumped the shark.

 

[MrFreakinKite]

MAYBE it's their way to encourage him to not push through with the war in Afghanistan. Maybe now he'll feel obligated to take a more ...peaceful stance. He just so happened to get this award in the middle of his indecision about what to do in Afghanistan.... Coincidence? Probably so.

But seriously, I agree he should decline the award. Politics aside, that would be the right thing to do.

 

[LazersGoPEWPEW]

Unbelievable....this is a joke right? I'm still asleep and I'm dreaming right?

 

[scoolbubba]

At least Yassir Arafat isn't the most ridiculous winner of the NPP anymore.

 

[ray25017]

scoolbubba / US Marine Mike -

you're both exactly right...

His write-up has gotta be shorter than the NAM (no shit) my buddy got for being the 'gear locker NCO' on our deployment to Fuji back in '97. Wow.

Kicker is... Obama was nominated by Feb 1 -- 12 days after taking office. Ummm... For what?

That prize is a joke.

 

[LazersGoPEWPEW]

Well he's talking about it now and he accepted the award as a "call to action" even though he admitted he didn't deserve it. I'm confused.

 

[HercDriver]

Don't get me started on award committees...I'm still furious about not winning a MacArthur genius grant for my work on Gin & Tonics.

And it is a bit early for this choice; there were other folks more deserving in my mind, and until his policies show results it is hard to defend the decision.

It was a prize for not being George W. Bush. Pure and simple. The prizes given to Carter in '02 and Gore in '07 were explicitly said to be "a kick in the leg" to Pres. Bush. Why would this be different?

By explicitly, you mean it was written up in the citiation that way?

 

[CAMike]

The meaning of the award lost its power when Al Gore became the recipient a few years back. It will however be VERY interesting to see the diversity of reactions from both sides of the aisle to this award. Specifically I think you'll likely see mixed reactions from both sides.

 

[CalamityJean]

Awards such as this, as well as awards to people like Arafat (for dramatically different reasons) cheapen the Nobel Prize. A shame...

When my dad woke me up at the butt crack of dawn to deliver the news, I rolled over in bed and mumbled something to that effect.

On reuters it says it was awarded "for offering the world hope and striving for nuclear disarmament...".

*rolls eyes*

Uh might I add Jimmy Carter has also won, Al Gore, The U.N., Gorbachev & Sadat. Just to give a little perspective.

 

[exhelodrvr]

Probably a combination of "not George Bush" and "if we give it to him, maybe he'll not escalate in Afghanistan and against Iran" by the decision committee.

 

[feddoc]

It was a prize for not being George W. Bush. Pure and simple. The prizes given to Carter in '02 and Gore in '07 were explicitly said to be "a kick in the leg" to Pres. Bush. Why would this be different?

The Prize is supposed to be about achievements for peace. Not aspirations, or potential, or Hope. Would you award the Nobel for Medicine to a doctor who said he hoped to cure cancer? Or the Literature Prize to someone who said he had a great idea for a novel?

Politically, the best thing the President could do would be to humbly refuse to accept it. "I hope someday this administration will achieve the high distinctions the Nobel is intended to honor, but too much remains to be done," or something like that. Takes the wind out of the Right and makes the Left fall even more in love with him.

Here is one example of Gore's competition in 2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Sendler

http://www.irenasendler.org/

I cannot figure out why Gore won and she did not.

 

[Makk85]

MAYBE it's their way to encourage him to not push through with the war in Afghanistan. Maybe now he'll feel obligated to take a more ...peaceful stance. He just so happened to get this award in the middle of his indecision about what to do in Afghanistan.... Coincidence? Probably so.

But seriously, I agree he should decline the award. Politics aside, that would be the right thing to do.

I think you are right. The commitee is trying to sway his decision on Afghanistan by guilt trip. Sounds like my girlfriend.