Seriously. It's on CNN. I got a text from a pal asking me if I am proud.
Proud? I do not understand this. This man has done NOTHING yet. His country is involved in two wars, one of which is obviously escalating. If anything, his efforts have slightly increased tensions between Israel and Palestine.
did he receive this because he's the first black president alone?
Don't you think this award tarnishes great awards like the ones to King, or Teresa or Mandela/DeKlerk or Tutu or Sadat/Begin or Jane Addams?
Originally posted by This news story OSLO -- President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.
The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize and shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy - Swift
Originally posted by AWArulzProud? I do not understand this. This man has done NOTHING yet. His country is involved in two wars, one of which is obviously escalating. If anything, his efforts have slightly increased tensions between Israel and Palestine.
did he receive this because he's the first black president alone?
Don't you think this award tarnishes great awards like the ones to King, or Teresa or Mandela/DeKlerk or Tutu or Sadat/Begin or Jane Addams?
The thing is that Obama had been in office only two weeks when the nomination was made. So, regardless of anyone's opinion about his waging of the two wars, the ultimate impact of his diplomacy in the Middle East (especially with Iran) and Honduras, none of this was known when the nomination was made.
Regardless, he's certainly better than the infamous selections of Yassar Arafat, Le Duc Tho or Kissinger. Mohamed ElBaradei was also a particularly uninspired choice. And, the great peace efforts made by King, Sr. Theresa, et. al were not in any way validated by a Nobel Peace prize. Nor, were the efforts of JP2 or Gandhi or many other contributors to peace in any way diminished by the fact that they never received a Nobel Peace Prize.
Whether you agree or not (I assume not), he has in 8 short months totally changed the way the US does international business. I know it upsets many conservatives but we could not continue to act in a vacuum diplomatically. I use diplomatically in a guarded manner because during the second Bush term, our diplomacy seemed to consist of "Here is what we are going to do. We don't care what you think." Just changing the tone and realizing we need to function as a community of nations is important.
Having said all that, I think it was way too early for him to be accorded this honor.
Originally posted by wmatisticYeah he didn't deserve it, but at the same time it should tell you just how much the world hated us before.
It's the Thanks For Not Being Bush award.
Haha. That was my thought exactly. It's ridiculous to give it to Obama for any of his actions, but he gets it because he gave the world the feeling of "we like this guy".
Now watch this backfire and many people -worldwide- will bitch because those damned Americans getting awards for nothing, etc etc.
Personally, I like the London Times (timesonline.co.uk) take on it. "Preposterous", "patronising", and "demeaning" are all really good descriptors of this award.
Originally posted by CorajudoRegardless, he's certainly better than the infamous selections of Yassar Arafat, Le Duc Tho or Kissinger.
I'd tend to provisionally disagree with this claim. At this point, he's certainly worse than Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were at the time they received their awards. At the time, it certainly looked like they were trying to make peace. It was only after the fact, especially in the case of Tho, that the awards became a travesty as we realized the dishonesty of both parties
In Obama's case, there really isn't anything we can point to that even looks like making peace. We're still in both Iraq and Afghanistan and show no signs of getting out of either. Obama's meeting with his war team today to probably authorize another 40000 troops being sent to Afghanistan. Just on those two issues alone, I don't see any substantive reason to say that Obama is better than either Kissinger or Tho. On the other hand, even the most ardent of Obama haters should, but we'll all probably see several individuals frothing at the mouth and doing exactly that, have a hard time saying that Obama was a worse pick than Arafat. Arafat being arguably the single worst pick for this award in the history of awards.
But, at several others have already noted, at least he's not Bush (except when he is )
Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit. -- Erasmus
All others things being equal, the simplest solution is usually stupidity. -- Darwin Minor
Originally posted by bash91At this point, he's certainly worse than Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were at the time they received their awards. At the time, it certainly looked like they were trying to make peace.
To quote Tom Lehrer, "Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel [Peace] Prize."
I really disagree with Obama's plan for Afghanistan, but I don't think it compares with the plans Kissinger devised for the Cambodian Incursion. For Kissinger to win anything peace related after that... really makes no sense. (Not to mention Kissinger's involvement in the 1973 Chilean coup the same year he won the Nobel, but that didn't come out until much later).
International opinion of the U.S. must really have changed dramatically for this to make sense. I mean, I got the idea we were disliked before. I'm thinking maybe I didn't understand the true level of the feelings towards us if this makes sense now.
This is strange to be sure. The only explanation I can come up with is that this is a gauntlet of sorts. It is less an award and more of a challenge for him to live up to expectations. Odd nevertheless.
I know you're a feminist and I think that's adorable, but this is grown-up time and I'm the man.
Maybe the Nobel voters felt bad for Obama after the IOC vote...?
If the award actually meant anything anymore then this would be significant, but when the man considered to be the father of modern terrorism has a Nobel Peace Prize in his trophy case, it kinda loses any legitimacy.
Originally posted by Guru ZimI'm scratching my head.
International opinion of the U.S. must really have changed dramatically for this to make sense. I mean, I got the idea we were disliked before. I'm thinking maybe I didn't understand the true level of the feelings towards us if this makes sense now.
First, let me say I think Obama receiving this award is very silly, but I think the Nobel Peace awards have long lost any credibility and I hope that THAT is the conclusion people take away from this.
That said, I don't think I really appreciated the level of disdain the world had for President Bush - and, by proxy, America under President Bush - until I spent about two years living out of the country. I was in a developing, non-English speaking country where most of the foreigners tended to be either huge potheads or serial sexual predators (or both), so it may not have been the best sample, but man did most of the people I met hate that man with a passion.
On countless occasions I found myself on the defensive after people asked me where I was from and I said, "the States." And yes, there was a very clear difference after Obama was elected - though, I then found myself on the defensive again when I told people I wouldn't consider voting for him.
Anyway, my "data" here is hardly scientific, but yes I think the world view on the U.S. came as close to doing a 180 as the world view on any one country can overnight when Obama was elected.
For what was a unanimous vote for them, I can't seem to find anyone that actually feels Obama deserved it. From Rush Limbaugh to Michael Moore, there isn't anyone that feels this is deserved.
I personally find it weird that he'd get it just as the war in Afghanistan's about to escalate. Giving Obama this honor now doesn't make any kind of sense.
A State Department spokesperson, commenting on the Obama's Nobel:
Certainly from our standpoint, this gives us a sense of momentum -- when the United States has accolades tossed its way, rather than shoes.
Kirk, crackers are a family food. Happy families. Maybe single people eat crackers, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know. It's a market we can do without.
Considering Obama himself has stated he doesn't feel he deserves the award and didn't even know he was nominated, I don't how people can blame him for this. I am thinking this has more to do with his campaign then what he did in office since it was done two weeks after winning. His campaign was a lot more positive then most Presidential campaigns of the last 40 years. I am not saying there wasn't negative attacks, but it was a bit more civil at least on his end not so much with Palin's Klan rallies.
I view it less thanks for not being Bush, but we have a lot of expectations for you. He is giving the money away to a charity. I don't think its a positive for him, but to say how terrible or disgusting it is, that is laughable.
Originally posted by lotjxI view it less thanks for not being Bush, but we have a lot of expectations for you. He is giving the money away to a charity. I don't think its a positive for him, but to say how terrible or disgusting it is, that is laughable.
Right now for the anti-Obama side, nothing he does or happens will be a positive.
My question is why is he giving $1.4 million away to charity? Shouldn't he present it to the United States Government, as they would know best what to do with the money?
Originally posted by DrDirtRight now for the anti-Obama side, nothing he does or happens will be a positive.
Or, more accurately, nothing he does is a positive for America. Nothing he will do can be a positive....short of resigning I suppose. But even that gets us Biden.
personally, I haven't seen much that he does, period. Just talk. But this thread wasn't even about Obama. It was about the Nobel folks. How they could choose someone who had (at the time of selection, and in fact, even now) has done nothing.
It's kind of like here in Louisville, a couple years back, we had this monster snow storm forecast and the weatherguys were all like "it's going to be 8 inches by 5 PM" and stuff like that. A Winter weather warning was issued. and at noon, the schools closed and the kids were sent home.
You guessed it. It never snowed.
We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy - Swift
Originally posted by redsoxnationMy question is why is he giving $1.4 million away to charity? Shouldn't he present it to the United States Government, as they would know best what to do with the money?
Judging from a quick scan of the list, looks like they kept it primarily to large population centers where another post office should be relatively close by for support.