The Latest Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Some people are saying that the primary reason President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize is the fact that he’s not former President George Bush. But hey, a lot of people aren’t Mr. Bush either so where is their prize? Therefore, it must take a little more than that. A lot of people, including the President, are saying that he hasn’t done anything to warrant him winning the prize. But the reason people say he didn’t deserve to win ranges from a mixture of humility and genuine surprise to blatant derision and disgust.
The scorn and mockery against the decision by the Nobel committee reminds me very much of when Mr. Obama was running for President and people were making all kinds of excuses why Mr. Obama didn’t deserve to be the country’s chief executive. A lot of people said then that he hasn’t done anything to deserve the honor of the presidency. But nobody said anything similar about his opponents. What did then New York Senator Hillary Clinton do to deserve to be President? What did Arizona Senator John McCain do to deserve to be President? Many people were comparing Mr. Obama to then Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. What did Ms. Palin do to deserve to be a heart’s beat away from being the President?
According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the founder of the Nobel Prizes, the Peace Prize should be awarded to the person who, during the preceding year, did the most or the best work for peace between nations. And from that respect, I have to say that Mr. Obama has done very little to win. But I guess another fair question is who has done more? Maybe he did win because he was the one that became the symbol of the end of Mr. Bush’s reign of terror.
And if that’s the case, I nominate the Iraqi who threw his shoes at Mr. Bush’s head during a press conference. Muntadhar al-Zeidi’s astonishing act of defiance struck a chord with millions around the world. While many Iraqis were happy to follow script and honor the man most responsible for the devastation to their country as a man of peace, Mr. al-Zeidi had the courage to call a warmonger a warmonger.
Last year I heard Mr. Obama condone Israel’s tremendous devastation against the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip. Mr. Obama gave tacit approval to Israel’s bombing with United States sourced weapons and the use of white phosphorous on a civilian population when he said that if somebody was firing rockets at his girl’s bedroom he would do the same. Mr. Obama never tried to look at the situation from the Palestinian father’s point of view and say what he would do if somebody was trying to starve his daughter into some form of submission through blatant cultural disparity. So much for that idea of fostering peace between nations.
Whether or not the people who are responsible for deciding who’ll win the Nobel Peace Prize recognize Mr. Obama’s peace efforts as the most noteworthy is beside the point. Obviously they liked what they saw. Either the pickings were slim or, what is probably the more likely case and truly unfortunate, is the fact that those people who are responsible for the selection of this award really could care less about peace and only care about high profile popularity with little substance. The Nobel Peace Prize is little more than a popularity contest.
While there are plenty of cartoons and other political commentary painting President Obama as a Nobel Prize winning socialist or a Hitler wannabe with dreams of death panels, I am not interested in furthering hateful propaganda against Mr. Obama for the sake of hatred. If anyone has a comment to make about the subject at hand then please make it. However, if the only comment you have is something that is not relevant to this subject or a link to a site that does nothing but promote derision against Mr. Obama then please note, unless I feel it is extremely clever and worth support or unless if I find it pertinent to the conversation in some meaningful way, it will not be published.
Peace
I don’t really think Obama deserved a Nobel Peace prize, mostly because the committee themselves said it was based more on his speeches and intentions than any actual actuals. But, he won it, and that’s that. I’m pretty much over the whole thing.
Been without a computer for over a week, so I figured I had better comment before all assumed my death. Today’s return blog is a conglomeration of updates as to happenings in my world. Be sure to vote for any of those topics you’d like to see fleshed out more.
Mike!!!
Dude! I actually missed you!
Peace
And I missed me too, err, I meant you. I missed you. One never realizes their addictions in life until that addictive source is taken away.
It’s a bit late to comment on your artical about President Obama’s Nobel Prize nomination, however,my opinion is taht he deserves it more than anyone ever deserved anything .He has over the past year demonstrated tolerance ,dignity ,and a firm conviction to unite all people on the planet. For the first time in the history of the world ,every nation was spellbound by his election ,and shouts of joy could be heard from the most remote places on the globe.He never waivered ,nor hurled insults at those who insulted him,in fact he offered an olive branch ,and included them in his White House team.The issue you spoke of concerning the Israelis and Palastinians,is not one that can be summed up in one statement,decades of Presidents have failed to resolve the very pressing issue ,so why would anyone think this president could resolve it in a few seconds.The Middle East is very complex ,and the Arabs are just sitting there watching the whole thing play out without lifting a finger to assist their own Palastinian brothers and sisters,and expecting the United States to do all the work ,why dont they do something to help their own people. But back to Obama,I believe he is God’s man for these very difficult times ,and I dont think I’m alone in that opinion,the Nobel Prize committee are going in faith believing he is God’s man also.Put your prayers behind him and hope he succeeds in lifting humanity out of the dispair and hopelessness left behind by the preceeding president,pray for unity of all people,that we can live in that wonderful moment we all experienced on his Inaguration Day ,when tears of joy flowed from the eyes of people all over the world.That alone qualified him for the prize in my eyes.
Thanks for the feedback new saint eve,
But are you kidding? It’s never too late to make a comment about any article as long as its pertinent to the subject. I was talking to the misses about this subject just yesterday and her opinion is that Mr. Obama is just as qualified and deserving as any other prize winner. And in that regard I must say that she’s most right. She is suspicious about all the scrutiny and criticism being given to Mr. Obama’s nomination. And she has a very good point. Me? I’ll stick to my opinion. Hopefully, his best is yet to come.
Peace