Obama Gets Peace Prize?
Still trying to figure this one out. My first reaction was that the story came from The Onion, but apparently it’s legitimate.
In a stunning surprise, the Nobel Committee announced Friday that it had awarded its annual peace prize to President Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” less than nine months after he took office. (New York Times)
I’m generally a fan of the prez, but this is weird. Seems like he won the prize by not being George Bush. That’s an admirable quality in a president, but not really worth the Peace Prize.
Wouldn’t it have made sense to wait one or two years until he actually accomplished something before giving him the award? Shit, Gitmo isn’t even closed yet.
Better Obama than a Chinese dissident getting the award, though (that was the rumor going into today).
Maybe the Norwegians are trying to guilt him into a more peaceful strategy for Iraq and Afghanistan.
There does seem to be an element of “forward thinking” here. Obama has said he will accept the prize as some sort of call to action, which certainly hits the right tone (he is quite good at that).
I would be more apt to get on board with this if the White House and Congress were actively prosecuting folks who tortured and committed other acts contrary to U.S. law. But that’s not going to happen . . .
It’s nice, but it’s going to lead to more domestic pressure from his opposition. International awards carry little weight back home; American exceptionalism is alive and well, even in the hearts of many of his supporters. He’s fighting two international wars and a domestic one over healthcare. He’s re-engaging with the world and that’s good, but to say Bush totally did not engage is wrong and almost revisionist. I would say he engaged poorly. Obama has promise. He needs to re-engage with Americans who are growing skeptical of him before he can afford to be seen as an international prophet of peace.
Difficult to prep the public for this, seeing as how the award was a surprise to one and all.
Funny thing, though. If Bush had received the award, the Right would have lauded the committee and seen the whole thing as validation of American exceptionalism.
I was a Bama supporter, but he’s wearing my patience. Where’s the change? Meanwhile, his goldmansachs backed cabinet is bleeding the public and middle class dry.
You’re preaching to the choir here. I was never irrationally excited with Obama (he never held himself out as a liberal during the campaign), but I did have certain hopes. Oh well, this just suggests that my cynical world view is absolutely appropriate.