Although I'm not the biggest Obama fan when it comes to economic policy, and though I question his tendency to refuse to meet with friends and to show support for some pretty despicable leaders, I'm not exactly a knee-jerk anti-Obama guy. I hope he's successful on many of his professed social positions, and I hope that he is successful on the international stage. If you don't know anything at all about economics, it's too early to judge Obama about much of anything, considering he hasn't even been President for a year.
And considering that last fact, how on earth can the Nobel Peace Prize have been awarded to Obama? The Nobel Committee argues that it's for his "efforts" and because he gives "people hope." So he got it not because he has actually accomplished anything, but for what are at the present moment nothing more than symbolic actions and rhetoric?
Let's be honest here. Al Gore won the Prize because he was anti-Bush. This is the Committee's last middle finger to the Bush administration. Not that the Bush administration doesn't deserve such a gesture for much of its international efforts -- but that shouldn't be what the Prize is for.
Obama hasn't done a single thing to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope he earns it, but I suspect he won't.
5 comments:
This is really just an excuse for me to brag about how cool it is that I can speak arabic:
Yes, no kidding! I first discovered the news via Aljeezera and some other arabic news sources. Their opinions (being of the arabic/middle-eastern culture slant) being slightly more skeptical... And I had a good discussion about it with my teachers in arabic--
most of our discussion evolved around that point exactly: Is being optimistic, or just having a idea for peace enough to grant something like the Nobel?
Not only that, but I'm still skeptical about the fact that #1: The candidates had to be nominated by something like october last year--before Obama had even been elected, and then the deadline for selection, or something like that, fell only 9 days after his inaugaration. Which means that either his campaign was so stunning in its achievements for peace (really?) that it warranted the Nobel Prize, or they nominated him based purely on assumption (hoping or assuming that he was bound to do something great), or perhaps based purely on the fact that he's the first black president...
Either way, disregarding the lack of accomplishment in these first 9 or so months of office (something an Egyptian Human Rights group pointed out--gitmo still open, violence has worsened in the isreali/palestinian conflict, the war in afghanistan has intensified--in their estimation, peace had actually decreased since he took office)--I'm trying to figure out how he got nominated to begin with when at the time he was merely a candidate for presidency...
BTW, did I mention I've had this discussion completely in arabic! How cool is that:
انا قائدة اللغة العربية
well...sometimes anyway =)
That is really cool.
I've concluded that Obama just won the first Nobel Prize for Rhetoric.
Saturday Night Live last week made fun of Obama for not accomplishing anything, pointing out that in fact Afghanistan if anything had gotten worse, not better, under him.
In any case, I'm waiting for my Nobel Prize in Literature next year now, as my published literary accomplishments at least rival Obama's in peace. Actually, I have accomplished more, considering I wrote an award-winning play. I have also presented on economics at a conference, so I would also get the Nobel Prize in Economics. And at one time I intended to get a Ph.D. in molecular biology and do research in DNA methylation or ribozymes -- so, since I had talked about intending to do such research, I clearly ought to get the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and in Medicine and Physiology. While we're at it, how about the Nobel Prize in Physics for my book "Diaphysics"?
At this point, I'd be too embarrassed to accept the Nobel Peace Prize and be among such company.
Well, he has committed fewer acts of terrorism than Yassur Arafat. At least they didn't give it to Chavez...
Yet.
Yes, the Arafat award was for him having stopped killing people. Nice incentive. So he stopped doing something to get the Prize. Obama has neither done anything nor stopped doing something.
Personally, people like Sam Walton and Bill Gates should get the Nobel Peace Prize for having been the most incredibly successful businessmen, thus creating wealth for billions of people across the globe. That is what creates peace.
Next years Nobel Peace Prize goes to all those optimist out there, you know who you are.
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