Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize
 

I'm not going to repost any of the many articles, as Im sure you've all heard by now that President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

The guy gives a great speech, but what exactly has he accomplished to deserve a Nobel? Am I the only one who thinks this lowers the Nobel Prize to the level of "participation" trophies handed out to everyone who plays t-ball?

No, they did that when they gave Peace Prizes to Henry Kissinger and Yasser Arafat.

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George W. Bush created terrorists. Don't try to revise history.

Like what, manufacturing more of them? Giving them their greatest recruiting tool since 1947? Fiddle-farting around in Mesopotamia instead of actually pursuing the terrorists (in Afghanistan) who -did- attack us? Spending us into the grave, just like Reagan tricked the Soviets into doing 20yrs ago? Puh-lease.

Ok...keeping things on topic:

Aside from being not Fmr. President Bush, what has President Obama accomplished since January that warrants a Nobel Prize? Granted, its not in Physics but surely something tangible must be accomplished to deserve it?

Also, do you think this puts any additional pressure on the guy to live up to the award?

while surprising, this is far from unprecedented.

The nobel peace prize commission often tries to seem current by recognizing emerging situations or actions, as opposed to giving the prize out as a lifetime achievement award. Hence the prizes for Kissinger and Arafat.

While certainly not deserving of anything, Obama's prize is far from the worst ever given. One look at what we know about Kissinger from FOIA requests and you can see how fucking evil that guy is.

I posted elsewhere that I work in Democratic politics and even *I* don't know anyone who thinks Obama deserves this.

Keep in mind though, Obama also had nothing to do with getting it. Someone else nominated him and the prize committee picked him without his input.

I think he handled it fairly well today though, acknowledging that he doesn't feel he deserves it and accepting the prize as a call to action for the future.

I'm with walt. They might as well as given McCain the presidency because he ran. This is a fucking joke. Of course, the entire nobel prize is bullshit anyway, regardless of your field.

1) Since they gave the award to Arafat, it is a meaningless award. Arafat spent 30 years blowing up Israeli children and gets a "peace" prize for going to (yet another) Israeli/Palestinian meeting.
2) Giving Obama this award is like giving someone an Oscar for a movie that was never made.
3) I bet a dollar that Obama gives the $1.4M prize to ACORN.

Gandhi was nominated five times and didn't win once.

I wouldn't take this too seriously.

T-ball bullshit - GO.

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I always thought the Nobel was something like getting Saint'd... but lately it's been all... well, premature ejaculation.

The man hasn't done anything yet. If he deserves it for some world-changing feat later... sure. Right now? Get real.

Yes. Well put.

Truth is, the award says nothing about Obama. It says volumes about the Nobel committee.

Im inclined to agree. I assume Obama had no idea he was being awarded the Nobel and was kind of ambushed with it. It kind of put him in an awkward situation, though I believe he should have declined it on principle.

I'm looking forward to an explanation from the Nobel Committee now that everyone is asking "just what in the hell does it take to get one of these things".

Bingo.

Hmm... to the guy who hasn't stopped gitmo, torture, or 2 wars in the middle east, while saber rattling against Iran?

Obama just emailed me to clear things up..

Asinine in my opinion.

I'm willing to believe that Obama knew nothing about the nomination... but as it was said before he got this award for simply not being Bush. Regardless of the fact that his international policies are an exact match of Bush's (aside from the Missile Shield), regardless of the fact that 0 wars were ended, 0 instances of political corruption fixed, and 0 improvement to the economy... he's not Bush.

I wouldn't say that Obama and his admin have done *nothing* towards improving diplomacy in the world. I don't see how what he has done deserves this particular award but to say that he has done nothing is a stretch. My issue has more to do with lack of results than anything else. He's just put things in motion. Conversations are starting with Iran and North Korea that weren't happening one year ago. These are all steps in the right direction (i.e. diplomacy rather than you are either with us or you are against us, as the previous administration would have it).

I bet he wishes he could decline it. I would want to if I were him. But that's just gonna be a slap in the face to many. I'm still puzzled why they would give it him, but he didn't ask for it. He's kind of screwed either way he goes now.

That is fucking ridiculous and reeks of the attitudes of the Administration Obama replaced.

Rachael Maddow gave an excellent case for Obama today.

Rachel Maddow has made a very, very compelling case. I retract my silent doubts.

To keep in the same vein, I think it's more like a producer coming out and telling the country, "You know how sick you are of the dreck coming out of Hollywood today? Well, I'm going to make the greatest movie ever. It will have the plot and scope of Star Wars, the writing of Casablanca, and the acting talent and skill of The Godfather. It will transform how we think about movies."

Then a year after the movie was officially approved, despite only small steps in the lowest levels of production and no end to the dreck coming out of Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decides to give their "Best Picture" award to the producer simply for what they so hope to see.

There is very little positive in such an act. It increases expectations on the producer to come through on his vision, sooner rather than later, while also cheapening the overall value of the award.

The Nobel Peace Prize should be given for legitimate and honest acts to promote peace, like Theodore Roosevelt mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, not for the hope of what is still very unlikely to happen.

Really? Do tell. I voted for Obama and I believe he'll do things to better the nation, but I don't agree with this silly award. It's tainted.

And Rachel Maddow, the oh-so-agreeable talking head from the Not-FOX network? She's cute but she left out a lot about The Prize.

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Maybe they should break the award into pieces like old coins and distribute the pieces to represent its real value in some cases: two bits.

As far as I know... Hope (TM) and Change (TM)... haven't happened yet.

This is actually very embarrassing. A week after losing the Olympics in his home city (I know it wasn't his fault, but it looks terrible on his record), his failure to get the healthcare reform passed when he wanted it, and now a peace prize when he hasn't done anything notable to promote peace other than some hot air.

I actually agree with Rush Limbaugh on this one. This will be used as leverage on the global stage to prevent Obama from furthering the wars in the middle east. How can the "peace" president, who ran on ending wars and now wins a peace prize, continue to kill people over seas? It will makes foreign entanglements look even worse than they already do.

I think this nails it. It wasn't the "Nobel War Prize" after all. American foreign policy dictated by foreigners...a very questionable concept.

Because Americans have demonstrated for decades that we're really, really good at choosing wars. :lol:

I didn't realize any of the other countries were any good, either.

It's only embarrassing to the right wing that continues to be out of touch with not only this country but the rest of the world.

And these are negatives? Maybe, just maybe killing people overseas and furthering wars in the middle east are bad things.

---------- Post added at 05:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:46 AM ----------

Ok, what did she leave out?

I thought she made a pretty good case, but I still think he won it for not being GWB.

I think Rachel Maddow made a very strong case. I think Obama himself has pointed out that he doesn't think he deserves it. I also think he has taken a good approach on this as well. A call to action is a decent thing to say.

What is wrong with conservatives in America?

Whoever figures it out deserves a Nobel Prize in Medicine.

I like Obama, and like most people wanted him to win the election and want him to succeed. He is a great speaker and I think he is tryng to the right thing domestically and has rehabilitated America internationally.

I wonder how some Afghan guy who's house gets blown up by an American or British bomb feels about this man getting a peace prize though.

"Fucking ridiculous" is going straight for the partisan rhetoric the instant someone happens to disagree with you. Lighten up, Francis.

Tell me, how is it fucking ridiculous to believe that President Obama should have declined the award? Here is a list of the other nominees that Obama beat out:

• Sima Samar, women’s rights activist in Afghanistan: “With dogged persistence and at great personal risk, she kept her schools and clinics open in Afghanistan even during the most repressive days of the Taliban regime, whose laws prohibited the education of girls past the age of eight. When the Taliban fell, Samar returned to Kabul and accepted the post of Minister for Women’s Affairs.”
  
• Ingrid Betancourt: French-Colombian ex-hostage held for six years.
  
• Dr. Denis Mukwege: Doctor, founder and head of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. He has dedicated his life to helping Congolese women and girls who are victims of gang rape and brutal sexual violence.
  
• Handicap International and Cluster Munition Coalition: “These organizations are recognized for their consistently serious efforts to clean up cluster bombs, also known as land mines. Innocent civilians are regularly killed worldwide because the unseen bombs explode when stepped upon.”
  
• Hu Jia, a human rights activist and an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, who was sentenced last year to a three-and-a-half-year prison term for ‘inciting subversion of state power.’
  
• Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China’s communist system. He now lives in the United State

Still think its "fucking ridiculous" to believe Obama should have declined the Nobel? Is he more deserving than any of the aforementioned people? He should have declined the award because honorable men don't take what isn't due to them.

I get that the Nobel prize doesnt really mean much anymore after Arafat and Kissinger. And I will give you this; the folks in the Maddow clip hadn't achieved much of anything when they recieved their Nobels. BUT....they had the balls to stand up and make a call for action which could have very possibly gotten them killed. Do you really want to use them as an example as to why President Obama is deserving of the medal when he has taken absolutely no personal risks and hasn't achieved anything?

Yo, Obama, I'm really happy for you, and I'mma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best claims to a Nobel Peace prize of all time. OF ALL TIME.

I lol'd.

I think Obama is a great president, but like many of the other members say, it seems a little bit premature.

I hope in the coming 3 years President Obama lives up to his reputation.

I voted for President Obama and truly wish to see him succeed in all the programs he's trying to move forward to help the USA and the World , in general.

But I gotta admit that I was totally surprised over him receiving The Nobel Peace Award and feel it's way too soon...unless those wars in the middle east are coming to a close within the next 4 to 9 months. I'd love to see the soldiers come home soon. It's no longer worth their sacrifices.

Period.

Our soldiers have done plenty and it IS TIME for us to leave. Let "them" police their own countries. Perhaps Pres. Obama got the award because it's become "wishful thinking" among all the Nobel voters involved.

Can I get a link for this please?

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No, that's not the same logic at all.

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