He’s Only the Fourth President to Win the Award
Obama wins the Nobel Prize: For world peace or Miller Time? (Photo: flickr.com)
Theodore Roosevelt (1906), Woodrow Wilson (1919) and Jimmy Carter (2002) preceded him in winning. Now President Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize. This time, however, some people are skeptical. The Norwegian Nobel Committee says he won due to his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” but it remains to be seen whether his nuclear disarmament efforts will bear fruit. And with the rate at which taxpayer dollars are being used to bail nearly everything and everyone one, we may need a short term personal loan or two to fund the missile disposal.
Jump the Shark Lately?
If you ask the Taliban (and I know they’re the first people most of us consult in matters of peace), Obama’s choice as the Nobel Peace Prize recipient is questionable. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid exclaimed to Reuters via telephone, “The Nobel prize for peace? Obama should have won the ‘Nobel Prize for escalating violence and killing civilians.’” Of course, you can’t please everyone all the time. But perhaps we should have waited to see if peace is the actual result before giving President Obama the award. That’s reasonable, and I’m not Taliban.
Some World Leaders Agree
Japanese President Yukio Hatoyama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel appear to look at the Obama Nobel Prize from the standpoint of possible future gains. They think it should encourage other nations to assist him in achieving the nuclear disarmament goal.
Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat sees it as a sign for the Middle East that peace in their time is possible. He’d like to see a return to the Israel/Palestine borders that existed in 1967, where Israel would withdraw and Palestine would be left to exist as an independent state with Jerusalem as the capital city. As Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak sees it, the Obama Nobel Prize should enhance the America president’s ability “to contribute to establishing regional peace in the Middle East and a settlement between us and the Palestinians that will bring security, prosperity and growth to all the peoples of the region.” Just exactly where the lines in the sand would be drawn with such a settlement tends to fuel the flame of conflict, however. We’ll see what Obama can do there, if anything.
Hamas Has a Bone to Pick
What a shocker! Despite Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck’s contention Barack Hussein Obama is a pal of radical Islam, Hamas is up in arms over the Obama Nobel Prize. I hope Glenn doesn’t see what they’re saying about Obama’s policy, because he may not have enough tears to go around. Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told Reuters that “(Unless U.S. policy changes regarding) recognizing the rights of the Palestinian people, I would think such a prize would be useless.”
“Waiting For Deeds, Not Words”
That’s what Lebanese Hezbollah parliament member Hassan Fadallah had to say about the Obama Nobel Prize. Unfortunately, that’s what many Americans are saying about President Obama on the domestic front so far, but I’m willing to give him more time. Being president is just among the toughest jobs imaginable, and for that reason I’m not quite so willing as some to jump on the “bash George Bush” bandwagon as others. President Obama certainly doesn’t lack in oratory skills, but I believe we need to let the sand of time pass before we even begin to talk about his legacy. I still think he’s in his “probationary period,” to use corporate talk. There’s much to do in a world gripped by financial difficulty.
But Expectations Are Rising
Will the Obama Nobel Prize raise the pressure on America’s president? Irene Khan of Amnesty International thinks so. “We look to him for decisive action to pursue peace with justice in the Middle East, end the rollback on human rights in the name of counter terrorism and reinforce the fight against poverty at a time of economic crisis,” she said.
Other notable world figures like Poland’s Lech Walesa and South Africa’s Desmond Tutu see promise in Obama, but they tend to agree that we need to see how things play out.
What Won Obama the Nobel Prize?
To cast so levity on the Obama Nobel Prize situation, humorist Andy Borowitz wrote that it was “Beergate” that tipped the tap. The beer summit between President Obama, Henry Louis Gates and James Crowley (invite Aleister and you would have had a different summit altogether) supposedly swayed the Nobel Prize Committee. In Borowitz’s version of events, a Nobel official claimed that “someone brought up the beer summit, and we all agreed that that was awesome.” Not only that, but it was “a tribute to the healing power of beer.”
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So long as you aren’t going to drive or operate heavy machinery and you have a vital political summit to host, perhaps the healing power of hops can set you to stepping. If recessionary economics set upon your budget, perhaps a short term personal loan can help with the morning after.
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The point of a Nobel Prize is supposed to be what you have done, not what you've said you want to do. Heck, I want to do everything – win an Oscar, a Grammy, the Super Bowl, and the World Cup myself – but what I WANT to do has nothing to with what I HAVE done.
Quite frankly, Obama hasn't done much- he can go ahead and have talks, multilateral or unilateral or otherwise with whoever he wants, but until the aims of them are realized talks are meaningless. If any President right now deserves a Peace Prize, believe it or not it's Bill Clinton. Slick Willy went to North Korea and negotiated successfully for the release of those two journalists. Meanwhile, N. Korea and Iran continue to test missiles. Yeah, he deserves a Nobel Prize, if they had one for being all hat and no cattle.
I think the Nobel Prize is an honor for the President, he was very gracious about accepting it.
IT IS A GREAT HONOR TO HAVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE BESTOWED ON AN INDIVIDUAL WHO LIVES HIS LIFE PROMOTING PEACE AND HARMONY, LIKE JESUS CHRIST DID. REMEMBER, JESUS WAS HANGED ON A CROSS FOR HIS PEACE EFFORTS. HE DID NOT OPEN SCHOOLS, BUT TAUGHT IN THEM, DID NOT PREACH HATE AND TELL JOKES ABOUT WHAT OTHERS ARE NOT DOING, BUT RATHER TALK PEACE AND TRUTH TO ALL WHO WOULD LISTEN. THE KEY IN THE LAST SENTENCE IS ALL WHO WOULD LISTEN. IT TAKES ONE MAN'S WORD TO SPARK A CONVERSATION, WHICH SPARKS A MOVEMENT THAT WOULD CHANGE PEOPLE'S THOUGHTS. PEOPLE'S POSITIVE THOUGHTS WOULD LEAD TO MORE POSITIVE ACTIONS IN THE WORLD. THE MAN DOES NOT NEED TO BUILD MONUMENTS, WAVE A MAGICAL WAND LIKE IN A DISNEY MOVIE AND MAKE ALL OF OUR VERY BAD DECISIONS AND ACTIONS DISAPPEAR IN SECONDS OR DAYS. IT TAKES COURAGE AND STRENGTH FROM GOD TO NEVER GIVE UP ON PUSHING PEOPLE TO BE THEIR BEST (INSTEAD OF RIDICULING EACH OTHER FOR A JOB LESS THAN WELL DONE OR NOT DONE AT ALL), PROMOTE AND DEMAND POSITIVE ACTIONS FROM ALL PEOPLE (NOT YOUR NEGATIVE COMMENTS AND APATHY), AND PURSUE PEACE REGARDLESS OF THE NAYSAYERS. OBAMA HAS DONE AN OUTSTANDING JOB OF THIS (PROMOTING PEACE FOR YOU NEGATIVE COMEDIANS), AND WE AS AMERICANS SHOULD BE PROUD OF THE FACT THAT THE WORLD'S NATIONS ARE LOOKING AT US NOW IN A (WAYYYYYYYYYYYY) MORE POSITIVE LIGHT. THE FACT THAT SO MANY PEOPLE ON THIS COMMENTARY ARE CRITICAL OF HIM RECEIVING THIS AWARD TELLS ME THAT THEY HAVE MORE TO DO WITH THEIR TIME THAN PROMOTE PEACE IN THIS WORLD. YOU NAYSAYERS ARE THE REASON WHY AMERICA IS FALLING, NOT PRESIDENT OBAMA. STOP BRINGING US DOWN WITH YOUR SHORTSIGHTEDNESS, AND START SHOWING AMERICA HOW YOU CAN AND DO MAKE A POSITIVE IMPRINT IN THIS WORLD WITH YOUR CHARITABLE ACTIONS (INSTEAD OF YOUR BLAND, NEGATIVE COMMENTS THAT LEAD TO NOWHERE). JESUS CHRIST WAS KNOWN FOR SPREADING THE WORD OF GOD, NOT BUIDING MONUMENTS AND RAISING AND CLOSING WARS MAN PRODUCED. NO DOUBT, HE WAS THE MOST POSITIVE MAN IN HISTORY, PERIOD. DO AS JESUS DID, NOT AS NAYSAYERS COMPLAIN ABOUT. YOU NAYSAYERS WILL NEVER BE HAPPY WITH OBAMA, REGARDLESS OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS. I PRAY HE NEVER LISTENS TO YOU AND GIVE IN TO YOUR WILLS, BUT CONTINUES TO BE THE POWERFUL VESSEL OF GOD, PROMOTING PEACE WHEREVER HE GOES AND LIVING A HOLY LIFESTYLE IN THE EYES OF GOD, IN JESUS NAME, AMEN.
It's not about what Obama has done; it's about the goals and plans that he has put in place to form a better future for all of us. Of course, we have not seen any drastic improvement since he's taken office, but we've definitely witnessed a lot of action. I've heard people complain about the president, demanding to know exactly what has he done to bring change to America. However, they fail to consider the genuine fact that it's going to take a lot of time and teamwork to straighten this mess out. Obama alone cannot bring this change. It is us, the people, who have the power to make the greater change for a better tomorrow. Congratulations to Obama for winning the Nobel Prize Award 2009!