Obama's Nobel Peace Prize (Now with Healthcare Reform!)

[SilverPrince offline]

Nine months into his term as President of the United States, Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".The Nobel Prize Committee highlighted efforts to promote nuclear nonproliferation (particularly in Iran), and a "new climate" in international relations fostered by Obama, especially in reaching out to the Muslim world.

I like President Obama. I admit to being towards the left on the political spectrum. But the Nobel Peace Prize? This is one of the highest, most prestigious awards that humanity can give, and President Obama was nominated for it the day after he was inaugurated. I'm no Norwegian Nobel Committee member, but I'm fairly sure that there are people more... qualified than the President to be a Nobel laureate. I mean, sure, he's talked about it quite a bit. He has every intention of doing these things. But he hasn't actually done a whole lot yet.

I know that things involving politicians can get heated. So let's not incur the Wrath of Mewâ„¢ and be civil about our discussion, m'kay?

[Sithking Zero offline]

I agree, reluctantly. I like the guy, he's a good person, but the day after he was inaugurated? That's like everyone who just saw a new CL episode rating the episode as Ten out of Ten on the Episode Discussion page (Back when we still had new episodes.)

[. offline]

I know that things involving politicians can get heated. So let's not incur the Wrath of Mewâ„¢ and be civil about our discussion, m'kay?

Racism!

[Tangent128 offline]

Even Obama seemed a bit confused.

Required meme: Yo Obama I'm really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but I have to say, that Kissinger got one of the most nonsensical Nobel victories OF ALL TIME.

[Jeremified offline]

I think it's a bit soon for him to be receiving this award, especially considering that the nominations closed two weeks after his inauguration.

[Rho offline]

Alright, so how long before PETA steps in and says he doesn't deserve it for his "insect abuse"?

[Andy Waltfeld offline]

Alright, so how long before PETA steps in and says he doesn't deserve it for his "insect abuse"?

Naw, the first liberals to poo-poo the Obama Nobel would be Al Gore and his little Venture Socialism fund, charging that he forgot to buy the requisite carbon offsets to compensate for his not-so-carbon-neutral (BKO)-kissing of Arab and South American tyrants.

[TheLQ offline]

You do have to realize that Obama has tried the hardest recently to do all those things than other presidents. That's been Obama's #1 thing: try and get the most co-country co-op.

While i don't necessarily agree that he should of won the prize, he does deserve to get it.

[TheDailyCookie offline]

I honestly think he doesn't deserve it. I mean, you don't get awarded valedictorian your Freshman year at highschool, because you say you will try and get good grades, do you? No, you don't, and that's what really happened, Obama hasn't really done anything, not yet, so why award him something that says he did, when there are tons of other hardworking people out there, who could deserve it.

[. offline]

I honestly think he doesn't deserve it. I mean, you don't get awarded valedictorian your Freshman year at highschool, because you say you will try and get good grades, do you? No, you don't, and that's what really happened, Obama hasn't really done anything, not yet, so why award him something that says he did, when there are tons of other hardworking people out there, who could deserve it.

Ghandi didn't really do anything either.

Seriously, they where beating the crap out of his guys and he told them all just to grin and bare it.

[JesusFreak offline]

I honestly think he doesn't deserve it. I mean, you don't get awarded valedictorian your Freshman year at highschool, because you say you will try and get good grades, do you? No, you don't, and that's what really happened, Obama hasn't really done anything, not yet, so why award him something that says he did, when there are tons of other hardworking people out there, who could deserve it.

Ghandi didn't really do anything either.

Seriously, they where beating the crap out of his guys and he told them all just to grin and bare it.

They could of responded with bullets.

Still, is better than Yassir Arafat's award. He agreed to a truce with Israel, and broke it almost immediately. DING! Nobel Prize!

[jym1 offline]

it's so political. The world must be severely lacking in peaceful people if that's all they could come up with.
I mean, what about Greg Mortenson (best seller Three cups of tea)

[Andy Waltfeld offline]

A quick thought on the Nobel judges' defense of the (apparently unanimous) nomination of Obama for the Peace Prize:

The four (out of five) judges who spoke on the matter claim that the nomination was within proper bounds, and intended to honor accomplishments performed over the previous year. So what did Obama do during 2008 that was Nobel-worthy? That's right - campaign for the U.S. presidency, running against lame-duck incumbent George W. Bush. (All the talk of bipartisanship should've tipped people off that he didn't consider McCain a serious contender, and neither did the Republican Party for that matter.)

This is the international community milking anti-Bush sentiments for their last vestige of value. For more on the matter, crack open the front page of your local newspaper and check if Rich Lowry's column is printed on the OP-ED page.

[Mewberries151]

Honestly, I think the whole scandal surrounding this is ridiculous.

The best take I've heard on this yet is that, to date, the Nobel Peace Prize is the only Nobel Prize that can be given <i>in advance</i> of contributions towards peace. It's sort of a "You're on the right track, and here's this prize to encourage you to keep doing what you're doing" sort of award. So all this "he hasn't earned it yet" arguing is totally moot in the face of how the prize is actually awarded.

And you know what? I believe if there's one person right now who needs a pat on the back or to hear, "Hey man, you're doing the best you can. Don't give up," it's him.

Yes there are other people who might have "deserved it more". There are /always/ people who deserve it more. The people I've seen named as "more deserving" of it are people who yes, did do a lot to spread peace, but also have either since gained media attention or become famous for their good deeds. What about the unsung thousands who do good for the sake of doing good everyday who will likely never see there names in a paper? Aren't they also deserving?

...You can start to see why this whole idea of the prize being "deserved" is silly.

Not to mention, it isn't even like Obama asked to be nominated or awarded the Nobel Prize. Other people have already said he looked very surprised to hear the news. He'd have looked like a jerk if he turned it down, and now he's getting flack for accepting it.

[oddlauren offline]

I agree with Mewberries- true, Obama hasn't done much, but he hasn't been in office for a year yet.

he was surprised and put the money toward charity. He deserves it just because of that. He could've kept all the money for himself. A lot of people I know, who are anti-Obama, seem to ignore that fact.

[JesusFreak offline]

...

Yes there are other people who might have "deserved it more". There are /always/ people who deserve it more. The people I've seen named as "more deserving" of it are people who yes, did do a lot to spread peace, but also have either since gained media attention or become famous for their good deeds. What about the unsung thousands who do good for the sake of doing good everyday who will likely never see there names in a paper? Aren't they also deserving?

...

Obama hasn't gained media attention for anything?

[Mewberries151]

...

Yes there are other people who might have "deserved it more". There are /always/ people who deserve it more. The people I've seen named as "more deserving" of it are people who yes, did do a lot to spread peace, but also have either since gained media attention or become famous for their good deeds. What about the unsung thousands who do good for the sake of doing good everyday who will likely never see there names in a paper? Aren't they also deserving?

...

Obama hasn't gained media attention for anything?

Course he has. But people have also been name-dropping other famous peacemakers as more "deserving"...which I think is a bit of an irony considering there are literal unsung thousands of people who spend their lives doing good for others and towards world peace who may never even see so much as a news camera, let alone an award (and probably don't expect to). They may never get any sort of recognition at all even though they deserve it just as much as anyone else.

[JesusFreak offline]

...

Yes there are other people who might have "deserved it more". There are /always/ people who deserve it more. The people I've seen named as "more deserving" of it are people who yes, did do a lot to spread peace, but also have either since gained media attention or become famous for their good deeds. What about the unsung thousands who do good for the sake of doing good everyday who will likely never see there names in a paper? Aren't they also deserving?

...

Obama hasn't gained media attention for anything?

Course he has. But people have also been name-dropping other famous peacemakers as more "deserving"...which I think is a bit of an irony considering there are literal unsung thousands of people who spend their lives doing good for others and towards world peace who may never even see so much as a news camera, let alone an award (and probably don't expect to). They may never get any sort of recognition at all even though they deserve it just as much as anyone else.

I see.


Btw, can you give me more examples of people who have earned the Prize in advance? I'd like a standard for this sot of thing tbh.

[Mewberries151]

Not sure what you mean by standards, since to be honest, how do you put standards on a thing like "peace"?

You can read about the nomination process here though. Yes, it's Wikipedia, but it does give a good sum-up.

As for past "controversial" recipents though, Woodrow Wilson immediately comes to mind, although admittedly that's both a poor and slightly unfair example. The League of Nations <i>was</i> a move towards peace, and it started out as a good idea, however, we all know what ended up happening there.

Henry Kissinger and Yasser Arafat are arguable examples as well, and people complained when Jimmy Carter won it back in 2002 because of all his presidency stuff (because apparently Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center for human rights aren't "peace"-ful enough). The Wiki article lists more examples as well as lists past winners so you can see for yourself how this thing works.

You can see why people complaining about this award gets tiresome. >_>;; No one's ever happy, like...75% of the time it seems.

[JesusFreak offline]

Not sure what you mean by standards, since to be honest, how do you put standards on a thing like "peace"?

You can read about the nomination process here though. Yes, it's Wikipedia, but it does give a good sum-up.

As for past "controversial" recipents though, Woodrow Wilson immediately comes to mind, although admittedly that's both a poor and slightly unfair example. The League of Nations <i>was</i> a move towards peace, and it started out as a good idea, however, we all know what ended up happening there.

Henry Kissinger and Yasser Arafat are arguable examples as well, and people complained when Jimmy Carter won it back in 2002 because of all his presidency stuff (because apparently Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center for human rights aren't "peace"-ful enough). The Wiki article lists more examples as well as lists past winners so you can see for yourself how this thing works.

You can see why people complaining about this award gets tiresome. >_>;; No one's ever happy, like...75% of the time it seems.

I'm sorry, brevity does not lend itself well to description. By "standards" I mean "Getting and award before anything happens". Obama was, like, a week or two in office when he was nominated. Is his mere presence in the UN enough to quell all the world's issues?

[Andy Waltfeld offline]

...and people complained when Jimmy Carter won it back in 2002 because of all his presidency stuff (because apparently Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center for human rights aren't "peace"-ful enough).

Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center would have won it for him in the long term, but he got it in '02 because his voice was the loudest that spoke out against Dubya.

I'm honestly appalled that my last post has gone unnoticed for so long. WHETHER HE DESERVED THE '09 PRIZE OR NOT, OBAMA ISN'T THE ONE AT FAULT.

[JesusFreak offline]

...and people complained when Jimmy Carter won it back in 2002 because of all his presidency stuff (because apparently Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center for human rights aren't "peace"-ful enough).

Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center would have won it for him in the long term, but he got it in '02 because his voice was the loudest that spoke out against Dubya.

I'm honestly appalled that my last post has gone unnoticed for so long. WHETHER HE DESERVED THE '09 PRIZE OR NOT, OBAMA ISN'T THE ONE AT FAULT.

I didn't ignore it. Sorry that I didn't respond to it.

So... this is my opinion on the Matter:
1) Obama did the right thing accepting the prize and donating the cash to a charity
2) It's the Commitee's fault, not his.

There.

[Mewberries151]

Not sure what you mean by standards, since to be honest, how do you put standards on a thing like "peace"?

You can read about the nomination process here though. Yes, it's Wikipedia, but it does give a good sum-up.

As for past "controversial" recipents though, Woodrow Wilson immediately comes to mind, although admittedly that's both a poor and slightly unfair example. The League of Nations <i>was</i> a move towards peace, and it started out as a good idea, however, we all know what ended up happening there.

Henry Kissinger and Yasser Arafat are arguable examples as well, and people complained when Jimmy Carter won it back in 2002 because of all his presidency stuff (because apparently Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center for human rights aren't "peace"-ful enough). The Wiki article lists more examples as well as lists past winners so you can see for yourself how this thing works.

You can see why people complaining about this award gets tiresome. >_>;; No one's ever happy, like...75% of the time it seems.

I'm sorry, brevity does not lend itself well to description. By "standards" I mean "Getting and award before anything happens". Obama was, like, a week or two in office when he was nominated. Is his mere presence in the UN enough to quell all the world's issues?

S'okay. "Criteria" is honestly the only better word that I can think of off-hand but again, I was more just commenting on the general idea of comparing one movement towards peace against another. Sorry if I came off as passive aggressive or something. ^^;

And @ Andy Waltfeld, your post didn't go unnoticed. I quite rightly agreed with your opinion of Obama not being at fault, whether or not he deserved the award aside. ...I just...failed to do a direct quote reply. ^^;

[SearchingLyoko offline]

I personally think he should have done at least a BIT more...

Now, if the troops were being pulled out of the middle-east and the Healthcare debate was being settled... THEN I'd be all for it...

But... yeah... it's not a "bad" thing. He's not "undeserving" of it...

He just hasn't reached that spot yet....

It's like a user with only 70 posts getting into BKO... you haven't actually gotten there.. so you shouldn't get in yet... you should get in, when you get 5 more posts, but you shouldn't get in just yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Btw... while I'm on this subject...

Mewberries, you being an admin, I sent you a PM of my request for entering the BKO now that I have all my requirements... would you please check that out?

*manages to stay off topic and get personal errands done... pure genius or just annoying?*

[Andy Waltfeld offline]

It's like a user with only 70 posts getting into BKO... you haven't actually gotten there.. so you shouldn't get in yet... you should get in, when you get 5 more posts, but you shouldn't get in just yet.

I still say it's more like getting into BKO with 70 posts because Mewberries likes how you insulted (insert other forumer here). Now you're not only unaccomplished, but you're getting preferential treatment based on something that isn't merit. And that's called "corruption", kiddies.