I am honored to report the happy news....President Barack Obama is the winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize! I about fell out of my chair when the story broke. What a proud moment for American! What an accomplishment for a man who has held the office of presidency for such a short time! Rock on, Barack!

Previous U.S. presidents/vice presidents to be given the Nobel Peace Prize include: Theodore Roosevelt (1906), Woodrow Wilson (1919), Jimmy Carter (2002), vice president Al Gore (2007).

He was in office less than two weeks and received this award. Many will find this unacceptable and totally political. Watch for the whining to begin.

He would be controversial no matter what but apparently he must have won because of accomplishments before his election as president, the primary one being preventing the election of another George W. Bush.

Bush couldn't have been re-elected. And even if that were the case, shouldn't we, the poeple who voted for Obama, get the award? We're the reason he's in office.

Last time I checked, the 22nd Amendment precluded Bush from being re-elected. Based on the fact that Obama had been president 12 days before nominations for this prize had to be submitted, and based on what Bill W. in another thread has stated, Obama didn't deserve this, for he has accomplished nothing yet. (Hopefully he will.)

Ummm, the Constitution prevented the re-election of Bush, not Obama. I think Obama has the potential to be a great President. If nothing else, if he's truly able to reform health care and provide millions more with coverage that may be enough to justify the award in the future. But now? Come on, this was a political statement by the Nobel committee, and in the process they have degraded their own award and embarrased the recipient rather than honored him.

Thank you for the corrections guys. I have altered the offending post.

Why? As a man, who does not want his presidency defined by foreign policy, this seems an odd choice. And it shows the Nobel Prize Committee to be nothing more than blatantly political. All previous US presidents who have received the award accomplished something vis a vis world peace. Indeed all recipients have. Obama has yet to accomplish anything tangible. It makes the award appear meaningless!

Perhaps Obama-haters can take solace from this report from FoxNews which conveniently ends with the observation that "Controversial nominees, meanwhile, have included Adolf Hitler, Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin and Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini."

There. Happy?

I love it! Can't wait for the right wing numbnuts start foaming from the mouth. That alone is worth the prize.

I totally agree with you, MM.

I like and admire him as a person.
The jury is still out IMO as far as how good a President he will be....way to early to judge...
Not sure about this Nobel Prize thing, tho....

Be on the lookout for Kanye West who will probably try to steal the prize and give it to Beyonce.....

Wow, just when I thought the world had almost run out of ways to reward the guy just for simply NOT being GWB, the world finds another way to out-do itself...in a big way, this time. But what a way to tarnish the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize itself in the process, by dismissing the hard work of many who truly deserve it more, and looking pathetically political.

Who will be next? The next popular leader of a big country who replaces a woefully unpopular one? Wow, what an accomplishment.

I expect there will be a more vicious and uncooperative response from Glenn Beck of Fox News than from the Taliban.

Fortunately Glenn Beck has not figured out how to use a gun to accomplish his goals, without getting caught.

Hopefully Obama will not allow the hyperbole of either to influence his decision about whether to put more USA troops in to harms way in the Pakghanistan sinkhole.

Nor should it deter him from seeking a longer term solution in the Palisraeli mess. Though that is certainly the tougher - if not unrelated - nut to crack. That situation ironically was once also addressed by the first person of color to win the Nobel Peace Prize Ralph Bunche, whose name I first heard in my segregated elementary school and later from a black teacher in my then-recently desegregated high school.

As for the ridiculous claims of some (including the Taliban) that men of war - which Obama is as commander-in-chief of the USA armed forces during the prosecution of two of them - should not win a peace prize: General George C. Marshall also received the award for his work with the Red Cross. Obama sought peace in Chicago's native warzones.

What has Obama accomplished to deserve this prize? Has he helped to broker a peace treaty as TR did? Did he play the same role as WW in formulating a way to end a world war? Has he accomplished bringing Arabs and Israelis together in any tangible accord, and then spent the rest of his life calling attention to poverty, focusing attention on the need for peace in the Middle East, and beginning the process by which Latin American dictatorships crumbled, as has Jimmy Carter?

I'm not an Obama-hater. I would welcome his choice, if he merits it. But he hasn't. He may follow in the footsteps of Albert Schweitzer, MLK, Jr, Andrei Sakharov, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, Sadat and Begin, Mother Teresa, Lech Walesa, Mikhail Gorbachev, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela. To date, how has he equalled their accomplishments?

Oh, yes, this will influence what he decides on Afghanistan. The Taliban, which gave comfort and aid to El Qaeda, which forced the burkha on women, and which killed gay men for being gay, will come back to power.

Let the accolades continue...but where's the beef!

Of course the award was political. It is by its very nature. The Nobel Committtee frequently use the award to highlight issue/people. Giving it to the Dalai Lama was meant to focus attention on Tibet and of course to piss off China. Its not like the DL did anything to cause peace in Tibet. Their own example this morning was Gorbachov to encourage opening up of Soviet Union. They wished to encourage Obamas stated aims in dealing with foreign nations which is a big change in how the previous administrations dealt with the world, and which has already resulted in a better view of the US around the world. That can only help in the US pursuit of peace in the worlds hot spot.
Congratulations Mr President.

Thank you sib! I like your take on it. Well said & understood.

The Dalai Lama won it after years of struggle with the People's Republic of China for human rights in Tibet. Gorbachev won it in 1990 after the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, which he initiated with his policy of Glasnost and Perestroika begun five years before when he became General Secretary of the USSR.

Obama has begun a process that may lead to grand accomplishments. But he's not there yet.

Neda Agha Soltan should have been awarded it posthumously. That would have been a greater symbolic gesture.

The view of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Even though he is new in office, the Norwegian committee said that Mr Obama had already managed to create "a new climate in international politics".

It said in its citation: "Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations.

"Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened."


It went on: "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.

"For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman."


After 8 years of the worlds superpower saying its our way or the highway and we dont care about global opinion, giving the world at least a sense of respect andhope for a better future seems worth the recognition, but yes he now has even more to live up to. I pray that he lives to fulfill these high expectations and serve out his presidency. Some will hate him no matter what while others will love him unquestionably, I just want him to succeed for all our benefit. So again Mr President, Congratulations.

WOW...Obama's achievement is a repudiation of his predecessor!

Now that he has achieved this, where does he go from here? This may be more of an albatross than a blessing!

Funny...I'm reminded of some lyrics from Evita;

Cue Elaine Paige or Patti LuPone:

High flying, adored
What happens now, where do you go from here?

This is ridiculous. Not for or about Obama....he didn't campaign for it or anything. Instead, he is in the unfortunate position of being praised these people. At this point in his administration, I think he's wishing the praise would have been elsewhere. I'm mean, like he needs any more criticism for not doing what others think he needs to do. Like he needs another label to live up to. Isn't messiah enough?

He didn't need this as he still is making hard decisions regarding the wars.

Always thought the Nobel prizes were a tremendous honor. This is on par with a Jackson Family Honor.

I find this thread interesting especially considering the fact that Americans are being the most critical of him being awarded the NPP versus those outside the US who believe that he deserved it.

Don't get wrong I LOVE His Holiness' struggle for HR & independence in & for Tibet but what has he really accomplished (other than public awareness)? It still is a struggle, plus he's still living in exile. Just sayin...

Only in a hate-filled America would people be insulting a president who won a Nobel Peace Prize. What a shameful display. We ought to be proud of this honor -- especially after eight years of a president who basically told the rest of the world to take a hike.

I like Obama but think this award to him is premature. He has only been in office 10 months and has not done anything significant to broker peace. I don't believe he had done anything special prior to the election either. Perhaps it was just a ho-hum year in the field of candidates and the people voting for him wanted to make a splash. But if he was chosen mearly as a repudiation of Bush #2 then one might argue Clinton should have received one to repudiate Bush #1.

Agreed! We should be proud Americans (to steal from the right) but...

I'm in the camp that believes that perhaps Americans might just underestimate the damage that Dubyah & his admin did to not only the image of America but also the literal damage that his admin did to world relations & planetary harm. Just my humble opinion.

I truly believe that Americans can't understand, nor deal w/, the gravity of what the US stood for under Bush. This country was reviled & still is but to a much lesser degree BECUZ of Obama. Again, just saying...

Edit:

& trust me I only say the above becuz I have many friends from outside the country who unanimously reminded me about how much the US was hated under Bush.

Ummm...did Obama campaign for this award? No. He was nominated and selected. So the whining right needs to blame the committee for selecting him to win the award, instead of going after the man. I was shocked by it and don't think he's deserving of it either. But, as was said...its often times an affirmation of one's ideology and movement towards wanting to work together to create peace. I congratulate him on the award, but I do think it complicates things.

Cornel West said it best tonight on Real Time with Bill Maher. You've won the award, but you are a Commander in Chief with 2 wars going on....thats a problem. Also, you've won the award and you have a decision to prosecute those who are guilty of torture...thats a problem.

Now me personally...I go back and forth on the issue of torture. On one hand...torture has been a part of war since the beginning of time. Its WAR people...its not a paintpall competition for the hell of it. I think there are some things that we as citizens don't need to know when it comes to national security. The whole wiretapping issue I have a problem with, but at the end of the day I'm not doing any shady shit so whatever. The larger issue is that Big Brother seems to just keep expanding and pretty soon we're not going to be able to do anything without there being some kind of trace of it. That is a problem. I don't have an issue with wiretapping so long as they are tapping who they need to be and not using any information that has nothing to do with protecting my ass. This is where I think I can be a bit more conservative in my thinking because quite frankly I don't give a shit if you are getting waterboarded when you have ties and are linked to organizations that want to kill thousands of Americans. Then the other part of me says that we must lead by example and adhere to previous resolutions that prohibit torture. Its a slippery slope.

But, congratulations to President Obama. The Rush's and Glenn Beck's of the world can go f**k themselves, and they need to criticize the committee if they have an issue with it and not Obama. I wish I could've seen their reaction when they first heard. I'm surprised their heads didn't explode.

Kjære Barrack,

Takk for at du ikke er George W. Bush.

Kjærlighet,
Den Norske Nobelkomite

P.S. Sjekken er i euro.

So assuming the Norwegian Peace Prize committee is a group of five men who vote democratically - or more likely parliamentarily by elimination - on the winner, we can assume there are at least three old retired white elitist Scandinavians who have a boner for a kinda cute half-black skinny big-eared American who's young enough to be their son.

Clearly a case of euro-lefty homosexual child-molesting perversion.

Is that your Kjære Barack story?

I like this article about this topic.

Obama's own reaction to the award displayed true grit, or more precisely, humility. I give him a great deal of credit for that.

And, yes, words are as important as deeds at times.

But I prefer honoring accomplishments, rather than the promise of one. To do so, otherwise, cheapens the honor!

As for the commentary in the LA Times, well Wilson was honored for his achievement in formulating a way out of the First World War and laying the groundwork for the League of Nations. Dawes was honored for his achievement in averting disaster, which could have included the resumption of WWI, by reconfiguring reparations. They were words matched by deeds. Then again, looked what happened to the League of Nations and war, far worse than the Great War, broke out in 1939.

Yes, Americans may not recognize how Obama's election and administration has changed the world's perception of the US. Nonetheless, the Nobel Peace Prize may not confer a guarantee of the success of any winner's aspirations:
Dangerous Prize

Now that was funny!

I just heard a snippet of the speech by Dan Choi at the GLBT march on Washington.

I can say without much doubt that he would get a Nobel Prize for defense of gay rights if such a thing existed and if I had anything to say about it.

One could make a lot of arguments for the accomplishments of others recently or in the past. But it is the hope that his speech inspires and the courage he has shown in coming out under the fire of hypocrites -within and without the gay community and within and without the military - that sets him before the others.

Obama made a campaign speech in arguably the most racist and dangerous environment imaginable in this country when he went to Dallas near the site where Kennedy was assassinated, and at a time when the campaign was turning most racist, and donning the very symbol of Texas' exceptionalist culture - the white cowboy hat.

Many among us do not realize the true risk he took or the courage he displayed; the eloquence under fire.

Maybe it takes wise people outside the influence of the cesspool that our political culture has become to realize how important it is that someone among us has tried to reclaim our goal as the last best hope of man.

The concept of "tarnishing" the Peace Prize has been a hilarious one since Henry Kissinger, who helped murder millions of people in Southeast Asia, was given one in the 1970s. (I'm sure he's upset, as Obama's forces have only killed a few hundred civilians since January.)

Nothing to see here, folks, except the equivalent of that Best Actress Oscar to Helen Hunt.

Plenty to see here folks, as the most powerful man on the planet, President Barack Obama, wins probably the most prestigious award, bestowed upon him after only a short time in office. Any true American would be honored that a sitting president won the award...I know I am!

What about President Obama declining the award? Telling them that there is much to do to bring about peace (he could be speaking about Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, Chicago, or in other ways)...and that one day he hopes to have earned this prestigious commendation.

Think that might take some unnecessary pressure off him...and yet push a little those around him to recognize that he can't do things alone. Because, the truth is, he can't. Might actually have more impact to show he's not as interested in commendations but rather in accomplishments. Particularly in the arena of "peace".

He could instead point to some people in Rwanda as appropriate recipients, who have demonstrated over many years now how to live in peace even after such horrible atrocities. Or some people in Nigeria, who have been working for years to bring peace between Muslims and Christians there.

millerbeach (presuming your entire persona is just not a parody of a bubblehead), I think I'll just quote Charles Ives: "Awards are for children. I'm an adult."

Do you really expect one of the vainest presidents to ever hold office would decline something like this?

No, I don't. But I think it would be better for him not to be a NPP recipient at this point. He doesn't need it to convince the euroleftists that he's the messiah. And it gains him nothing with those who think he's the anti-christ. Not that he should be chasing either of them...but there's a vast middle group that can be influenced. And the NPP at this point is not a help for him in actually building coalitions, developing policies and involvement by stakeholders, in actually bringing peace to Chicago and elsewhere.

Thought he might be smart enough to use this in a way different from business as usual.

I don't disagree with you, but I do think he is so incredibly vain, with such a huge ego, that he wouldn't even think of declining acceptance of this award.

And just what do you think declining the Nobel Peace Prize would have gained him either domestically or internationally. My guess is the people who are slamming him for being given the award by the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee would also slam him for declining this international honour.
This is a minor tempest in a teapot that will likely go away after he accepts the award and gives his speech in Oslo in December.

Leaving aside the obvious irony that you, of all people on this board, would be calling out somebody for their ego or vanity, what President or high ranking elected official isn't vain or doesn't have a huge ego? And which President or prominent person do you think would have turned down the honor? I mean, let's say they gave it to Limbaugh or O'Reilly or Cheney or Palin or any of the others who have griped and whined about Obama winning...do you think any of them would have said no? And really, who cares? In the grand scheme of things, it is totally meaningless. The money will be donated to charity. Obama didn't campaign for this, he didn't win an essay contest. A group of 5 Norwegian nobodies decided they wanted some attention and publicity and gave an award to one of the most famous and important figures in the world...how is THIS Obama's fault?

And while Obama doesn't deserve the award, he's even less deserving of the ridiculous and endless bitching about it.

I suppose in your book Norway - with all other "small" nations of the world - is a lot lesser country than the US, and that's what makes the Norwegian Nobel committee also a mere bunch of nobodies, as opposed to the "most famous and important figures in the world".

Anyhow, those nobodies have the duty and privilege to say who will get the annual Nobel Peace Price, and it's only up to the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) to take that away from them. It is the right of every individual to decide how high a value he or she is willing to give to that price. If it is worth nothing, then just ignore the whole thing.

My guess is that the Committee does not need to hunt for attention and publicity, they are granted to get that no matter how famous and important their pick is before the award.

In my personal opinion this year's award was certainly premature. On the other hand, I hope it will add pressure on Mr Obama to live and act up to the expectations of the small nations of the world. It was those expectations the Nobel Price Committee also wanted to emphasize with their decision to make this the first Nobel Prize ever to be awarded to somebody before he had actually deserved it.

Personally, I would never associate the word "peace" with Barack Obama.

Not sure who you were addressing with this response. Because I didn't slam Obama. I said he did not campaign for this==this isn't his doing. But.........he could have made a surprising decision himself and declined the award. What would that have gained? No way to be definite in answering that, but it might have sent a clear message that he thinks there's too much work to be done...and giving out awards at this point is distracting and premature.

As a poor example, wouldn't select the MVP for the current NFL season at this point. Or the Heisman winner at this point. As much as the talking sports heads talk about it every week, and sound so definite about it. And there are actors who have declined "lifetime" achievement awards because they were still in their careers, not finished (can't think of the one definite one I read about years ago...might have been Katharine Hepburn).

Obama might not have gained anything, were he to have declined. But, again, he might have sent a "this is not business as usual" message that he's not interested in commendations for work he hasn't done. But rather results. He didn't cause the problems in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, Chicago..he inherited them. But he hasn't "solved" them at this point either.

[quote]millerbeach (presuming your entire persona is just not a parody of a bubblehead), I think I'll just quote Charles Ives: "Awards are for children. I'm an adult."

Gee, Bill W., sorry that you're so upset about Obama winning a very prestigious award. I feel badly for you, since you find the need to take personal swipes at me and my "persona". Really, that's the best you can do? It isn't even funny. Aside from the bitter betties out there, I still think it is wonderful that Obama won. I find it ironic you quote someone saying they are an adult...I wonder sometimes if you are.

Does it hurt much?

From one of my fave political blogs:



http://dennisperrin.blogspot.com/2009/10/a...d-is-nobel.html

Just another Obama Groupie.

Bet he has the lapel pin too.

He's pretty hot.



Our country had already done so much to destabilize the world and further increase tensions after 9/11 that merely eliminating the cause of the bleeding by preventing the Repubs from retaining the presidency was a massive improvement in itself.

I suppose it could have gone to Bush for not being able to be re-elected.