The Nob-Ama Peace Prize
I am about as firm an Obama supporter as anyone out there.
I think he's got the potential of being one of the greatest Presidents of all time, and this from a man who supported Clinton as far as I could (what can I say, I'm from Arkansas).
Generally, when people knock Obama I rush to his defense, since I know he has an incomprehensibly difficult job. I have trouble juggling my business, a few side businesses, a wife, daughter, and hobbies. I can't imagine adding the ability to trigger a nuclear bomb with my cell phone to that list.
And yes, the President really has a nuclear bomb he can detonate from his cell phone.
So, you would think the word of Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize would fill me with the proverbial 'hope'...but it doesn't.
Surprisingly, I don't think he deserves it just yet. I think it's premature.
Remember when I said he has the potential to being one of the greatest Presidents? It's just that: potential. The Right Wing criticisms don't mean anything to me, they'd have been mad if he turned it down, too. I think Cornell West was right: it's hard to be Commander In Chief of the deadliest fighting force of all time (cell phone nukes???) and simultaneously be the world's top peace maker.
I know, he was nominated for the prize before he won the election, but anyone who thinks one has got nothing to do with the other is fooling themselves. It's true that he has taken the US off of the 'Armageddon 2010' path we were on, and he has also reintroduced diplomacy to our arsenal.
I think he's hard working, disciplined, and as honest as his position allows him to be. But still, not ready for the Nobel Peace Prize.
It is my hope that he really does view this as a call to action, although I don't think it's possible for his head to be any more level than it already is. Of course, maybe I'm looking at this all wrong; maybe the fact that he reintroduced dialogue and reason back into the White House IS the biggest act of peace making in the world today. I guess time will tell.
I never heard what exactly he got it for. Was it something specific? I'm not against him getting one, but just handing them out willy nilly cheapens the award.
Reply to this
I don't know that he got it for any specific thing.
The Nobel Committee is pretty secretive about it, they don't even release the list of nominees for 50 years after the Prize is awarded.
So a group of people decided the work he'd done prior to becoming President made him the top peace maker on earth.
I suppose he DID unite the majority of the planet during the campaign in the hope that things could get better, and that is worthy of recognition. Of course, he gets to be President and there is no higher recognition than that!
Reply to this
Well, however he got it, I can say this. As much as I dislike most of his policies and politics, I'm glad to see diplomacy considered as a viable option.
I don't know if Bush(es) were warmongers or if they got that label unfairly, but I do know that the foreign perception of Bush II was not good, and that made the US weak.
Reply to this