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Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize?Barack Obama wins Nobel
You managed somehow to leave out some names in your list of terrorists that have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Henry Kissinger, Menachem Begin. Wouldn’t it be nice if Obama based his Oslo speech on Ossietzky’s “Soldiers are murderers”? Don’t ask who Ossietzky was now (another Nobel Peace laureate of course), I won’t start a thread on him. 
 Barack Obama wins Nobel
I also left out the convicted terrorist bomber Nelsen Mandela. So what's your point? My point is you should actually DO something to earn it or it is nothing more than an ideological left-wing stamp of approval. It's "feel good" politics at its best! Substance is optional. Mike,
Here's a rather big
Mike, Here's a rather big bone, revel in it, it will probably be a long time before you get another...from me anyways. Obama's Presidency has been a catastrophe, you were right, we were wrong. Noble Prize for peace? For doing what exactly? What a joke.
Mike,
Here's a rather big
Even I don't condemn the Obama presidency as a catastrophe...yet. But he is starting to look a lot like Lyndon Johnson. When he saddles us with "free" healthcare and starts picking targets from the white house rose garden, I will concede it is a catastrophe. Until then, thanks for the bone! I will savor the victory as long as possible. Barack Obama wins Nobel
Wow, Chris, is Obama not coming up to your expectations? What were your expectations then? I am not disappointed at all, I must admit. A bit of information on the Nobel Prize Committee, first the positive point: In 1976 they awarded Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, although they hadn’t achieved much by then. It was meant as a signal that it was about time somebody achieved peace in Northern Ireland, in other words support for a very weak movement that needed support badly. Possibly this year’s decision is meant as a “It’s about time that somebody tackles nuclear disarmament and the Israel/Palestine conflict”. Another thing: they have always tended to award a left-winger and a right-winger every other year. Last year’s award went to a social-democrat, so this year they had to hit on somebody who is centre-right. Probably they couldn’t think of any other right-winger who could be somehow connected with the word “peace” and, frankly, I can’t either. The decision is very, er, couragious, though. Let's hope the honour influences Obama. Barack Obama wins Nobel
Where's Tom Lehrer when you need him? Barack Obama wins Nobel
Momo, What is it you're admitting? That having no expectations means never having to be disappointed? That you enjoy wearing your cynicism as a badge? Barack Obama wins Nobel
Chris, you are exaggerating. Low expectations, not no expectations. And I don’t think more cynicism than necessary. Obama is a politician in one of the two US mainstream parties: did you really expect he wants to change much? The political spectrum in the US is so narrow, there isn’t room for anything I would call change. Even if you think he wants to, there are some limits to change: The US’ interests haven’t changed, the internal balance of power hasn’t changed much (because that means much more than is elected), and the staff in the administration (a few thousand people) hasn’t either. Obama’s policy these last months is more or less what I expected, and that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t made me angry from time to time (and don’t forget he’s been in Europe in April, trampling on all our toes), but your disappointment is somewhat out of proportion. If you expected the socialist revolution Mike has always warned you of, you are right to be disappointed. I didn’t, and I don’t think it’s cynical to say so. Barack Obama wins Nobel
I'm surprised you had expectations Chris. Did you really think the Democratic establishment would allow anyone who was really going to change things to stand? Not a chance. Barack Obama wins Nobel
BigC He had his chance for small successes (to be built upon later) early in his Presidency when he had all the leverage. His ego and naivety made him think he could reason with the Republicans, and so he tried the reach across the aisle to shake their hands rather than to squeeze their necks. This leverage is long gone and Republicans now smell the blood of a fool and are in no mood to be pushed around. Barack Obama wins Nobel
Momo, If I'm exaggerating it's because you're not being clear. Am I to understand then that Obama has met some of your low expectations? I mean if you're not disappointed what else am I to infer? What exactly were these expectations, if you don't mind my asking? In my opinion, Obama is not only failing to live up to the most modest of expectations, he is proving to be a complete failure in every aspect of his Presidency. I wait patiently for your list of his accomplishments, even if they are modest. Barack Obama wins Nobel
What’s the job of the US president, Chris? Keep up US hegemony all over the world and make sure that their companies can make profits. There are some degrees though. Obama told us quite peremptorily that Turkey must be allowed to join the EU, but he didn’t add threats and the “with us or against us” stuff. He is a bit puzzled by some cultures, but I am quite confident not by all of them, and he is trying. Probably it’s not known in the English-speaking world what beautiful remarks he made about the, umm, Austrian language. Very insightful, and it was meant very friendly (and that’s important!). Charming manners. In short, he is no Bush, and that’s something to be grateful for. Now I’ve answered your question patiently, although I had been first to ask a question: what were your expectations? Barack Obama wins Nobel
its rough having a popular president. Barack Obama wins Nobel
Are you sure it is, Candace? If Bush had said the same thing, we would have laughed much louder, you wouldn’t have failed to notice it then. As it is we have been very polite about it. You have a popular president, yes, by far the best one one could hope for, but he is still the US president, and that means Chris shouldn’t have had too many illusions.
"Charming manners. In short,
"Charming manners. In short, he is no Bush, and that’s something to be grateful for..." But is THAT a reason to award a Nobel Prize? Before you revel in all Obama's good manners and intentions, remember there were over 200 nominations for people that actually DID things that spread peace in the world. And a political award diminishes the recipient as much as the award committee. 
 "Charming manners. In short,
Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the world from the sure disaster of a McCain-Palin administration. Nuff said. Barack Obama wins Nobel
I didn’t say it was, did I? Look at the list of laureates, you will find at least 40 % shouldn’t have been awarded. So do I, but my list would be different. Possibly some names would even appear on both our lists. Don’t take the whole thing too seriously: after all, we know where Nobel’s money for this Peace award came from. A political award isn’t necessarily wrong: see (for instance) Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan or Carl von Ossietzky, but I agree with you that this one is. I'm not sure it warrants a
I'm not sure it warrants a NPP Brendan but well said anyway. Obama was already bought and paid for by the bankers before he was elected. But at at least he's a sane and relatively (but only relatively) competent bought and paid for politician. It's frightening to think of what a mess there'd be under the Arizona psychopath and the Alaskan nitwit. Barack Obama wins Nobel
Fortunately the Arizona psychopath and the Alaskan nitwit weren’t nominated for the Nobel Prize, but Silvio Berlusconi was. I wonder if Mike would have liked that one better.
Barack Obama wins Nobel
Actually, I understand that Obama has also been nominiated for "best picture" in the Academy Awards for his support of Hollywood and the hope he might make a movie. Makes just as much sense. Barack Obama wins Nobel
As he admitted himself, Obama doesn't deserve the prize. Not at this point in time. What concerns me is that getting the Nobel Peace Prize probably makes it even harder for him to achieve things (that might be worth a Nobel Prize), at least in foreign policy. I agree with Mike and Momo that this political award is wrong. Barack Obama wins Nobel
Mondragon, What specifically do you think this prize will make harder for Obama to achieve in foreign policy.
Barack Obama wins Nobel
Might make him hesitate filling the request for 40K troops requested by his hand-picked commander in Afghanistan. Oh wait, he DID defer that decision didn't he? I guess it's working already. Barack Obama wins Nobel
I thought Mondragon was talking about Iran but I guess Afghanistan works too.
Could apply equally to
Could apply equally to decisons about Iran and support of Israel. Might well cause Obama hesitation to the point where the initiative is limited or lost. It works in any foreign affairs issue. It's what military planners call Phase zero, "prepping the battle space." It attempts to influence another's behavior within YOUR desired parameters in pre-conflict phase to either avoid conflict or create an advantage. And it works. Consider Ali Reza Eshraghi's
Consider Ali Reza Eshraghi's newest article on oD and you see what I mean... "The primary responsibility for what has happened in Iran since the election lies with the hardline core of the Iranian regime. But the ability of the Islamic Republic's rulers to consolidate their power has - it is clear in retrospect - been aided by the sense of safety it had acquired from possible attack by the US." I don't expect Iran's fear of an intervention by the USA to increase after he won the Nobel Peace prize... Of course it's still possible that he achieves a good solution with Iran, but it's definitely not going to be easy.
Barack Obama wins Nobel
Who says President Obama hasn't accomplished anything since taking office? To his Nobel Peace Prize and two Grammys, we can add a sports record, Obama has only been in office for just over nine months, but he's already hit the links as much as President Bush did in over two years. CBS' Mark Knoller--an unofficial documentarian and statistician of all things White House-related--wrote on his Twitter feed [Saturday] that, "Today - Obama ties Pres. Bush in the number of rounds of golf played in office: 24. Took Bush 2 yrs & 10 months." Yes, we can! |
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When the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the terrorist Arafat and fellow wing nuts Carter and Gore, I have not been shy expressing my disdain for the ideological awards of the Nobel Committee. But with the award to Barack Obama, any semblance of objectivity is removed.
And Barack Hussein Obama’s accomplishment? "…his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.
The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize and shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33237202/ns/politics-white_house/
Did you get that? Two weeks after taking office he was nominated for the Nobel prize?
Obama is the third sitting president to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Theodore Roosevelt won it for brokering peace between Russia and Japan.
Woodrow Wilson became the creator and leading advocate of the League of Nations, for which he was awarded the 1919 Nobel Prize
Barack Obama won it for extraordinairy bullshit! I guess a campaign season of "hope and change" rhetoric counts as an "accomplishment" in Norway.
Unbelievable!!!
Boring and enraging Liberals with the truth since 2004