http://nobelprize.org/

Quote :

""for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples""

10/9/2009 5:16:53 AM

^ I figured I had a lock on this at 5 am

I'm going to be interested in hearing the justification for this. He's been in office for less than 10 months and the world is pretty much the same as when he started. Afghanistan, one of the few places he actually has any real responsibility for is arguably far worse. What exactly has he accomplished that merits this?

There are millions of people in this world who have dedicated their lives to the idea of a more peaceful world. The Nobel Peace has pretty much smashed it's credibility with this one.

10/9/2009 5:19:38 AM

The point you make was summed up during Spring graduation 2009 when Arizona State University did not give PBO an honorary degree when he went to speak. They said:

Quote :

"It's our practice to recognize an individual for his body of work, somebody who's been in their position for a long time. His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency."

I think the world (well, save the Nobel Organization) is still waiting on his body of work.

10/9/2009 5:28:08 AM

exactly. You know the Clintons are livid over this one.


For those that doubt the cult of personality which surrounds this man, I'd argue that this is pretty good evidence.

10/9/2009 5:33:00 AM

I'm sure.

The only way Bill could hope to get out of PBO's shadow would be to be elected as UN Secretary General, which probably will never happen.

10/9/2009 5:35:42 AM

Just wow. If the Nobel Committee isn't careful, their prize is going to have only slightly more prestige than an American Music Award.

How can this possibly be justified now? Seriously.

10/9/2009 5:39:25 AM

I think their credibility went out of the window when they gave it to Carter.

A humanitarian Carter clearly is with his H4H.

But as a President?

But this isn't about Carter.

It's about his second coming.

10/9/2009 5:42:40 AM

^ You mean "they" are trying to get Obama re-elected?

10/9/2009 5:44:17 AM

hahahha this is just crazy man.

Although I guess it depends on what you think the Nobel Peace Prize is supposed to do. The Nobel Comm is arguing that they want to use the award to show that they support Obama's agenda moving forward. Is that an appropriate reason? Or should it only be given for previous achievements?

Its their award, so I guess they can do what they want with it. But I personally feel like Bill Clinton was cheated for having never received the Peace Prize. As President he actually had successes on all fronts of Obama's agenda that have so far only been talked about (nuclear proliferation, supporting international orgs, fostering peace between nations, etc). And as an ex-President he has worked hard on a number of international issues.

In any case, I figure most of Obama's U.S. supporters will champion the decision jut because they know it will piss off the Republicans.

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 6:48 AM. Reason : ``]

10/9/2009 6:36:41 AM

The ONLY thing I can come up with is the fact that we've been sitting down and talking to Iran instead of just outright bombing them.

But bombing them hasn't even really been removed from the table as an option. Was our standard of behavior lowered so much by the last eight years that anything other than "shoot first, look for evidence later" is heralded?

10/9/2009 7:29:11 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/09/nobel.peace.prize/index.html

I like the CNN article's frontpage blurb.

Quote :

" President Barack Obama made history again today, winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." After the president was awakened and told he had won, he said he was humbled to be selected, according to an administration official. Obama's name had not been mentioned among front-runners, and surprised reporters gasped when he was named."

In other words, you can't blame Obama, he's just as surprised as we all are.

10/9/2009 8:01:40 AM

Hopefully the end will justify the means. He has a lot to live up to now... maybe America will really stop bombing countries to try to spread "democracy!" Maybe he'll give gays their rights, maybe he'll rid the world of gangs and nukes.. who knows. The dude's like superman, he can do pretty much whatever he wants.

10/9/2009 8:02:42 AM

Quote :

" The Nobel Peace has pretty much smashed it's credibility with this one."

Ever since it was given to Al Gore this award has been a joke in my eyes.


Interesting factoid: The deadline for Peace Prize nomination candidates was just weeks after Obamas' inauguration. February 1st was the deadline.

What a farce.

10/9/2009 8:03:33 AM

Ironically I was pouring my cereal this morning and a nobel peace prize fell into the bowl.



Congrats to the president. It sounds like he is just as surprised as the rest of the world.

10/9/2009 8:24:38 AM

Future hooksaw threads:

Oslo is gangland

Nobel's radical roots

10/9/2009 8:26:26 AM

make-up call for the olympics

10/9/2009 8:28:24 AM

maybe one day you player-hating ugly sons of bitches can win a prize based on looks alone

congrats mr president

now please commit forty thousand troops to Afghanistan

10/9/2009 8:39:16 AM

Overall, I like Obama, but eek.

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 8:50 AM. Reason : s]

10/9/2009 8:50:05 AM

^

10/9/2009 9:06:20 AM

What a joke.

Marko brings up a good point though. What if (and this is kind of out there but what if) the Nobel Comm as a whole is against the Afghanistan surge. They figure he couldnt possibly increase troop numbers in a warzone after receivinng the Nobel Peace prize.

10/9/2009 9:06:31 AM

Quote :

"I'm going to be interested in hearing the justification for this. He's been in office for less than 10 months and the world is pretty much the same as when he started. Afghanistan, one of the few places he actually has any real responsibility for is arguably far worse. What exactly has he accomplished that merits this?"

Oh, I think the world (especially the United States) is much worse than when he started. You could argue that it isn't his fault, but he's doing the exact opposite of what he should be doing to fix the problem.

10/9/2009 9:07:56 AM

PEACE
PRIZE
WINNER

10/9/2009 9:16:07 AM

Quote :

"Ever since it was given to Al Gore this award has been a joke in my eyes."

Gentlemen, I have found the dumbest post in this thread.

10/9/2009 9:38:12 AM

God, I'm discovering more and more than you're alright.

10/9/2009 9:41:21 AM

I think I'm starting to understand it more. So I'm going to speculate to their intentions.

It's still about hope. The Nobel Committee is hoping that this will help Obama correct the war-faring path that America's been down since 9/11. They're hoping that this can help give him the moral authority to genuinely push back against the various conflicts that we've been involved in in the last 8 years.

That and they probably hate what the current popular brand of American conservatism has done to this country and the world and know that this will piss off every antiBamite in the country.

10/9/2009 9:54:32 AM

http://www.greenchange.org/article.php?id=5051

10/9/2009 9:54:35 AM

If I were Obama, I wouldn't accept the award until we end these 2 wars, before they become the longest wars in American history

10/9/2009 9:56:36 AM

Quote :

"maybe one day you player-hating ugly sons of bitches can win a prize based on looks alone"

LOL

10/9/2009 9:57:27 AM

remember guice: Bono won once

10/9/2009 10:03:06 AM

I hear they're gonna award Saddam Hussein pothhumously next year. What a freakin' joke.

10/9/2009 10:06:53 AM

Yeah, because Obama and Saddam Hussein are so similar.

10/9/2009 10:08:55 AM

Quote :

"I hear they're gonna award Saddam Hussein pothhumously next year. What a freakin' joke. "

...Your sarcasm would be a little more amusing if Nobel prizes were even awarded posthumously.

10/9/2009 10:10:43 AM

I never said they were, but picking Hussein would be just as ludicrous. It's all about the rhetoric, but that's no shock.

10/9/2009 10:12:04 AM

Quote :

"I never said they were, but picking Hussein would be just as ludicrous. It's all about the rhetoric, but that's no shock. "

You most certainly did. You have said giving Barrack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize is the equivalent of giving a murderous tyrannt the Nobel Peace Prize. You have problems.

10/9/2009 10:13:33 AM

Quote :

"Gentlemen, I have found the dumbest post in this thread."

Sorry, I meant the whole Nobel Prize organization altogether, not specifically the Peace Prize.

Nah I stand by it. Al Gore basically won the peace prize for his movie "an inconvenient truth" which has been scientifically proven to be almost entirely wrong.

So yeah, you're the idiot.

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 10:26 AM. Reason : k]

10/9/2009 10:14:57 AM

Quote :

"I think I'm starting to understand it more. So I'm going to speculate to their intentions."

There is really nothing to speculate, this was nothing but a giant "eff you" to George Bush. Basically, Bush screwed things up so much in the international community that they are giving Obama the award for not being a neo-con for 10 months.

And yes, it's dumb, but it doesn't really matter at the end of the day.

10/9/2009 10:15:09 AM

You'd be funny if you weren't so sad, nutsnacker.

10/9/2009 10:17:20 AM

you have problems.

10/9/2009 10:20:59 AM

nutsmacker is probably the most racist poster on this board. somebody call wral. it's pretty sick actually.

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 10:23 AM. Reason : f]

10/9/2009 10:21:44 AM

What the hell spawned that bit of retardation.

10/9/2009 10:23:31 AM

agentlion,

I think trying to say that Afganistan is one of the longest wars in our history is 1) not very useful and 2) very difficult to do because wars for the past 60 years have not had clear beginning and endings.

For example, the graph only attributes 45 months to World War II, which is 3.75 years. That probably does account for the time between when we declared War on Japan and the time it took to remove the Empire of Japan from power. If that's how we want to define the war thats fine.

But doesn't that mean the Afganistan War ended 3 years ago when the Taliban were removed from power? No doubt they are now leading a powerful insurgency, but if we include the insurgency in our definition things start getting murky. The last Japanese soilder did not surrender until the 1970s. Should we say the war lasted that long? If not, how many soilder have to be left fighting until we call the war a victory?

The whole thing is very subjective and not a very good way to discuss the meaning or consequences of our presense in Afganistan.

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 10:28 AM. Reason : ``]

10/9/2009 10:24:40 AM

Quote :

"You most certainly did. You have said giving Barrack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize is the equivalent of giving a murderous tyrannt the Nobel Peace Prize. You have problems."

1) But I'm sure people who compared Bush to Hitler are a ok in your book.

2) I could have thrown in lots of unworthy names, but if you can't see how stupid and political of a selection this is, then you're truly clueless.

3) Somebody with problems is your world is a guy that won't take a load to the face, so I'll consider the source buddy.

10/9/2009 10:25:38 AM

Quote :

"1) But I'm sure people who compared Bush to Hitler are a ok in your book."

No, no they aren't.

Quote :

"2) I could have thrown in lots of unworthy names, but if you can't see how stupid and political of a selection this is, then you're truly clueless"

bullshit, you knew exactly what you were doing.

Quote :

"3) Somebody with problems is your world is a guy that won't take a load to the face, so I'll consider the source buddy."

and now homophobia. You are on a roll.

10/9/2009 10:27:13 AM

Arafat was a terrorist and he won the award, so how's it a stretch to compare to Hussein?

10/9/2009 10:27:30 AM

Didn't he get that with the Israel leaders (Rabin at least) for their peace efforts? I mean that would be a bit different than Saddam, no?

10/9/2009 10:29:38 AM

Quote :

"Arafat was a terrorist and he won the award, so how's it a stretch to compare to Hussein?"

ah yes, this cliched talking point in which the people who throw it around don't even know what the award was given for.

10/9/2009 10:32:27 AM

I admit that last reply was just talking out the ass for a response.

10/9/2009 10:34:23 AM

Obama deserved this. He has done so much for international diplomacy in the history of mankind. It's astounding to really think about it.

Rev. King is in his grave just lol'ing to the phrase "but by the content of their character"

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 10:35 AM. Reason : asdf]

10/9/2009 10:35:27 AM

Quote :

"bullshit, you knew exactly what you were doing."

I simply was making the point that one worthless winner of a highly political and no substance award deserves another. Anything beyond that is pure paranoia and baseless conjecture on your part.

Quote :

"and now homophobia. You are on a roll."

I hate to tell you but if your idea of a homophobe is a guy that won't take a load to the face, then there are a whole helluva lot of homophobes out there. Again, I'll just consider the source.

10/9/2009 10:51:23 AM

I'm glad that nobody else was working on the topic of nuclear non-proliferation. Nope, it would seem that Obama was the very first man with the courage and the initiative to speak out on the matter. And so, he was justly rewarded for... giving a speech.

10/9/2009 10:52:12 AM