# obama wins nobel peace prize....what is the sound of a right-wing head exploding? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 9, 2009, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172 "2009-10-09T09:07:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/81 "2009-10-09T13:42:55Z")
Have you guys thought about joining the Nobel Committee? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/82 "2009-10-09T13:45:56Z")
> [@flonks](#): > > I actually really think that this was one of the reasons, and not a bad one. It will be difficult for him to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan for starters. Which makes it look like a million-dollar bribe to influence American foreign policy. Thanks a lot, fucking Nobel Prize committee. If Obama allows this to influence his decision in any way, he doesn’t deserve his high office. How is that supposed to work - "My generals recommended a troop increase, and it sure makes sense that this would work as well as the surge did in Iraq. But the Nobel committee gave me a shiny plaque and a big check. So fuck it." Another reason why he better turn it down. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_NFC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@Jake\_NFC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_NFC)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/83 "2009-10-09T13:51:33Z")
Oh my! He wins the award in the same week he refuses to sit down with the Dali Lama, the most peacful man in the world! Also he is probably going to commit more troops to the war in Afghanistan! Does not look to “peaceful to me!” This president has done NOTHING he promised me he would! I can not belive we voted for him! Jake ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/84 "2009-10-09T13:52:02Z")
Of course, if he refuses to accept the Nobel, the same tightie-righties that are slamming him now(for something he had nothing to do with, btw) will then say, “Obama thinks he’s too good for the Nobel-what arrogance!” As has been since way before he got elected, SOP for any action he takes is _Obama is automatically wrong_. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/85 "2009-10-09T13:53:42Z")
> [@Jake\_NFC](#): > > Oh my! He wins the award in the same week he refuses to sit down with the Dali Lama, the most peacful man in the world! Also he is probably going to commit more troops to the war in Afghanistan! Does not look to “peaceful to me!” This president has done NOTHING he promised me he would! I can not belive we voted for him! Correction: he just decided not to see the Dali Lama before going to China. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/86 "2009-10-09T13:57:12Z")
Another one that thinks the price should had been given to someone else, but I wonder if the saber rattling from McCain regarding Georgia and Russia during the elections and Obama sounding more conciliatory about it played a part on it. ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/87 "2009-10-09T13:57:36Z")
BBC: [World reacts to Obama peace prize](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8298802.stm) The Taliban and Islamic Jihad responses seem to fit best with the opinions here at SDMB :). ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/88 "2009-10-09T13:58:09Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > And I am impressed with the membership’s general agreement thus far. No one seems to be arguing the award is justified, although there’s at least one vote for “It’s great, because it’s a slap in the face ot Bush.” After reading the citation, it looks like A: because he supports the goals of diplomacy they support: multilateral action and all that, eg, it’s them using _him_ as a figurehead of potential, rather than actual accomplishment, and B: it’s a slap in the face to Bush. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/89 "2009-10-09T14:00:06Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I think there is some fixation here that one can not bring about peace by abstract or symbolic means. Perhaps to some people the much-needed injection of genuine, geopolitical game-changing hope is somehow not good enough to merit a Nobel. I disagree, and it seems the Nobel Committee does too. No, the fixation here is that he has not actually DONE anything. If by sheer force of his symbolic hopey awesomeness he could make people lay down their arms, fine and dandy (though how you’d measure that, I’ve no idea). But he has not actually done that. The alleged “geopolitical game-changing hope” has not actually changed the geopolitical game at all. He has not actually brought about peace by any means, symbolic or otherwise. If they’re going to award on the basis of “giving people hope,” I’d nominate Susan Boyle. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/90 "2009-10-09T14:02:17Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Which makes it look like a million-dollar bribe to influence American foreign policy… To who? Look, we all know this is a tough time for you, **Shodan** , what with Obama’s awesomeness getting in your face all the time, gotta be tough. Just so you know, we’re here for you, buddy. Ready to offer comfort in your time of stress and woe. There, there. There, there. Maybe Chuck Norris will win _next_ year! ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/91 "2009-10-09T14:04:19Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Which makes it look like a million-dollar bribe to influence American foreign policy. Thanks a lot, fucking Nobel Prize committee. > > If Obama allows this to influence his decision in any way, he doesn’t deserve his high office. How is that supposed to work - "My generals recommended a troop increase, and it sure makes sense that this would work as well as the surge did in Iraq. But the Nobel committee gave me a shiny plaque and a big check. > > So fuck it." > > Another reason why he better turn it down. > > Regards, > Shodan Nah. I mean, he certainly has done literally nothing to earn this prize, and the Nobel committee has acted - rashly? Stupidly? Naively? How about all three? - by offering it. But to decline the award would be perceived as ungracious and more importantly, unbearably _arrogant_. Somebody earlier said that a “humble man would decline the award;” nope. To decline an award like this is to say, “My judgment is superior to that of the Nobel Committee, and even though they are tasked with this choice and I am not, I unilaterally reject their judgment and substitute my own.” That would be the height of arrogance. It would be perceived as condescending, insulting. Not to mention the unfortunate connotations that might be read into the President of the United States pointedly refusing to accept a _peace prize,_ for crying out loud. So he won’t do that. What he should do is come up with a well-written speech in which he describes how humbled he is by the honor, blah, blah, blah, and while he doesn’t feel that he has lived up to it yet, he is proud to accept the award on behalf of the people of the United States in recognition of our collective commitment to pursuing peace in the long-term, blah blah blah, he will do everything he can to live up to this honor during his time in office, blah blah blah. Donate the money to some deserving international cause. Then go ahead and govern however he was planning to govern in the first place. Cynical, but really the only workable option. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/92 "2009-10-09T14:07:46Z")
Like I’ve said before, simply keeping Sarah Palin from getting anywhere near the Oval Office is already tanatmount to saving the universe. He has also kept his promise to pull out of Iraq and has tried to reverse the dehumanization and ghettoization of the Muslim world that was engaged in by his predecessor. His election in itself was also of monumental historical significance. Anyway, who ELSE should have gotten it? Anyone who wants to bitch about it needs to come up with someone more deserving or STFU. He can’t turn it down, by the way. The Nobel Committee will recognize him as the winner, regardless. He can turn down the proze money, but he can’t tell the committee not to call him the winner. Even if he did try to do that, the right would say it was all staged and that he was turning it down for show. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/93 "2009-10-09T14:07:49Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Which makes it look like a million-dollar bribe to influence American foreign policy. Thanks a lot, fucking Nobel Prize committee. Not a bribe, just the world expressing its thanks that America didn’t elect _another_ lunatic. Our post 9/11 psychosis scared a lot of people, and Obama offered needed assurances that the country had turned its back on the policies of the Bush years. The prize for Obama is _really_ a prize for us, the American electorate. We voted for the right man. The world is proud of us, and you should be too. Regards, Squink ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/94 "2009-10-09T14:10:47Z")
[Bush nomination, 2002](http://www.snopes.com/rumors/nobel.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/95 "2009-10-09T14:11:38Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > Nah. I mean, he certainly has done literally nothing to earn this prize, and the Nobel committee has acted - rashly? Stupidly? Naively? How about all three? - by offering it. But to decline the award would be perceived as ungracious and more importantly, unbearably _arrogant_. Somebody earlier said that a “humble man would decline the award;” nope. To decline an award like this is to say, “My judgment is superior to that of the Nobel Committee, and even though they are tasked with this choice and I am not, I unilaterally reject their judgment and substitute my own.” > > That would be the height of arrogance. It would be perceived as condescending, insulting. Not to mention the unfortunate connotations that might be read into the President of the United States pointedly refusing to accept a _peace prize,_ for crying out loud. > > So he won’t do that. > > What he should do is come up with a well-written speech in which he describes how humbled he is by the honor, blah, blah, blah, and while he doesn’t feel that he has lived up to it yet, he is proud to accept the award on behalf of the people of the United States in recognition of our collective commitment to pursuing peace in the long-term, blah blah blah, he will do everything he can to live up to this honor during his time in office, blah blah blah. Donate the money to some deserving international cause. > > Then go ahead and govern however he was planning to govern in the first place. Cynical, but really the only workable option. Of course, if he accepts the Nobel, the same knee-jerk lefties that are telling him now to refuse it(something he doesn’t deserve, btw) will then say, “Obama accepts on behalf of America - what class!” As has been since way before he got elected, SOP for any action he takes is _Obama is automatically right._ Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/96 "2009-10-09T14:14:33Z")
I steadfastly refuse to sing “neener! neener!” to **Shodan**. Obama has shown me a better way. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/97 "2009-10-09T14:14:46Z")
Awarding it as a kick in the balls to Bush is absolutely valid and appropriate, in my opinion. Part of the award’s purpose is to encourage and nurture movements towards peace. That’s why the Arafat award was appropriate. It’s not just about rewarding past behavior, but trying to influence future behavior. This was a perfectly valid decision by the Nobel Committee. ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/98 "2009-10-09T14:16:05Z")
The nominees are supposedly kept secret for 50 years, according to: [http://nobelprize.org/nomination/nomination\_facts.html](http://nobelprize.org/nomination/nomination_facts.html) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/99 "2009-10-09T14:16:58Z")
He had better decline it. He was in office _2 weeks_ before the deadline for nominations closed. If the field is that weak this year, they should have just decided not to offer the Peace Prize at all. If the winning criterion was that he isn’t GWB, then there are several billion other people on the planet who deserve the award as well. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-wins-nobel-peace-prize-what-is-the-sound-of-a-right-wing-head-exploding/513172/100 "2009-10-09T14:17:04Z")
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