Hu Jia was considered one of the frontrunners for the prize. A tad more appropriate, I should think. This has got to be quite embarrassing for the White House, and I agree that it should be politely declined. He hasn’t earned it–he’s done very little in foreign policy so far.
Oh, look, Greg Mortensen of “Three Cups of Tea” was also considered to be in the running.
Wouldn’t that be the correct response from those people since it isn’t an insult of Obama but of his supporters?
I am neither an Obama lover nor a hater, and I agree with you here, storyteller. I think he should accept the prize as graciously as possible, make a speach about continuing his efforts. However, I think there’s other things he should do.
He needs to donate the entire prize to a worthy cause. In fact, he should probably donate a fair amount of his own money along with it just to be sure. Keeping any amount of the prize would, as others have pointed out, appear like a bribe. In fact, it can be a good way to continue the peace process by perhaps contributing to a reputable Iraq and/or Afghanistan war victims fund.
He cannot in anyway allow this to affect his foreign policy. In fact, he needs to be very careful about appearances in the short term because if he, for instance, withdraws troop from Afghanistan, he’s going to need to have even better reasons than before because he will now have to fight off accusations that the prize influenced his decision in addition to the usual partisanship.
After he receives the prize, he should probably just stick it in a drawer and not mention it again for the rest of his presidency. I’m sure there’s some people who think he’s deserves it but, considering that even here people don’t think he did anything to deserve it, I think it’s in his best interest to remove that point for criticism from the table as soon as he possibly can.
I think this is bad for Obama, and he should find a way to politely decline it.
Consider his decision on Afghanistan troop levels. If he decides not to increase the number of soldiers, the right is going to hammer him for letting American foreign policy be run out of Geneva. If he decides to increase them, he’ll face howls from around the world along the lines of, “THIS is the man they gave a PEACE prize to?” It really puts him in a no-win situation. He doesn’t need that kind of hassle.
He should simply say something like, “I would be honored to accept this award - in 2016 at the end of my second term if you still feel I am worthy. For now, I graciously decline in favor of the many other worthy people who have been nominated.” Something like that.
This award is the equivalent of electing Stephen Strasburg to the Hall of Fame.
Agreement.
Except that, maybe Obama really was the foremost force and best hope for a more peaceful world over the past year.
For half a decade the USA has been moving toward becoming Soviet Russia Lite (as far as being amoral about the use of power.) For Candidate Obama to clearly --and to all appearances, sincerely-- advocate negotiation, reason and ethics AND to rally a majority’s support in the election… That might be the most important development toward world peace.
That said, the Nobel committee did wrong.
There’s a tongue in cheek phrase used about the Nobels, something like, “Micronesia’s Turn.” A prize will often go to a country who hasn’t had one recently, even if they aren’t strictly deserving that particular year.
Obama may actually have deserved the prize this year, but if he does, he’ll deserve it even more later. Someone else should have gotten this one.
Any word from US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton yet?
Oh, yes there is:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzZkNzg0MDVhMWJjNmI2YTc1NTZkZTJlNGM0NzI4NzA=
Now he can get back to clamoring for someone to nuke Tehran.
Too bad times have changed for him.
For the record, I think he’s done a great job, and I also went “huh?”
As someone else posted: Faulkner, &c. Also, as I understand it, the Economics prizes are usually well-deserved.
Devil’s Advocate: They gave prizes to people who worked to end Apartheid, or to get peace in Israel/Palestine, East Timor, or Northern Ireland. All of these are localized problems, no?
Has he ended US-supported torture? Has he closed Guantanamo? Has he ended Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell? As I said, I think he’s doing a great job, but he could do better. I will have to consider “tried to reverse the dehumanization and ghettoization of the Muslim world” though. This is interesting.
Are you implying that we should be happy that “our side” has won? If so, that’s dumb. If not, please explain.
Come on, man, don’t turn into a parody of yourself. “Affirmative action?” Yeesh.
Yeah, nothing makes a guy look worse than winning a Nobel Peace Prize. :rolleyes:
Trying to spin this as somehow bad for Obama is ridiculous. He had no hand in it, so how is it bad for HIM?
I think he should not only acccept it, he should jump up and down, and do a fucking Rocky dance, and wear the medal around his neck like Mr. T for the rest of his Presidency. Why the fuck should he be ashamed of it?
This is what people don’t seem to be getting: he wasn’t nominated for his accomplishments in office. He was nominated for attaining that office in the first place, and thereby representing a significant step forward in decency on the part of the world’s greatest power.
This is interesting: AP: Common misconceptions about the Nobel Peace Prize
And, of course, anything he does is going to be wrong in your eyes. :rolleyes:
Is it legal for a sitting President to accept a cash award?
I don’t blame him or criticize him for receiving it, I know he had nothing to do with being chosen. The fact remains that it puts him in an even brighter light for criticism. Look at the Afghanistan example… if he withdraws, he’ll get criticism saying that the prize influenced him, and if he sends in more troops, he gets international criticism because the Peace Prize recipient is promoting war. Even if he does the exact right thing for the exact right reasons, those reasons will be be lost under that criticism.
I don’t think he should be ashamed of it. Hell, every time I’ve received an award, I never really felt like I did that much to deserve it either. Sure he should celebrate it, but knowing that he’ll be getting criticism for it he needs to do what he can to make sure that his decisions are judged on their merits and not on a perception that the award influenced him. Yes, he’ll get criticism no matter what, but the criticism that he, for instance, withdrew against the advice of his generals at least has the potential to be productive, while criticism that he withdrew because he got the prize will just make things worse.
Taliban condemn Obama as Nobel Prize winner
Any word from bin Laden yet?
I also think it’s a repudiation of the Bush/Cheney era and perhaps even though they fully deserve it, Obama should consider not accepting.
I heard an interview this morning on CNN with one of the Nobel Committee members and he suggested it was for Obama changing the stance of the US government from one of unilateralism and aggression to one of engagement and diplomacy (I am paraphrasing but that was the upshot). Supposedly they gave the award to him as a means to encourage and reward this behavior.
Take that FWIW…just passing along what I heard, not personally agreeing with it or endorsing it. Maybe the Nobel Committee hopes this will strengthen nuclear talks with Iran which is one of the scarier international issues on the table at the moment. Dunno, just speculating.
Personally I think it is far too soon for him to get such an award and will likely cause him more trouble at home than help him.
As an aside, does anyone know if the President can keep the money from the award or as President is he obliged to hand it to the government?
Sure, but in this case it seems it’s not so much encouragement to “see the effort through” as it is encouragement to start making an effort. And that’s just silly.
I mean what effort are we talking about here?
Count me as another, as amazing as it may seem, who thought this was a joke upon first hearing about it this morning.
Obama should find a tactful way to turn the award down.
I’m another Obama supporter who finds the decision baffling, but this quote does help make it a little more understandable. I still disagree with the decision, but if part of the goal of the award is to encourage efforts, well, I guess this makes a little sense.
If they want to maintain credibility, the Nobel committee better start really hammering on that point.