From Adolfo Perez Esquivel to Barack Obama:
http://www.adolfoperezesquivel.org/?p=3324
What I wonder is, are people, 50 or 100 years from now, look back at this moment ini history and recall a turning point of a US decline?
He calls him “Obama”? Not Mr. Obama, not President Obama, not even Barack?
Also the general tone of ‘You’re doing everything wrong!’ signed, “Receive the Greeting of Peace and Good.”
I think this guy is off his meds, and I agree with his position of staying out of Syria.
I realize that English is not Mr. Esquiviel’s first language, which might explain some of it, but the errors of fact in his letter are embarrassing. He could have had the damn thing proofread.
Winning a Nobel Peace Prize doesn’t mean you’re right about everything for the rest of your life.
It doesn’t even mean you were right about what you won the Prize for.
I’d test Mr. Esquiviel for doping.
I think it might be a case of writing from the heart, and a cultural mindset, in a way that does not translate well to English, and he did not care to have someone else rewrite this any more than one of us might have a teacher spell-check a love letter. The unadorned last name usage in particular sounds Latin American.
Is the quote from Jimmy Carter legit?
It appears from a quick Google that Mr. Esquivel has some rather avant-garde opinions -
You don’t have to be a complete crackpot to win a Nobel Peace Prize, but it apparently helps.
Regards,
Shodan
Indeed. His “open letter” is of course not really for Obama but IMO it’s not even really for the English-speaking world to read, it’s for Latin American consumption and not even really with the intent to persuade anyone but to reaffirm the position of the Latin American Left.
Crazy people say crazy things, yet still convince the masses that they’re brilliant peacemakers.
This is not news, this is status quo. My bets are that Obama will not be swayed by such a poorly crafted argument.
Nobel Peace Prize? Don’t they give those out in Crackerjack boxes?
Rigoberta Menchu, Le Duc Tho and Yassir Arafat had them, so… yeah.
More seriously, I AGREE that attacking Syria is a bad idea, and still find that letter embarrassing.
Do you really think that people outside of US see Obama all that much different that those you listed?
You may not believe this, but most of people outside of US think like that. Heck, your next door neighbours - Canada & Mexico - think of US in similar terms as expressed in that letter. If I had to guess, the feeling of ‘embarrassment’ comes from a sheer ignorance.
Can someone help jog my memory? For what reason did Barack Obama win the Nobel Peace Prize? I can’t remember him having actually done anything to deserve winning. Was it for his expected or future peaceful action?
For establishing the Nairobi-White House accords.
For being black, and for not being Bush.
Although it doesn’t appear that being BFF with the Europeans helps much when it comes time to bomb somebody, but while the honeymoon lasts, it’s magic.
Regards,
Shodan
Shodan does make a point – at the time there was much scuttlebutt that the committee would have given it generically to “the American People” for coming to their senses. But that would have been too transparent.
As it stood, everyone was left scratching their heads. Sure he represented a leap on the matter of the American race dialog, but that is different from advancing World Peace. But at the time people said “you don’t decline a Nobel Peace Prize” so he didn’t.
(What the heck did they expect? That because the Norwegians gave him the Peace Prize he’d be cowed from acting like the CinC of a superpower? He warned them about not expecting it in his acceptance message. Did that mean they believed the GOP propaganda that he was some sort of ultrasocialist? :smack: )
In any case the NPP was long ago transformed into the Prize for Being Against Things the Committee Thinks Are Bad, or for Stopping Doing the Bad Thing. They seem to mix around credibly worthy awards with “message to make a point” awards with no self-consciousness about it.
I’m another poster who is not in favor of intervention in Syria and not a fan of Obama yet it’s obvious the author of that letter is an idiot.
It reads like it’s written by a sixth grader, for one thing.
Is it even real? This reminds me of the easily debunked tripe you see on people’s Facebook pages.
Sure it lacks oratory luster you got hooked up listening to Obama’s speeches but… you did get the gist of the letter, right?
I mean, you still can deduce the meaning - even from a letter written by a 6t grader? Or, perhaps, if it was written by a political advertising lab you might get a totally different take on the letter and find it insightful and intuitive?
One thing is for sure… Adolfo, his name notwithstanding, did EARN his Prize fair & square and that alone does give him a degree of clout.
Why does this merit a thread? I’m against the proposed military action but the letter is pointless. Esquivel is hardly a Mother Theresa type who can change minds just by saying so.
Yes. It also appears to be a direct translation from Spanish (it’s posted on the writer’s website in Spanish first, if you check the OP’s link) which explains the odd grammar and syntax.
You’re like a radio show caller who calls in and complains that the show should be off the air. Sometimes those screen names …
What kind of a debate device is this notion where “I am against the military action” therefore I don’t want to know what others – who also oppose the military action – think? Does this even merit a response?
Now you’re making stuff up. Plus, Mother Theresa was somewhat of a monster so comparison does not convey what you think it does.