I think that the correct reaction from Obama would be to acknowledge that it is an honor to win such a prize; state that he does not feel that he has earned it and must, as such, respectfully decline the award; and request that he be reconsidered in four or so years once he’s actually accomplished something.
If he were to do so, I think my respect for the man would triple.
Exactly right, Lord Il Palazzo.
Now, some have said that he cannot decline the Nobel Peace Prize – that it will be award to him, no matter what. Maybe that’s true, and maybe not. Either way though, he should at least acknowledge that he has barely begun his term and has not yet earned this honor. I’m sure that a lot of other people would respect him a lot more for that. I certainly would.
No. Even he said he doesn’t deserve it. But I wouldn’t be horribly bothered if he did accept it.
As for refusal being rude, this award ignored far more courageous candidates, which is worse than rude.
Neither one turned down the award due to their belief that they didn’t deserve it. George C. Scott made it a symbolic demonstration that he didn’t wish to compete with other actors. Brando turned it down to highlight the American Indian struggle. So, people are asking the president of the United States to turn down an award in a manner that has zero historical precedent?
Precedent, schmecedent. If he isn’t willing to be the first on principled grounds, then he’s not much of a leader, is he?
Le Duc Tho turned down the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize on the grounds that the Paris Peace Accords had not brought peace to Vietnam.
Yes, he should accept the award. It’s the classy thing to do. If someone tries to give you a prestigious award, you don’t respond by publicly embarrassing them. Would be completely uncalled for, whether he deserves the prize or not.
As much as I think it’s mostly ridiculous to award it to him, I think that’s what he should do now that he’s stuck in the situation.
I honestly don’t see how he could have refused. This is the guy that is trying to strengthen our ties to the rest world, not hinder them. Refusing the award would be saying he knows better than the committee. That’s not a humble act, no matter how you phrase it. It might not be that significant to the rest of the world, but the last thing we need is to give them a reason to dislike this President, too.
From what I can tell, they gave the award to Obama because he was the safe choice, outside of our country at least. There was no clear second place winner, and they would be unlikely to meet again. So it’s not like they’d give the award to anyone else if Obama declined. This would just mean the money wouldn’t be given out. The way Obama did it, he at least got to give the money to charity.