Friday, October 09, 2009

Obama's Peace Prize

I would like to suggest a particular perspective to the fact that Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize.

That perspective is that the Prize was not actually awarded to Obama, but to the American voters - a majority of them anyway.

For somebody who is concerned with peace, the 8 years under Bush was an absolute horrors. Wars of aggresstion, wars under false pretenses, the exploitation of a terrorist to realize militant ambitions, torture, rendition, an assertion that the President of the United States in his role as Commander in Chief has no limits to his authority made the 8 years under the Bush Administration the peace advocate's nightmare.

Obama's great contribution to peace in the past year . . . the year for which he was nominated . . . is that he brought an end to the regime that was such a threat to world peace. Thanks to Obama's political campaign, we do not have to fear the consequences of having Bush II in the White House. If that title does not fit Senator McCain, it certainly fits Sarah Palin.

For the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, it is possible to understand how Obama's success in ending that reign was perhaps the biggest contribution to world peace anybody made in the previous 12 months. This is not to say that greater things could not have been accomplished - only that this is the greatest thing in the name of peace that was accomplished.

So, the next question becomes, how do you recognize that fact? How does the Nobel Peace Price Committee vote to use the Prize to mark the greatest advance in the cause of peace in the past 12 months?

They could not award the prize to the American voters or those who voted for Obama or those who worked for his campaign. The best option available is to give it to the person who successfully lead that campaign. The proper choice for winning that award was the leader of the that campaign: Obama himself.

Viewed in this way, it is not such an irrational choice.

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10 comments:

  1. busOctober 9, 2009 at 10:57 PM

    I hope people lost their mind....

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  2. AnonymousOctober 10, 2009 at 6:37 AM

    Chinese Human Rights Activist Hu Jia – imprisoned for campaigning for human rights in the PRC, not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

    Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China’s communist system. — not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama. (Not to mention the symbolic value of awarding a Chinese dissident on the 20th Anniversary of the Tianenmen Square Massacre.)

    Greg Mortenson, founder of the Central Asia Institute has built nearly 80 schools, especially for girls, in remote areas of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past 15 years – not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

    Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, a philosophy professor in Jordan who risks his life by advocating interfaith dialogue between Jews and Muslims, also not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

    Afghan human rights activist Sima Samar. She currently leads the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and serves as the U.N. special envoy to Darfur and is apparently also not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.

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  3. antonOctober 10, 2009 at 7:12 AM

    Great post, Alonzo.

    President Obama's first 12 months are highlighted by this one contribution -- he brought an end to the terrorist regime's leadership in US America and made peace possible!

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  4. LisaOctober 10, 2009 at 6:40 PM

    I think the Nobel Prize is an honor for the President, he was very gracious about accepting it.

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  5. AnonymousOctober 11, 2009 at 8:30 PM

    It's simplistic, one-sided political posts like this that make it very hard for me to visit here very often.

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  6. burritolikethesunOctober 12, 2009 at 1:37 PM

    Monorail cat.

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  7. Richard of NorwayOctober 13, 2009 at 3:02 AM

    I live in Norway, the country that hosts the Nobel prize. There has been much about this particular award, to Obama, in the printed and online media here. Most people seem to be arguing exactly the point you have made: That this prize is really an award to the citizens of America who have voted out the tyrant that was George W. Bush. Honestly, I can see that as something worthy of accolades, but to award the Nobel is in my humble opinion a bit much. Then again, it was awarded to Al Gore last year, which was at least as bizarre a choice. I'm just happy Obama is in office and hope he does well to change America. The past 8 years were a terrible embarrassment to Americans (I am one, though I live here) and recovery from that might take many, many years.

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  8. UnknownOctober 13, 2009 at 7:36 AM

    Umm Richard I believe it is the Swedes who host the Nobel prizes.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize

    That's like me saying Canada hosts the Pulitzer Prize!

    Anyways as much as I like Obama I am very disappointed in the committee's choice. Other than winning an election what exactly has done to improve world peace yet? Give the man some time and I am sure he will make the world a better place. He has only been in office for 10 months for crying out loud. If he were to finally resolve the Middle East Conflicts, reconcile India and Pakistan or North and South Korea what would the Nobel Committee do then? Give him the peace prize that he actually earned to go with the one he did nt?

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  9. Emu SamOctober 13, 2009 at 2:38 PM

    The Nobel Peace Prize is an exception. The ceremony is hosted in Oslo, and the Norwegian Parliament chooses the committee who awards it.

    I was about to link my source, then realized it was the same as the one you provided.

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  10. limousine hireMarch 13, 2010 at 2:01 AM

    Very honorable prize.....and he deserve it..

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