Incredibly, President Obama came away with the Nobel Peace Prize yesterday. Was it deserved? Has he done anything to earn it? Were others more deserving than he? Does the prize have meaning anymore? Here are ten random thoughts I had yesterday about the issue.1) I am told that submissions for the prize were due on February 1 (thanks to Carrie Cox for pointing this out to me). That was 11 days into Obama’s presidency. Someone must have had a lot of foresight to nominate him…or else you could conclude that the prize isn’t really going to the most deserving individual. Maybe it’s now just a popularity contest like those student council elections in junior high?
2) Clearly, we have witnessed the dumbing down of the Nobel Peace Prize in our lifetime. I doubt that the committee that awarded the first prize in 1901 would have given the award to someone with so “ethereal” a list of accomplishments.
3) At least the U.S. is going to see some additional tax money from the $1.4 million prize – assuming the President pays taxes. Which is kind of big assumption, considering the taxpaying records of many of his cabinet nominees. Thanks to Sweden and Norway for the cash.
4) Hillary must be livid. She’s the Secretary of State, and she is the one who has to travel to all of those peace-needing, oppressed places for the President. But once again, he gets the credit. The only thing funnier would have been if Bill Clinton had won the prize for his work to free the two journalists in North Korea back in August. That would really send Hillary over the top.
5) I would like to know what the other eligible winners for the prize had accomplished in comparison to President Obama. Unfortunately, the committee doesn’t release the names to the public for fifty years. Check back in 2059.
6) How do you win a prize for peace because you provided HOPE for the people needing it (but no peace as of yet)? That’s what the prize committee announced as their basis for the award. I mean that would be like awarding Al Gore a Peace Prize for making a movie about global warming. Oh, wait…
7) I assume this award was decided before Europe turned on Obama last week and denied him the Olympics in Chicago. Maybe the Nobel committee wishes they could change their mind.
8) This might actually hurt Obama when he comes up for re-election – it will further polarize those who didn’t support him, and will embarrass many of those who did. Even many of his loyal supporters admit that this award was not yet deserved. An astute political move would have been to turn down the award. Then, he would have still gotten the credit for winning it, but he could have silenced his critics who think it wasn’t deserved. Now, he just looks incompetent and arrogant.
9) I ‘m thinking Obama is probably the favorite to win the Heisman trophy this year. And maybe the FIFA World Cup in South Africa next year. After all, soccer really is an international sport.
10) And finally, on a serious note, it is clear to me that the world and its values are upside-down from what God intended. On January 23 – four days into his presidency, and a mere nine days before his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize was due – Obama signed into law an order reversing the ban on the funding of international abortions using U.S. taxpayer money (see picture above). While it was truly a global decision, it is hardly an act of peace. See my thoughts on that act here.
No comments:
Post a Comment