Obama wins the Nobel peace prize

[Hylandor]

I'll buy that the nomination was in part largely due to Obama's impact leading up to the Presidency. I'm not saying I believe he should be nominated because of this, but simply that his life before presidency factored into his nomination. I don't believe I said anything about not being nominated because of this(I did make a 12 day nomination comment though). I said he was not Awarded because of this, and referenced the article to emphasize my point of the final decision being centered around his presidency. Being nominated and being awarded are of two different topics.

Appreciate you looking further into the nomination aspect(The CNN article).

Here's my take: It appears the committee was under a time constraint to finish nominations, and saw promise with Obama as a pick. While in presidency, he supposedly lived up to their ideals and qualifications to warrant being given the award.

Again, I never said he wasn't NOMINATED because of his actions before presidency. I said he was AWARDED the prize because of his actions as president.

[StormCrow]

You missed the point entirely. No one has even said Bush deserved the peace prize. She said that the criteria for winning was "not being Bush." Which 6.5 BILLION people meet.

was drunk when i wrote that now i'm not quite sure it isn't what i still think though lol

[Darius]

IMO:

premature with a lot of bona fide, ridiculous without.

The prize should be granted for accomplishments, not aims, even if these are pursued with determination. Creating a new diplomatic climate or vision of world without nuclear arms are not tangible achievements. So far, I can see no real improvement concerning: the Middle East, North Korea, trade with the EU, etc. etc. No one should be awarded for noble goals and round speeches. Oh, and I really doubt he was visible and significant enough to make a huge impact before his presidency. Not buying this argument, sorry.

Lech Walesa couldn't believe it when he heard about Obama's prize. He asked "What? Obama? So early? What did he accomplish?". I think this pretty much reflects my opinion as well. I like to be original in my views, but here I simply have to be with the majority

[Bane]

I still think he may have been chosen in lack of better candidates, and just for fun and to give this discussion a little twist, who do you think should have got the price instead of Obama?

Personally, I have no idea who deserves it better. To me, noone has really stand out as a superior candidate, but then again, it's not always I've heard of the winners until after they have got the price, like that indian guy who starting the bank for poor women.

[shiram]

its weird how the peace prize is always selected for recent stuff
while the other nobel prize are usually recognizing past accomplishments

[sorma008]

Yeah, i agree. It will always be controversial.

[StormCrow]

its pretty much impossible to know if he deserved it or not without knowing the other candidates

even looking at the website it doesn't seem to list any other possible candidates.

Incumbent Presidents have quite frequently been recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. US Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were Laureates while in office, as for instance, were Presidents Mikhail Gorbachev of the USSR and Kim Dae-jung of South Korea. There have also been current Prime Ministers (Yitzhak Rabin of Israel) and Chancellors (Willy Brandt of the Federal Republic of Germany), but never before has anyone been made a Peace Laureate so early into their term of office. Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a little under 10 months after he took up residence in the White House. Nominations for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize closed just 11 days after he took office.

Barack Obama is the fourth US President to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the last being Jimmy Carter in 2002. In selecting him, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which consists of five people appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, or Storting, appear to be endorsing Obama's appeal for greater multilateral cooperation aimed at tackling the thorniest global problems; conflict, nuclear weapons, climate change. They highlight his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy, and the new climate of dialogue and negotiation that Obama is promoting. Emphasis is also placed on renewed US commitment to international organizations, in particular the United Nations.

The section of Alfred Nobel's will detailing the creation of the Peace Prize states that it should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." In answer to questions during the announcement press conference about how early in Obama's Presidency the award was being made, Thorbjørn Jagland replied that the Committee wanted to demonstrate its support for the approaches he is taking towards global problems.

From the nobel peace prize website

EDIT (after many edits actually) It appears all nominations are kept secret for 50 years (also from the official website).

[RoamingMadness]

So i asked a liberal friend of mine what she thought about this: and this is basically what she said.

"The nobel committee considered many things in Picking Barak Obama. Amongst those things were:
All of the speeches he's given regarding peace, he closed gitmo, Climate control respecting the UN, working with the EU to reduce dependence on fossil Fuels, working with enemies like cuba and Venezuela to achieve a common goal, his work on peace in the mid-east, his work with Iran, and quite frankly, him not being bush (this is no joke, she said that)."

SO i wrote back:

"Obama didn't write his speeches, he only read them. He hasn't closed Gitmo, he hasn't lowered the temprature of the earth or its atmosphere 1 degree centigrade, the USA still is dependent on Fossil fuels, he only talked about Iran and didn't do anything about the dictator rigging the election, everyone wants peace in the mid-east and I don't even know where to start abouthow him not being Bush qualifies him for a Nobel peace prize...

How about this... I didn't write Obama's speeches either, nor have I closed Gitmo, i haven't lowered the temp on earth or in the atmosphere, lowered the fossil fuel dependency, All i did was talk about Iran, I want peace in the mid-east as much as anyone and hell, I'm not George Bush either. By those standards, You should give me the Nobel peace Prize."

I don't even agree with any point you're making.. and i totally agree with what you're saying. Isn't it insulting to EVERYONE who has done ANYTHING to make an effort towards world peace??


I will say, for our government, your friend was right about one thing. This isn't about Obama, this is about Bush. Obama isn't getting this kind of praise for any reason beyond the fact that our country doesn't punish its leaders. So how do you point out how shitty of a president Bush is, without actually taking action against him? Give the guy who is the anti-bush humanity awards for simply closing the programs that the lunatic Bush endorsed.