Obama's Peace Prize

[Ninjalah]

Ok, I'm not one to start a politics thread but I have a question:

Why was it offered to him in the first place?

I mean, I'm not anti-Obama but what has he done so far? Especially to get such an honor as to accept the Nobel Peace Price? I don't understand, is it just because he isn't Bush?

[Gez]

Ninjalah said:

I don't understand, is it just because he isn't Bush?

That's it.

Official rational is that they wanted through it to guilttrip him into making sure that by the end of his term or terms, he would have done deserved it. Wacky.

[Mr. Freeze]

Gez said:

That's it.

Official rational is that they wanted through it to guilttrip him into making sure that by the end of his term or terms, he would have done deserved it. Wacky.

Bush was on the nominee list in 2001.

The NPP has been idiotic ever since they gave one to that nutcase Yassir Arafat.

[GreyGhost]

The general idea seems to be that Obama will spend the rest of his term earning the award, which is a bit like giving me the Cacoward for Mapper of the Year then expecting a masterpiece in return.

[jallamann]

[Sharessa]

It was fucking retarded. I was figuring it was some kind of "congratulations on being America's first black president".

[gravitar]

Ninjalah said:
Ok, I'm not one to start a politics thread but I have a question:

Why was it offered to him in the first place?

Well the old farts in the Nobel comittee obviously wanted some publicity, the real life(tm) equivalent of attention whoring. Besides, look up who's won the peace nobel prize so far, and you'll have no questions anymore.

I mean, I'm not anti-Obama but what has he done so far?

Lots of promises n toothpaste grins while he's -charismatically- turning his useless skull from teleprompter to teleprompter.

I don't understand, is it just because he isn't Bush?

His choice might also show what kind of desperate state the world is in; alot of people just 'want' him to make a 'change'. Though I fear the only change he will accomplish is that the filth in Washington will grow even thicker than it was under Gee Dubya (if that's possible).

[Csonicgo]

Well at least we dodged the Ron Paul bullet, Where states would have free reign to terrorize its citizens. Give him the peace prize for not being elected!

[Ninjalah]

Now why would he accept it? Personally, I would have declined. He did absolutely nothing yet.

Did he take it just to say later on in life "I have a Nobel Peace Prize"?

[SuperSlammer2]

Proably. Selfish little dick. I can't believe people voted for him expecting any good to come of it.

[Cupboard]

The prize should be seen as an encouragement to the country. It's a reward for turning away from the unilateral neoconservative approach to foreign policy that the country unfortunately picked up during the Reagan years.

Many nations are pleased to see a shift in America's foreign policymaking and attitude - that's what the prize is for. America is now seen as being more open, multilateral, and pragmatic.

Is it really so hard to see that the prize is a nudge for the country to continue in this direction?

[Georgef551]

Ninjalah said:

Ok, I'm not one to start a politics thread but I have a question:

Why was it offered to him in the first place?

I mean, I'm not anti-Obama but what has he done so far? Especially to get such an honor as to accept the Nobel Peace Price? I don't understand, is it just because he isn't Bush?

To quote the various media outlets:

Obama has potential.

That is all.

[Mr. Freeze]

Georgef551 said:

To quote the various media outlets:

Obama has potential.

That is all.

Yeah, well the Sun has the potential to not rise tomorrow. Possibility covers a lot of ground.

[Creaphis]

Maybe there just wasn't anybody else to give it to. Who's really doing anything for peace nowadays?

[Quast]

TheCupboard said:

It's a reward for turning away from the unilateral neoconservative approach to foreign policy

Oh really? When did this happen?

[myk]

Creaphis said:
Who's really doing anything for peace nowadays?

Many people, but you hit something I was referring to in other words with the way you phrased the question. It's like they look around and say "nowadays, who's doing something for peace?" instead of doing their homework and looking for a trajectory, and they throw the medal at someone in the media spotlight, instead of using it to shed light on some example people should pay attention to.

[Cupboard]

Quast said:

Oh really? When did this happen?

Well, I'd say that Bush started to soften most of his positions by the time his second term rolled around. He compromised on a lot of areas of policy once divided government returned to Washington in the 2006 midterm elections. Bush deserves some credit for the compromises he made in his last four years that steered the country from all the ineffective unilateralist actions that discredited the country. I doubt he had much other choice, however.

Obama hasn't done enough to have earned the prize. I can only view it as a weird pat back by the committee to encourage further developments.

[myk]

TheCupboard said:
Bush deserves some credit for the compromises he made in his last four years that steered the country from all the ineffective unilateralist actions that discredited the country.

Probably not much more credit than someone whose arm is bent in an arm-wrestling match deserves. Things simply fell apart at one point when the fear-mongering and delusions ran out and the economy really started to show cracks, and many of the critics were shown to be onto something.

Although I'll agree Obama hasn't visibly changed Bush's late foreign policy. He gave it the more moderate Democrat attitude and a fresh face that wasn't embroiled in the conflicts directly, but the pieces haven't been moved much.

[Sharessa]

Why does it have to be an annual award? Why not give it to anyone who demonstrates a considerable amount of action towards peace? Then they could not give it out for a few years if the world is in a bad state, or they could give a couple out in one year as to not diminish the works of others who put great effort into such things.

[Enjay]

Agreed. If no one deserves the award, then no award should be given. However, that would be a common sense approach and, as discussed already, common sense does not seem to be a factor in the NPP.

[deathbringer]

Unlike the scientific prizes, where on the whole we will have more knowledge from one year to the next, i don't see much point in the peace prize. The "amount of peace" always varies.

[Ralphis]

More troops to Afghanistan? Here buddy, have a peace medal

[Creaphis]

Maybe "peace by the sword" really is peace as far as the Nobel committee is concerned.

myk said:

Many people, but you hit something I was referring to in other words with the way you phrased the question. It's like they look around and say "nowadays, who's doing something for peace?" instead of doing their homework and looking for a trajectory, and they throw the medal at someone in the media spotlight, instead of using it to shed light on some example people should pay attention to.

Good point. When we already have the media shining its light on these same figures, the NPP could afford to take advantage of its (declining?) credibility to give some other deserving soul a bit of attention.

[Johnny]

Ninjalah said:

Now why would he accept it? Personally, I would have declined. He did absolutely nothing yet.

Did he take it just to say later on in life "I have a Nobel Peace Prize"?

Turning down the prize would have been looked at as a dick move definitely. He basically said he didn't deserve it in his speech. I think he actually said the word "kill" twice. HA

[gggmork]

"If no one deserves the award, then no award should be given."

They should still have an award ceremony where someone plays sad trombone though:
http://www.sadtrombone.com/

[Airman266]

I'm no hater but the guy doesn't deserve it. He hasn't done anything. You can't award someone for what they promise to do. Al Gore, nutcase that he is, worked his ass off for years before he was given the NPP. This is ridiculous.

[Patrick]

Why all this attention to Obama? I prefer to commemorate someone who has done more for the world than anyone else I can think of. Why not turn all this attention whoring to someone who actually deserves it?

R.I.P Norman Borlaug, Your contributions to humanity will never be forgotten. I don't think Obama can boast nearly such an important feat as saving over a billion lives.

[Mr. Freeze]

Ralphis said:

More troops to Afghanistan? Here buddy, have a peace medal

Peace through power!

[hobomaster22]

Ralphis said:

More troops to Afghanistan? Here buddy, have a peace medal

I think the peace prize was given to influence his choices honestly. He is viewed as a weak president. Which is probably why he took so damn long to make a decision on Afghanistan, because he would look like a hypocrite (but honestly it's way too late for that to matter). Either pull out or send more troops and he sits on it for months. People are only dying.

[Gez]

For what it's worth, sending more troops to Afghanistan is in my opinion a good thing. The mess there should have been cleaned up a long time ago already. But instead, his predecessor decided to go on an unrelated war in Iraq and diverted there all the means and efforts that should have gone in Afghanistan.

The Talibans have to be crushed entirely, even when they hide in Pakistan. Afghanistan has to become a country strong enough not to fall back into the clutches of rival tribal warlords and murderous religious fuckwits. This is how peace can be achieved; not by pulling out and letting terrorism fester once more.