Joining the Nobel WTF Bandwagon

[jeriendhal]

Dear Nobel Committee.

While I realize "Not being George W. Bush" is a huge plus in... well... everyone's eyes, I really don't think it's enough to qualify for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Comments

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

The deadline for submissions to the Nobel Committee was mid-February, which means that he hadn't been President for even a month yet (nor accomplished even half of the nothing he's accomplished so far) when his name was put in the hat and picked as a contender.

[kodi]

I wonder how blatantly this will be used by Obama's opponent in 2012. "President Obama is well-liked by the countries of the world. How can he possibly represent our interests?"

[scarfman]

Do you watch CNN? What made you think opponents would wait till 2012?

[kodi]

I should perhaps have written "the Republican party candidate for the office of President of the United States of America" rather than "Obama's opponent." Yes, I certainly acknowledge that it's a huge black mark on Obama's record at the moment, and I didn't mean to imply that many people who dislike Obama and are ideologically opposed to him are going to wait until 2012 before claiming that being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is necessarily a bad thing. But I was and remain curious to see how it will factor into the 2012 campaign for President, something that has not yet (thankfully) begun in earnest.

[aynne-witch.livejournal.com]

I'd say it was a good start though.

[aynne-witch.livejournal.com]

the not being George W. part anyway

[jvowles.livejournal.com]

Ah, but the fun thing is that NOBODY in the US has any say whatsoever in the selection or nomination -- it's all up to a handful of folks in Norway, and they could give a rat's ass about our internal politics.

Could it be that we're so busy playing with internal politics, our petty squabbles, that we fail to recognize that having our president make an effort to interact reasonably with the rest of the world is SUCH a big change after the past 8 years that it really DOES make a huge difference in how the world gets along?

[secoh.livejournal.com]

I much prefer Obama over any of his modern predecessors....but this is just silly.

It is also an indication of how much the rest of the world disliked his modern predecessors if they give out a prize just for not being Bush...

[lacousteau.livejournal.com]

I think it is more the point that President Obama went out into a world that has a very negative view of America and met with leaders on their turf and their terms and put forth the message that it is a new day, a new administration and every attempt will be made to mend fences. What's more, he did it without putting the States in a weak position, did not make excuses for Bush or play the blame game. It's been a long time since the world has seen promise in America. I believe the Nobel Prize is the world showing us that they have faith in us to make things right...or at least better than they were.