President Barack Hussein Obama is the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, and I think that the award is entirely fitting.
While some obviously envious people may question what the president has actually done to merit the Prize,frankly I think they're wrong.
They exhibit a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Nobel Peace Prize is all about.
Unlike the other Nobels, The Peace Prize is only rarely about actual accomplishments except in extreme cases like Mother Teresa's.Such things are usually tenuous anyway.
It's usually more about symbolizing and endorsing certain philosophies and ideas in a very public way. That has a much more lasting effect.
Let's look at a few recent honorees...Al Gore, Yasir Arafat, Bishop Tutu, Jimmy Carter, The IAEA and Mohamed El Baradi, The UN and Kofi Anan,and Martti Ahtisaari.
They all endorse or have contributed in one or more of the following areas:
I'll leave it to the reader as to how many of these boxes President Obama checks off.
Now, there are some unworthy souls out there who would say that Barack Obama doesn't merit the Prize because nominations closed when he had only been in office a mere two weeks.
I submit that not only was he qualified when he was nominated, but that his brief tenure in office makes it even more clear that he is eminently deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.
As a matter if fact, if some of the rumors about Bill Ayers and Obama's book "Dreams from my Father" are to be believed, the President may share something in common with yet another Nobel Prize honoree, Rigoberta Menchu
Congratulations Mr. President. As far as I'm concerned, no one deserves this award more.
To be honest I'm not sure how much ironic you were or how serious perhaps...but the truth is that, maybe, most of the world considers the Nobel Prize to be something else than it really is. Maybe the key thoughts and philosophies really do play a big role and have a worthful meaning but then the whole paradigm we tend to evaluate someone with such a prize is wrong, because I'm sure there could be much more measurable and visible results than just talking. Elli
ReplyDeleteHi Elli,
ReplyDeleteI'm being totally serious.
The actual criteria for who is worthy to receive the Nobel Peace Prize is obviously very different than the popular conception.
After all, one doesn't win a Juno for the same sort of accomplishments that might get you
a Bronze Star.
It is obviously awarded for endorsing or having publicly contributed to certain philosophies or ideas, in the areas I mention.
Based on the that, Barack Obama definitely checked off some of those boxes and thus deserves the prize.
Regards,
Rob