Nobel Putz Prize

I almost wish I can go back to bed and wake up this morning all over again in the hope that doing so might actually bring about a more normal day the second time around, because the day I woke up to this morning—the upside-down, Alice-in-Wonderland world that smiled back at me today like one big spooky Cheshire cat—is a very, very strange and bizarre world. I feel as though I went to sleep in Normal Universe and woke up in the Twilight Zone. And, quite frankly, I wonder if I’ll ever get back to Normal Universe again.

I’m sure that by now I don’t even have to explain myself. After all, it’s all over the news, and it’s not only me who’s completely taken by surprise. Hell, even the folks around me here in super-liberal NYC are somewhat confused by what happened! Here’s one perfect example of one Manhattanite’s reaction, as reported by Reuters:

“It would be wonderful if I could think why he won,” said Claire Sprague, 82, a retired English professor as she walked her dog in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. “They wanted to give him an honor I guess, but I can’t think what for.”

You also have those who, while clearly dumbfounded, try to phrase it somewhat diplomatically, as though Obama might at least be on track to earning it, but hasn’t gotten there yet. For example, the Wall Street Journal described the following reactions:

“So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far,” former Polish President Lech Walesa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, said Friday. “He is still at an early stage.”

and:

Even in Norway [home of the Nobel Committee], where Mr. Obama enjoys huge popularity, the decision raised eyebrows among some. “It is just too soon,” said Siv Jensen, leader of Norway’s main opposition party, the Progress Party. “It is wrong to give him the peace prize for his ambition. You should receive it for results.”

And, then you have those whose reactions are more straightforward and blunt:

Issam al-Khazraji, a day laborer in Baghdad, said of Obama: “He doesn’t deserve this prize. All these problems — Iraq, Afghanistan — have not been solved … man of ‘change’ hasn’t changed anything yet.”

Liaqat Baluch, a senior leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a conservative religious party in Pakistan, called the award an embarrassing “joke.”

London Times’ Michael Binyon comments that

the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.

The pretext for the prize was Mr Obama’s decision to “strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”. Many people will point out that, while the President has indeed promised to “reset” relations with Russia and offer a fresh start to relations with the Muslim world, there is little so far to show for his fine words.

…There is a further irony in offering a peace prize to a president whose principal preoccupation at the moment is when and how to expand the war in Afghanistan.

Even the President’s own men thought it was a big joke, as ABC News reports:

Two key White House aides were both convinced they were being punked when they heard the news, reported ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “It’s not April 1, is it?” one said.

And, finally, here’s none other than Michael Moore, monolith (almost literally) of the left, telling Obama:

Congratulations President Obama on the Nobel Peace Prize — Now Please Earn it!

To put it simply: what has Obama done? Nothing! He has exactly zero accomplishments to date in the pursuit of global peace. He hasn’t laid out any grand plans for the world, other than his usual fuzzy, vague expressions of “hope”. In fact, he has gone out of his way to antagonize democracies, while bowing down to dictators and tyrants (literally, in some cases) and legitimizing them.

But—wait—here’s the kicker, which most people either don’t know, or haven’t realized yet:  The deadline for nominations for the prize was February 1—a mere two weeks after Mr. Obama was inaugurated.

Naturally, there is a lot of speculation as to whether or not the world has lost its mind in their worship of Obama. But, here’s the most sound and shrewd theory I’ve heard all day (from my politics-savvy uncle):

This prize was essentially a way for the international community to guarantee that the United States is going to stand down on Iran and not invade the country over their nuclear ambitions. After all, now that Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize, there’s no way he would then go and invade another country!

So, this was essentially one big payoff to Obama, one big buyout of the President of the United States… and, like an idiot, he took the bait. Despite the wide-eyed stupor of a reaction across every spectrum around the globe, he didn’t stop to wonder what the motive was behind a prize rewarding no accomplishments; he didn’t cautiously decline the prize like he should have done, at least out of respect for previous winners and their accomplishments (hold the laughter, please); instead, like the predictably arrogant, big-headed buffoon that he is, he swallowed it hook, line, and sinker, all the while throwing out words like “humbled” and “honored”, when all that really happened was the U.S. President getting played, his ego as his Achilles’ heel.

What a sad, sad joke.

I guess when they say, “you never know what tomorrow brings”… they mean that it sometimes brings you a big jarring anvil upside the head.

Tags: Iran, Nobel Peace Prize, Obama

This entry was posted on Friday, October 9th, 2009 and is filed under Featured, Politics, World Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.