I have been an Obama booster from the earliest days of the US Democrat’s primaries contest. Without being too starry eyed, I continue to hold out a lot of hope for what he might be able to achieve as President, and have sometimes found myself chiding other people for being too cynical about Obama and what he might be able to achieve.
But as high as my opinion of Obama is, I really can’t understand why he has just been awarded.
There have certainly been some odd winners of this award in the past – Henry Kissinger probably being the most notorious – and in that context Obama looks good in comparison. Undoubtedly Obama has also made some promising actions – not least his very significant speech in Cairo and his apparent determination to move things forward for Palestine and Israel.
But as much as I hope Obama succeeds in these areas and others such as nuclear disarmament, surely it is far too early to pass out awards on whether his approach will bear positive fruit.
It’s not Obama’s fault that he has been given this award, but it seems to be based on the possibility and promise of peace, rather than looking at the outcomes in the real world.
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Agreed, I’m a big Obama fan, but I really can’t see much logic in this. But all awards have their off times; sometimes the jusdges get the wrong end of the stick, or the competetion just isn’t that strong. Have a look at some of the trashy movies that have won academy awards over the years.
And while of course it’s not Obama’s fault, that won’t stop his opponents from blaming him: further evidence that he’s just an America-hating elitist who panders to foreign socialists, spending his time lobbying the Nobel committee instead of doing his job, etc etc – I’ll bet it’s out there already, but I don’t have the stomach to look.
I think awarding the peace prize to Obama is more of a symbolic gesture aimed towards the American people themselves, in recognition for voting to change America’s trajectory.
Who cares if the wingnuts don’t like it. A few days ago they were celebrating America’s loss of the 2016 Olympics. John Stewart summed it up succinctly when he said ‘the Republicans hate Obama more than they love America’.
Lets hope that he turns into the reforming president we all want him to be and he is back on stage in Oslo in 6 or 7 years for a more deserved second one.
Just saw a great report on the topic by Rachel Maddow. She has a real knack for putting things into perspective.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/33249779#33249779