For a minute there this morning, I thought that the Saturday Night Live crew had taken over the Nobel Prize committee. It seemed like a pretty good extended riff on last weekend’s skit. You know the one. The one where President Obama cops to NOT GETTING ANYTHING DONE!!
Pretty funny. The Nobel Peace Prize. For talking nice.
CNN reports that “The announcement caught the White House off guard. One senior administration official said ‘we were quite surprised.’”
Well, yeah, I bet.
Because the president has NOT DONE ANYTHING to deserve such an award.
The nominations were closed 12 days after he took office. Talk about the triumph of style over substance.
This year’s science prizes went to men whose work transformed our lives, producing fiber optic technology and the basis for digital photography. I guess next year they should just award the prize to someone who can articulate an idea nicely. Why bother with actually producing a breakthrough?
For that matter, I'm working on a novel. It's not done, much less published. It's a really great idea. I think they oughta give me the Nobel Prize for Literature.
I don’t care what your politics are, anybody ought to be able to smell B.S. when they step in it. This is a travesty that should be rejected by everyone — starting with President Obama himself.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
Friday, October 9, 2009
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Jim,
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that conferring this high award without merit or accomplishment takes the shine off of those so deserving who have been awarded other Nobel prizes. This award is akin to giving a lifetime achievement Oscar to a 20 year old actor with a couple of minor roles under their belt.
Maybe, just maybe, the committee felt that Obama had prevented the somewhat hawkish McCain from winning the presidency, and therefore promoted peace. If so, they missed the mark, because Palin would be more deserving in that scenario.
John C.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteI think you are way off base here. Not that I put you in this category but, I find it absolutely appalling that the instant reaction to this is mainly the predictable polarized spew from the right.
As Americans our instinctive reaction should be he reaction be: "President of the United States, and therefore the United States itself, has been recognized as a leading force for world peace".
It is shameful that those who cheered when America lost the Olympics for 2016 are also the first to Boo and Hiss when our President, and therefore our country, is awarded this type of recognition.
Shame on you . Shame on you all. Everyone should be proud that we are seen as leading the world towards peace and Justice.
I think it is fine to say that the basis for the award is not based on enough concrete accomplishments and that you might identify others with more track record who are more deserving.
But to deride it as a joke, with such vituperation, is just one more serving of toxic sauce on top of the toxic stew that is politics in America today. I am disgusted.
Jim -
ReplyDeleteYou are right on with your comments here. The award used to mean something - something concrete that had been done. Now it is just a political tool given to those who follow the path that the Nobel committee thinks is right.
Too bad some will think the shock expressed by people around the world is some kind of right wing conspiracy. We can all hope that our President will live up to the award, but only time will tell.
Giving the award based on words is like giving a rookie ball player millions before he produces. Oh yeah, we do that now don't we!
Each Nobel Prize winner must be considered on their own merit. Obama, obviously, has been given this award because he is a "great orator". (Or at the least, an excellent reader of the teleprompter.) The Anonymous commenter is completely wrong, this has nothing to do with right or left. (In fact, Mr. Anonymous; is not your comment a "polarized spew from the left"?)
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, the Nobel has watered down it's own award over the last 30 years. While there have been some very deserving winners, here's a short list of other undeserving winners: Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, the UN, Kofi Annan, Michael Gorbachev, and Yassir Arafat.
It is easy to see how trivial the award has become. If given to me, I would not accept it.
Michael Preedin, Sisters
Lets be honest, the Nobel Prize is purely political and has been marginalized over the past 10 years. In reality nobody really cares except the guy that gets the 1.2 mil !!
ReplyDeleteThis just in!!! Obama wins the Heisman Trophy after watching a college
ReplyDeletefootball game!!!
Okay, the Nobel Peace Prize is voted on by 5 Norwegian guy's ? Need I say more !!
ReplyDeleteSwedish, actually.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:31 is correct. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a five person committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting).
ReplyDeleteFrom the website:
The Nobel Prize Awarders
Who selects the Nobel Laureates? In his last will and testament, Alfred Nobel specifically designated the institutions responsible for the prizes he wished to be established: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry, Karolinska Institute for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and a Committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1968, the Sveriges Riksbank established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economics in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was given the task to select the Economics Prize Laureates starting in 1969.
====
Anon 2:57 p.m.
ReplyDeleteI stand corrected. Thank you.
Jim Cornelius, Editor
Dow crosses 10000: 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics taken from Willimson and Orstrom and given to Obama.
ReplyDeleteTo the person (anonymous, of course) who is upset at the derision of the Nobel Peace Prize - ummm, where have you been the last 70 years? It is considered by many to be irrelevant. Did Dwight Eisenhower get one for his major part in liberating Europe from the Nazis and bringing in a new era of Piece? This award is mostly for orators, not doers.
I hate spell check - Obviously I meant peace, not piece.
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteI am not saying that the Noble Peace Prize is or is not Political. I am saying that reaction to Obama getting it is such an extreme response by mostly the vituperous right, that you can substitute any suffix to the words: "President Obama received..." or "President Obama achieved..." or "President Obama said ..." and they would have the same reaction.
This is not a reaction to the Nobel peace prize. The biggest Joke ever in awarding the Nobel peace prize was when Henry Kissinger won (along with Le Duc Tho) for ending the War in Vietnam in 1973 ...Oh that was one year before the North Vietnamese over ran the south and took over the country in a vast military action. No that is a Joke. None of the reaction to the Nobel peace prize ever points out that travesty.
If Obama somehow actually achieved world peace, the radical right would find a way to make that a bad thing.
Anon - You miss my point entirely. I had no issue with Obama winning because by and large, nobody of much significance ever wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Your own vitriol towards the "right" (I don't even know what that really is) is your own battle.
ReplyDeleteTo be shamed by a liberal is a sign of wisdom.