[Aberlour10]

Quote

US President Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Committee said he won it for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".

The committee highlighted Mr Obama's efforts to support international bodies and promote nuclear disarmament.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the Norwegian committee said in a statement.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

Asked why the prize had been awarded to Mr Obama less than a year after he took office, Nobel Committee head Thorbjoern Jagland said: "It was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve".

"It is a clear signal that we want to advocate the same as he has done," he said.

He specifically mentioned Mr Obama's work to strengthen international institutions and work towards a world free of nuclear arms.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ope/8298580.stm

[kenberg]

Pursuing the logic of this award, I suggest he also be named MVP in the superbowl. No need to wait until the game is actually played.

[hrothgar]

Seems quite silly and very premature...

If I had to make a guess, I think that this award has a lot less to do with Obama than it does with Bush / Cheney.

[y66]

I really like the guy. But no, I don't think he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Speech Prize? Mos def.

[Hanoi5]

Maybe also best player of the year in ACBL?

Anyway I'd rather he has it than Piedad Córdoba or any other of Chavez's puppets.

[phil_20686]

Next up, can i get the nobel prize for physics based on the problems i have talked about maybe one day solving?

[andrei]

first Al Gore and now Obama, both with major achievements towards world's peace.

Who is now selecting the winners of Nobel Peace Prize? Nancy Pelosi? Oprah?

[andrei]

Aberlour10, on Oct 9 2009, 06:21 AM, said:

Quote

Asked why the prize had been awarded to Mr Obama less than a year after he took office, Nobel Committee head Thorbjoern Jagland said: "It was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve".

I am trying hard to improve my bridge skills.

So, where should I go to claim my prize for "2009 bridge player of the year" ?

[PassedOut]

This award looks quite strange. Carter did not win the prize until 2002, after many years of working for peace. This year's decision seems to cheapen the Nobel Peace Prize a bit. That's too bad.

[ArtK78]

This discussion looks very similar to discussions about the wisdom of the committees that determine whether certain conventions are allowable or not allowable at various levels of competition.

I suspect that the committee that awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Obama knows far more about what is going on in the process of fostering world peace than the posters in this thread.

Which is a good thing.

[Lobowolf]

I can't wait 'til Winston gets here.

[jdonn]

Out of curiosity, and I'm not saying at all that he deserved it since I'm no expert and did not expect that at all, who did deserve it in that case? It would be silly to criiticize him unless you thought someone else deserved it more is all I'm saying.

I bet he won because it was a "slow peace year", in other words that there simply weren't as many obviously deserving candidates as normal. That seems the obvious explanation.

[kenberg]

We need not guess about their reasons, they explained them. This isn't one of those things where only the president is privy to the real reasons we must bomb some place we never heard of,

They explained their reasons, they embarrass themselves.


Btw, obviously I do not hold Mr. Obama responsible for this. I assume he can keep the money even though he is still in office. It's ok by me, anyway.

[cherdanno]

PassedOut, on Oct 9 2009, 09:43 AM, said:

This award looks quite strange. Carter did not win the prize until 2002, after many years of working for peace. This year's decision seems to cheapen the Nobel Peace Prize a bit. That's too bad.

Well, the committee has made awards based on "hope this will help them in the future" rather than "look at what they accomplished" before (even though of course they wouldn't admit it). Remember Arafat?

Meanwhile, anyone know Hertha Mueller?

[matmat]

he kept Palin out of office...

[jdonn]

matmat, on Oct 9 2009, 11:49 AM, said:

he kept Palin out of office...

LOL that is probably a contributing factor. If people considered it, the decision wouldn't be so controversial.

[akhare]

matmat, on Oct 9 2009, 11:49 AM, said:

he kept Palin out of office...

Bingo!!!

[mike777]

Frankly I am suprised he did not win the Peace Prize years ago.


He has long been an advocate for Peace.

[cherdanno]

jdonn, on Oct 9 2009, 11:25 AM, said:

Out of curiosity, and I'm not saying at all that he deserved it since I'm no expert and did not expect that at all, who did deserve it in that case? It would be silly to criiticize him unless you thought someone else deserved it more is all I'm saying.

I bet he won because it was a "slow peace year", in other words that there simply weren't as many obviously deserving candidates as normal. That seems the obvious explanation.

Except that, you know, they can also award someone for great things she did 3 years ago. Or 5 years ago.

[kenberg]

cherdanno, on Oct 9 2009, 11:45 AM, said:

PassedOut, on Oct 9 2009, 09:43 AM, said:

This award looks quite strange. Carter did not win the prize until 2002, after many years of working for peace. This year's decision seems to cheapen the Nobel Peace Prize a bit. That's too bad.

Well, the committee has made awards based on "hope this will help them in the future" rather than "look at what they accomplished" before (even though of course they wouldn't admit it). Remember Arafat?

Meanwhile, anyone know Hertha Mueller?

I never heard of her but I am a well known philistine.

I see her response was:

Müller, 56, took a few seconds to compose herself before a crowd of journalists, then said, "I didn't expect it. . . . I still can't speak about it, it's still too early and I think I need some time to order it in my mind."

I like that. And she has a body of work. I am not ready to claim the Nobel folks for lit know what they are doing, sometimes they seem weird, but I am at least willing to allow for the possibility that my not knowing of her is my loss.

The Peace Prize to Obama seems to me to be clearly an act of advocacy rather than an act of evaluating achievement. They pretty much say so themselves, although they do cite some nice speeches he has given to show that the award is not soley an attempt to influence future events.

I think it is a bad idea to use the prize in that manner. I understand that the Peace Prize is given in Oslo rather than Stockholm because the political situation at the time of the bequest led Nobel to believe that it would make the choice less subject to political manipulation. The best laid plans of mice and men ...