Should Obama turn down the Nobel?
What Obama would gain from declining the Nobel Peace Prize—and from accepting it
A Nobel Prize medal bearing the likeness of Alfred Nobel
(Corbis/Ted Spiegel)
President Obama should "politely decline" his Nobel Peace Prize, said Mickey Kaus in Slate, saying he's honored but hasn't had time to accomplish his goals. He'll get "the same amount of glory," and chip away at his "narcissism problem" by showing that "he's uncomfortable with his reputation as a man overcelebrated for his potential long before he's started to realize it."
It's fair to say Obama's Nobel is premature "given his fairly brief tenure," said Steve Benen in Washington Monthly. But there's a legitimate defense for giving him the award—it is, after all, reserved for those "who've shown great leadership in advancing the cause of international peace," which Obama undeniably has. And Obama's Nobel Peace Prize is worth having—it could have "meaningful, and positive, impact," by giving him the "high ground in international settings."
Obviously, this was a symbolic message meant to repudiate "the go-it-alone, reckless cowboy mentality of George W. Bush’s administration," said Michael Mayo in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Sun-Sentinel, "and a validation of Obama’s more conciliatory approach and his overall message of hope." But "I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around a sitting U.S. president—commander-in-chief of the world’s most sophisticated military machine—winning a peace prize amidst two wars." If Obama doesn't turn down the prize, he should at least "make sure the $1.2 million prize money goes to a darn good cause (helpful advice: probably not a donation to ACORN)."
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18 Comments
Posted by John, Friday, October 9, 2009, 9:53 am what has he done besides run our economy into the ditch, apologize to every 3rd world country . denegrate our country, abuse the power of his office, hire radicals and talk talk talk everywhere anywhere. he is a do nothing , and can't wait until his one term isover. HAHAH Nobel Prize makes me want to throw up.
Posted by JT, Friday, October 9, 2009, 11:21 am what has he done besides run our economy into the ditchHe inherited the bad economyIts denigrate not denegrateHe has done nothing because congress is ridiculously inept.and we do owe the world an apology for GWB
Posted by Nobel, Friday, October 9, 2009, 11:33 am Sign a petition now nobelpeace.eu ! Petition against the absurd decision to award B. Obama Nobel Peace Prize...
Posted by Well-Read, Friday, October 9, 2009, 11:48 am Maybe you people should actually read full articles before substituting your judgment for that of the Nobel Committee. He was nominated for work he did PRIOR to becoming the POTUS.
Posted by Majik, Friday, October 9, 2009, 12:00 pm The Nobel committee has continued down the path of irrelevancy. The committee has made some fairly bad choices for the last decade or so, its antiAmerica agenda fits in perfectly with Mr. Obamas. The following is a list of recent Nobel winners.1994Yasser ArafatA terrorist2001 Kofi AnnanAntiAmerican Politician2002 Jimmy Carter Anti American Politician2005 Mohamed El Baradei A fool and a Liar2007 Al Gore A large fool and liar2009 Barrack ObamaAntiAmerican PoliticianThis is a collection of Leftist doofuses, unknown bureaucrats, p
Posted by Carolyn Mata, Friday, October 9, 2009, 12:15 pm Let the Nobel Committee decide and they did.
Posted by Al Gore, Friday, October 9, 2009, 12:29 pm Obviously it's fixed, if Algore can win it with his figment/scam/sham of global warming, and idiot can win it. obama was in office 2 weeks before the cutoff, good job libacrats, try to make it back to reality!
Posted by Michael Grogan, Friday, October 9, 2009, 2:15 pm No matter what Pres. Obama does or doesn't do, judgement seems based on political party preference. Republicans would condemn if Obama were healing the sick and raising the dead. We should be thrilled to have an American president receiving such an honour. The Bush presidents would NEVER even be considered.
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