Obama wins Nobel Prize

[Mr Jake]

By my calculations, if I release By the Sword, I can win the Nobel Peace Prize for 5 straight years.

The chances of either of those happening is very slim though!

[Layabout]

Did his charismatic superpowers not single-handedly unite Black America into actually voting. As I understand it he go a lot of people passionate about politics and change.

[Andail]

Naturally, it's absurd that someone who supports the death penalty and currently wages a war in Afghanistan can earn the peace prize.

Then again, the fact that the world's biggest military power has elected a leader that isn't intellectually handicapped is so reassuring for the rest of the world that it's probably worthy of some sort of prize.

[MrColossal]

I find it curious that people even care. When was the last time anyone even thought of the Nobel Peace Prize? What about the other Nobel prizes? Are there people who won those that maybe didn't deserve it in comparison?

Does anyone here REALLY care? Do you hold the Nobel Peace Prize in such a high regard that it's worth getting upset over?

I mean shit, they gave the Peace Prize to Mother Theresa and she was horrible!

[Andail]

Yeah, good post Eric, why care!???

[m0ds]

It was a very organised decision. It was used to cover up whatever really happened the same day when NASA smashed an orbiter into the moon. You'd think they'd perhaps seperate Nobel peace prize and the largest event in space history since the landing on Mars by at least a day?

I won't go into it. Great that Obama won it, sadly he doesn't actually deserve it yet - he's only been in office 10 months or so and he's really only passed 1 decent thing, and started work on the second - so yes, it was just a necessary diversion for whatever the USA was doing to the moon, because frankly IMO there's so little to go on as to why Obama would win that prize. And of course, being the controlling state that they are they had to keep the US public focussed on something different, oh and of course because they're a controlling state why not at the same time make sure the entire world is interested and seduced by this shit?

But whatever, you'll think I'm whack And I'm bored of pointing out that the US government will always lie to its people when there's something to militarize (sp, may not even be a real world). I like Obama, I think he's just running the wrong country - one full of lying military pricks. No American or Englishman especially not politician should get the NPP, especially after the war in Iraq and stuff which still has no proper conclusion. But fuck it, lies, lies, lies! But let's all buy them because it makes great TV.

[MrColossal]

I was serious Andail and I think there's more than enough in my post to respond to without trying to use sarcasm to make me seem like an asshole.

[Snarky]

Well, I for one think the Nobel Prize is a big deal. I'd say it's the greatest recognition and honor that can be bestowed on a person (or organization), and I believe it is widely seen as such.

Nobel Prize laureates certainly aren't all perfect, but when given to people with checkered careers, the prize is always for some specific, major effort or achievement for peace. As for Mother Teresa, she devoted her life to caring for the sick, poor and dying. There's a lot I disagree with her about, and you can question specific aspects of her work, but on the whole I believe she was a worthy winner.

So I don't think Obama leading a war in Afghanistan (or other grubby business that comes with the job) necessarily disqualifies him for the Nobel Prize. The committee are realists, they don't expect a winner to singlehandledly end all war. But since he is responsible for an ongoing conflict, there needs to be some other major peace-making action to point to to justify his win. And Obama simply hasn't done anything that merits a Nobel Prize.

I thought it was ridiculous when Al Gore won the award (apart from writing a book and starring in a film, he's done very little of substance for the environment, and besides, the Nobel Prize isn't an environmental award in the first place; Jimmy Carter on the other hand definitely deserved it), but at least you had some idea of what he was getting it for.

[Andail]

Ok sorry Eric, that was a bit childish I guess.
But I've always found it mildly annoying when people are having a discussion in a thread and someone barges in and asks how they can bother.
I just don't see the need to take that position.

[voh]

Maybe you don't see why anyone would take that position but it's an equally valid stance to those who are against/for the discussion.

I'm also of the opinion that it's not worth getting worked up over, for the same reasons Eric has mentioned - the peace prize doesn't really mean much nowadays - and this just shows exactly why.

[Andail]

I didn't mean the position to not consider the peace prize important, I meant the position you take when you enter a thread just to question why people who are into that particular discussion can bother to discuss it.
I think it's bad forum conduct, end of story.

So, yes, Voh, it's a perfectly valid stance not to care about the peace prize, and I can't say it's ruined my life and given me nightmares either, but if people are having a discussion, they apparently care about the subject to some extent, so why question that.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I see what Andail is saying and endorse his message.  Unfortunately, by that same token this probably disqualifies me from the discussion since I'm not contributing anything!


WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

[Darth Mandarb]

I can understand both Eric's and Andail's points.  Both have their pros and cons.  I would like to find a time/place where the three of us can sit down and discuss this very important issue (and maybe even high-five with some children).

Now can I win the nobel peace prize?

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

and maybe even high-five with some children

What good would slapping children with other children do, Darth?  Man, you have some weeeeird habits.

[MrColossal]

I did not mean for it to seem like I was barging into a thread and declaring everyone was dumb. So I apologize if I came off that way. I think there's a pretty good record of me hating the shit out of people that do that also.

What I meant by 'people' was more than people in this thread. I think it's a guarantee that there are people in the world [or this forum] that could care less about the Peace Prize, never give it a thought and when it was awarded last year didn't even bother to find out why the person won it, but as soon as they learned that Obama won it, all of the sudden it's very important to get answers as to WHY!!?! What did he do??!!?

I was making an honest query which I now fear was easily misinterpreted, posters in this thread seem to care and I'm curious as to why? What is the perceived impact of this prize being awarded?

[RickJ]

I think it's a guarantee that there are people in the world [or this forum] that could care less about the Peace Prize, never give it a thought and when it was awarded last year didn't even bother to find out why the person won it, but as soon as they learned that Obama won it, all of the sudden it's very important to get answers as to WHY!!?! What did he do??!!?

To be honest I thought Snarky answered that question quit eloquently in his opening post.   

[MrColossal]

That's cool, I didn't I guess!

[MillsJROSS]

I'm in complete agreement with MrColossal. This is the first time on these forums that I can recall that we've had a discussion of the Nobel Peace Prize.

I'm not a huge fan of these types of awards anyway. They're purely subjective, mostly always political, and they commonly leave several "just as deserving" people out.

However, I also disagree with the sentiment that Obama has not accomplished much of anything. That he's a man that just makes a pretty speech and that's about it. For one, I think a lot of what he has to do will take years to accomplish or years to see results. Two, it's not an easy feat to do with the USAs volatile political environment, where you have to concede some political battles now to win more important ones in the future. Three, the power of words and speeches is often times underestimated. I've seen situations where a few well placed words have completely changed the mood of everyone in a tension filled room. Four, while we are still fighting in Afghanistan, under Obama there's fundamental difference in our strategic goals. There's a lot more diplomacy going on behind the scenes, and there's a clearer goal as to what we are accomplishing. It may not be perfect, but it's a lot better than the nebulous goals of yesterpresident.

I think loominous hit the nail on the head...

The commitee is smart enough to have anticipated the reaction, which suggests that it was designed more as an attempt to pin Obama to his rhetoric, rather than a pat on his back.

Perhaps Obama has not done enough to warrant the award. But if this award helps to keep Obama at his word, it's far more important to give it to him now, where it can potentially have the most impact on the future (since it's early in his presidency) than later. I don't think there's any need to feel ashamed of this award. If anything, I think this award is being used exactly as it's founder intended, to bring about peace.

I go back to my first point, though. I can't name the last five winners off the top of my head, can you?

-MillsJROSS

[TerranRich]

I think the reason why this is the only time I can remember where we're talking about the Nobel Peace Price and who is being awarded it, is because this is the only time the decision involves a world leader and is such a questionable decision that it attracts the attention of people everywhere.

[Snarky]

There are lots of important things we never talk about on the forums (and there's a whole bunch of unimportant stuff we constantly talk about too). I don't see how that's proof of anything.

Last year was that Finnish guy, Matti Ahtisari (sp?), and the year before that must have been when Al Gore won. Beyond that it kind of blurs together. I remember Kofi Annan, the South Korean president, Jimmy Carter, those two guys from Northern Ireland (Hume and Trimble?), Doctors Without Borders... but those were all probably further back than five years...

As for Obama, do you really think it's realistic to expect  that the weight of his responsibility to live up to the Nobel Peace Prize is going to affect his decisions to any great degree? On the contrary, I would argue that it would be more effective to hold it out as a possible prize for doing the right thing (and compensation for whatever political cost there would be to him). And honestly, "much better than George Bush" is an awfully low bar. The fact that it will take years for him to make substantial headway (or not!) is just another argument for why this award was premature.