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Obama: Nobel Peace Prize winner

Sometime ago (I know it’s been “sometime” since I posted), I posted an opinion piece on South Africa denying the Dalai Lama a visa, and I was given a jolly good smack down by some arb. Anyway, after that incident I promised to stay away from politics and all that jazz, and I just know that my opinion on this matter should I post it,  will result in floods of comments that will make me feel…well kak to be honest. So this is just straight forward news. Barack Obama, president of the USA has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” in particular, his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation. ORLY?

As you see, I’m a chicken and not in the mood to stick my neck out but what do y’all think?

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16 replies on “Obama: Nobel Peace Prize winner”

i’m more than willing to stick my neck on this one…

i think its an utter disgrace! it makes a mockery (not the only case, but clearly the most ‘high profile’ laureate) of the nobel peace prize.
firstly, obama’s term of office is in its second year, so any TANGIBLE impact has yet to see fruition. whilst i agree he has made massive strides in terms of patching up international relations with the rest of the world, the fact remains… fuck all has changed, if not gotten worse!
secondly, this smacks of a popularity contest, which debases all previous winners work, who had spent their entire lives enriching the lives of others. even at great peril.

of course this is my personal opinion, nor does it detract from the great work obama has done, i just feel its wrong especially at this point in time. you have to remember what people like tutu and mandela endured (and many, many, many others), then take a look at what obama has endured. no comparison what-so-ever.

:peace:

I got nothing, but I agree with easy’s comment about the timing. Obama hasn’t had enough time in presidency to do anything remarkable on the war issue.

Word has it that a record 205 candidates were nominated for the peace prize so they weren’t short on choices.

Imagine if Sarkozy had won? And yes he was actually nominated. There were some amazing candidates on the list, but unfortunately I do think that this prize has just become a popularity contest.

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I was just thinking the same thing about Sarkozy, that man’s head is big enough. If it were a popularity contest, don’t you think Berlusconi would have taken it? After all nothing says I’m better than you quite like a 72-year old man with an 18-year old model (who may or may not be his daughter).

Seriously though, seeing as the prize has been awarded and all, it’d be nice if we, the citizens of the world, could have a look at that list of nominees.

Been trying hunt down a list but no luck yet just a couple of names here and there. nobelprize.org is terribly slow but am trying to find a list there.

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Oh here we go straight from horse’s mouth:
“Every year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee sends out thousands of letters inviting qualified people to submit their nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The names of the nominees and other information about the nominations cannot be revealed until 50 years later.”

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Not impressed at all. Being elected president while representing a minority, because, quite frankly, he hasnt had enough time to achieve any other claim to faim, should not a nobel laureate make!

People such as Tsvangirai deserved it far, far more. Very disappointed with the choice.

Thanks for the clarification. There’s an interesting article on the Mail & Guardian where it’s believed the award was given, less for the achievement of peace, but more to encourage Obama to move faster in the issues with the Middle East. It may not look too good for the Peace Prize laureate if he gives the go-ahead for 40 000 more troops to move into Afghanistan.