Andy,

Of what value are honors not earned?

Of what character that accepts unearned honors?

Madoc

Andy,

Voters? What voters? The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a committee. And it's a mighty small one at that.

You are right though, it is their award and they're free to expend it on whoever and whatever they wish. Time was when the Nobel Prize for Peace was only awarded for some grand achievement that took years to bring off.

Now?

If the Nobel Peace Prize Committee followed its own process and procedures then that means that Obama's nomination was in place by February.

February.

At best, that gives him a month and change to have been on the job by the time the Committee began the process of throwing this honor to him.

And now, at just the second week of October they've bestowed the accolade upon him formally. This, when he's had but not even nine full months to make his mark upon the world.

Carter at least did something concrete and was awarded his Nobel years into his presidency.

Gore at least spent over a decade preaching his scam before he got his Nobel.

Obama? The guy hasn't even managed to get all his administration's staff positions filled and they're handing him this "highest award."

That demeans its value and is an insult to all the previous Nobel Peace Prize recipients. They, unlike Obama, actually had to do _something_ before they got their little medallion.

At best, this is a "not-Bush" award. Some achievement that is, eh? Real high bar there.

It would have been to Obama's credit had he tactfully refused the "honor." Had he done so he would've portrayed himself as being "a statesman wise beyond his years" and truly shown some humility.

Instead?

Instead, he's jumping at the chance to gain more glory and baubles from people who reward thinking correct thoughts and have little care for their results.

No, Andy, this award is a travesty. It mocks those that have gone before Obama and, in accepting it, Obama is making a mockery of himself.

Madoc

Andy,

You know, for a "notoriously opaque" process they sure seem to be pretty open about it.

Why, they even have a website up which boasts about its details:

http://nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/process.html

Unless, of course, their own website is but conjecture...

:)

Madoc

Andy,

The issue and point is not at all related to "how the shelf was built" but rather when.

The Nobel Peace Prize nominations close in February. Period. Dot. End of line.

February.

By the Nobel Peace Prize Committee's own procedures the "short listing" takes place no later than April.

Thus it was decided that Obama was possibly worthy of a Nobel back in February. It was then decided that he was seriously worth one a mere two months later. And now, barely half a year later, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has thrown the laurel at him.

What about all the other folks who's names were submitted for consideration? You know, the folks who actually did _something_ in order to be considered? Something other than "getting out of bed that morning?" We know of at least eight of them:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/10/meet_the_people_who_were_passe.asp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sima Samar, women's rights activist in Afghanistan: "With dogged persistence and at great personal risk, she kept her schools and clinics open in Afghanistan even during the most repressive days of the Taliban regime, whose laws prohibited the education of girls past the age of eight. When the Taliban fell, Samar returned to Kabul and accepted the post of Minister for Women's Affairs."

Ingrid Betancourt: French-Colombian ex-hostage held for six years.

"Dr. Denis Mukwege: Doctor, founder and head of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. He has dedicated his life to helping Congolese women and girls who are victims of gang rape and brutal sexual violence."

Handicap International and Cluster Munition Coalition: "These organizations are recognized for their consistently serious efforts to clean up cluster bombs, also known as land mines. Innocent civilians are regularly killed worldwide because the unseen bombs explode when stepped upon."

"Hu Jia, a human rights activist and an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, who was sentenced last year to a three-and-a-half-year prison term for 'inciting subversion of state power.'"

"Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China's communist system. He now lives in the United States."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, let's see now...

Sima Samar looks the worthy candidate, what with her being a "women's rights activist" and all. Oh, wait, she was doing that in Afghanistan? Oh noos we can't give it to her! Doing so might upset the Islamists and offend their sensibilities.

Ingrid Betancourt? Held hostage for six years? That's a lot of suffering. Oh, wait, she was held by Communist / Maoist "revolutionaires" and her rescue was a huge embarrassment to fellow leftist demagogue Hugo Chavez. Nope, she's out.

Dr. Denis Mukwege sounds pretty good but awarding it to him might point out the absolute hash Europeans have made of Africa.

Hu Jia and Wei Jingsheng aren't worth bothering with. Their activism and suffering has been in China - Communist China - so we can't have any insults to the PRC! And besides, Wei Jingsheng is obviously unworthy as he sold out when he moved to the US.

That leaves the Handicap International and Cluster Munition Coalition folks. Gosh, that should be a no-brainer! Over said, and done! Oh, wait, we've got this tingling feeling running up our legs! Could it be? Yes, let's give it to him and perhaps he'll grace us with his presence and that way we can swoon in person!

Seriously though, all of these folk - and this is just the few we know of - have done far more to deserve a Nobel Prize for Peace than Obama. Far more. To start, they've all actually done _something_.

Andy, tossing Obama this "honor" so soon into his presidency demeans the award, insults all the other candidates, and cheapens the achievement of all its previous recipients. And Obama's accepting it so eagerly - he, the guy who has been at pains to paint himself as the "Great Deliberator" - just shows him up for the malignant narcissist that he is.

Obama made a huge political mistake in accepting this award. It's a mistake that he's going to be ruing for the rest of his term. And rightly so.

Madoc

Andy,

Obama was awarded his Nobel for his "promise" to do something. Not his actually having done something, just his promise to do something.

Usually, you don't hand out awards for something as insubstantial as but a mere _promise_ of achievement.

Yet, that's exactly what the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has actually done.

And Kissinger? Well he and Lê Ðức Thọ had actually done something - they'd negotiated an end to the Vietnam war. Yeah, it didn't last. The North was lying through its teeth when it made its negotiations. But at least Henry _did_ something. He didn't just _promise_ to do something, he actually did it.

Obama? He got his laurel wreath for but a mere promise.

So, how's that work in the real world Andy? How about you go in to your job and tell them that you'll promise to do your work real hard if they give you an entire year's salary up front.

Andy, if you tried getting by in life like that folks would laugh in your face and you'd be pretty damn poor pretty damn quick.

Ah but this is the Obama we're talking about here, right? So, the common sense rules that apply to us common folk don't apply, eh?

Come on Andy, your attempting to defend Obama and rationalize this travesty is only covering you in the same muck he and they wallow in. You're better than that. I wish Obama was to but, obviously, he's not.

Madoc

Andy,

"A truce is a promise?" Oh come on. Your argument is reduced to word gaming? That's it?

Yes, Andy, it is the Norwegians' award to expend. But there's also an onus on Obama for accepting it.

He did not have to stoop and accept such honors unearned.

Yet, he rushed to do so.

You can listen to the talking heads all you want and laugh as much as you like. The basic points remain:

Of what value honors unearned?

Of what character he who accepts such honors?

Madoc

Here's a good explanation of Common misconceptions about the Nobel Peace Prize.

My feeling, although it is not on that list, is a major purpose of the Peace Prize is to warn everyone else to back off and let the guy do the job.