Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize- Page 3

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 11:35am

The DNC has lousy timing. They should have been saying things like this about things like stalemating health care, not when 80& of the American people, Republicans and Democrats alike, are scratching their heads and saying, "WTF...?"

[degrassifan]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 11:41am

Congrats President Obama!

[James885]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 11:46am

I can see the heads of the conservative commentators on Fox News exploding already. I think it is a little premature to be giving him the Peace Prize already.

[tazber]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 11:48am

That was a really well worded response from the DNC.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 11:50am

From liberal Glen Greenwald at Salon.com:

Beyond Afghanistan, Obama continues to preside over another war -- in Iraq: remember that? -- where no meaningful withdrawal has occurred. He uttered not a peep of opposition to the Israeli massacre of Gazan civilians at the beginning of this year (using American weapons), one which a U.N. investigator just found constituted war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity. The changed tone to Iran notwithstanding, his administration frequently emphasizes that it is preserving the option to bomb that country, too -- which could be a third war against a Muslim country fought simultaneously under his watch. He's worked tirelessly to protect his country not only from accountability -- but also transparency -- for the last eight years of war crimes, almost certainly violating America's treaty obligations in the process. And he is currently presiding over an expansion of the legal black hole at Bagram while aggressively demanding the right to abduct people from around the world, ship them there, and then imprison them indefinitely with no rights of any kind.

It's certainly true that Obama inherited, not started, these conflicts. And it's possible that he could bring about their end, along with an overall change in how America interacts with the world in terms of actions, not just words. If he does that, he would deserve immense credit -- perhaps even a Nobel Peace Prize. But he hasn't done any of that. And it's at least as possible that he'll do the opposite: that he'll continue to escalate the 8-year occupation of Afghanistan, preside over more conflict in Iraq, end up in a dangerous confrontation with Iran, and continue to preserve many of the core Bush/Cheney Terrorism policies that created such a stain on America's image and character around the world.

Through no fault of his own, Obama presides over a massive war-making state that spends on its military close to what the rest of the world spends combined. The U.S. accounts for almost 70% of worldwide arms sales. We're currently occupying and waging wars in two separate Muslim countries and making clear we reserve the "right" to attack a third. Someone who made meaningful changes to those realities would truly be a man of peace. It's unreasonable to expect that Obama would magically transform all of this in nine months, and he certainly hasn't. Instead, he presides over it and is continuing much of it. One can reasonably debate how much blame he merits for all of that, but there are simply no meaningful "peace" accomplishment in his record -- at least not yet -- and there's plenty of the opposite. That's what makes this Prize so painfully and self-evidently ludicrous.

-- Glenn Greenwald

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 12:12pm

Wow, RIGHT ON DNC!

[StockardFan]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 12:15pm

I think it was a good response too. I'd like to print it out to hand to my friends at dinner tonight when they start ranting.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 12:28pm

I don't understand why people are using this to criticize Obama instead of the Nobel Committee. It's not like he flew to Oslo and make an appeal- the White House is just as surprised as the rest of us. I'm sure Obama would rather be able to point to a long list of accomplishments to justify his win to the critics as well, but he didn't have a say in this decision.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 12:33pm

It doesn't matter. It's still Obama's fault.

Updated On: 10/9/09 at 12:33 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 12:36pm

Some dignity from John McCain:

"Oh, I'm sure that the president is very honored to receive this award. And Nobel Committee, I can't divine all their intentions, but I think part of their decision-making was expectations. And I'm sure the president understands that he now has even more to live up to. But as Americans, we're proud when our president receives an award of that prestigious category...Well, I think all of us were surprised at -- at the decision. But I -- I think Americans are always pleased when their president is recognized by something on this order."

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 12:41pm

Actually that was very classy.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 12:52pm

I think Americans are always pleased when their president is recognized by something on this order.

Obviously not, but McCain's statement was respectful.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 12:57pm

Yes, that was very respectful.

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 12:59pm

A link to Obama's comments made earlier today:


Nobel speech

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 1:04pm

As far as I can tell, the most vocal opponents to his receiving the prize are a member of the Russian parliament, a militant jihadist, and the RNC.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 2:49pm

Obama's comments are pitch-perfect:

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize, men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women and all Americans want to build, a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. ...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 2:51pm

I don't understand why people are using this to criticize Obama instead of the Nobel Committee.

Because Obama has to be blamed for accepting the award he knows he doesn't deserve. If he turned it down, he should be blamed for disrespecting on the Nobel committee and destroying US foreign relations only proving why he doesn't deserve it. Had he not been nominated then he'd be blamed for not being the Messiah every single Democrat has endlessly claimed him to be.

My dog peed on the carpet this morning. Before Obama was President, I didn't even own a dog. What a jerk.

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 5:42pm

Is there something perverse about giving the President of the United States the Nobel Peace Prize on the very day his country first bombs an off-earth target?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 5:50pm

You mean the NASA missile meant to explore the moon for signs of water? No.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/9/09 at 8:20pm

My issue with it is the same as a lot of people's...he really hasn't done anything.

Sure, he got Iran to commit to giving over nuclear stuff (I forget what exactly) to Russia. Well, that's great. You can get anyone to commit to something...it's the actually doing it that matters.

I would like for him to do something that we can clearly see as proof before giving out the award.