Nobel Peace Prize - and the winner is >>>>>> O!

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Yay - congrats.

Didn't Gorbachev also win in 1990 early in his term as President of the Soviet Union?
 
Funny how every right-wing website has at one time or another made some sort of reference to the Taliban endorsing Obama, the Democrats, or their ideas, but the second that exact same satire is pointed in the other direction, it's suddenly coocoo, unfounded, wrong, off-limits, etc. Lighten up! :)

I mean, it's Kos after all. :p

Eh, fair enough.
 
Well, try to think of it this way - now he has a lot to live up to and might reconsider before ordering any attack or invasion on another country.
Perhaps it was a preventive measure - who knows. :shrug:

Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you, no man asked for
Under pressure, that burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets

That's ok
It's the terror of knowing what this world is about
Watching some good friends screaming, "Let me out"
Pray tomorrow, gets me higher
Pressure on people, people on streets

Chippin' around, kick my brains around the floor
These are the days it never rains but it pours

People on streets, people on streets

It's the terror of knowing what this world is about
Watching some good friends screaming, "Let me out"
Pray tomorrow, gets me higher and higher and high
Pressure on people, people on streets

Turned away from it all like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don't work
Keep coming up with love but it's so slashed and torn
Why, why, why?
Love

Insanity laughs under pressure, we're cracking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance?
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
Why can't we give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love, give love?
'Cos love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves
This is our last dance

This is ourselves under pressure
under pressure
pressure
 
Two key White House aides were both convinced they were being punked when they heard the news, reported ABC News' George Stephanopoulos .

"It's not April 1, is it?" one said.
 
but should I tell you what we witnessed in Europe?

We saw a whole nation in paradigma shift. From the tyrant Bush who kept US citizens in fear, suddenly there emerged a majority of the nation shouting "Yes we can". You can only guess what positive impact this had on the country as a whole.

There´s nothing left to guess with international relations. Everybody loves him and the U.S. already seems much better to Joe Average citizen - from Europe. from Africa. (Ok, Iran´s Ahmadinejad still has some beef with him, but who wouldn´t have beef with Ahmadinejad)

President Obama still has a lot to accomplish, and imo the peace nobel prize is a sign that the academy in Oslo encourages him.



this seems a good summation of the situation.

i am skeptical too, and i do think, whether rightly or wrongly, this does cheapen the prize since it does seem an overt politicalization of the award.

but Obama has been very impressive on the international front. his Cairo speech was brilliant, he's challenged the Israelis in a way that no other president has, he cornered Iran and got Russia (tentatively) on board.

we haven't seen the fruits just yet, that will take years. but it is a good start, and from a global perspective, most of the problems of the 21st century -- global AIDS, loose nukes, Israeli/Palestine -- are going to take more American leadership rather than less, and Obama seems to be marching in the direction the rest of the world wants him to.

and let's not forget -- his poll numbers have dropped, as they were going to. but he's solidly above 50% in a time of war and the worst economic depression since the 1930s. that's remarkable in and of itself.

i came across this on a blog, and just want to post it here, because it makes me laugh:

“YO OBAMA, I’MMA LET YOU FINISH, BUT I JUST WANNA SAY THAT MARTIN LUTHER KING JR WAS THE BEST NOBEL PRIZE WINNER OF ALL TIME.”

also, this gets to the depths of the absolute horror show that was GWB.
 
He won it on promise. Now he'll have to earn it on performance.

That's frequently the case with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Winners from the past 20 years:
2009 - Barack Obama
2008 - Martti Ahtisaari
2007 - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Al Gore
2006 - Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank
2005 - International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei
2004 - Wangari Maathai
2003 - Shirin Ebadi
2002 - Jimmy Carter
2001 - United Nations, Kofi Annan
2000 - Kim Dae-jung
1999 - Médecins Sans Frontières
1998 - John Hume, David Trimble
1997 - International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams
1996 - Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, José Ramos-Horta
1995 - Joseph Rotblat, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
1994 - Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin
1993 - Nelson Mandela, F.W. de Klerk
1992 - Rigoberta Menchú Tum
1991 - Aung San Suu Kyi
1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev
1989 - The 14th Dalai Lama
 
I agree with a lot of the points already made in here. It seems extremely premature and also very much a middle finger to George Bush and his administration. Granted, Obama's election gave us a better reputation on the global scale and he's made movement in global peace...but the past two US presidents to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt had accomplished a lot more to receive this award than Obama did.

It's like setting someone up for failure, in a way. There will be a lot of backlash against Obama when the committee are the ones who mis-judged.

I voted for and like Obama, but I think this might have been a mistake.
 
“Very few leaders if at all were able to change the mood of the entire world in such a short while with such a profound impact. You provided the entire humanity with fresh hope, with intellectual determination, and a feeling that there is a lord in heaven and believers on earth.

...

Under your leadership, peace became a real and original agenda. And from Jerusalem, I am sure all the bells of engagement and understanding will ring again. You gave us a license to dream and act in a noble direction.” - reaction from Shimon Peres, current President of Israel and 1994 Nobel Peace Prize laureate with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat

Undoubtedly, a lot of this probably is a gigantic "fuck you" to the Bush Administration. On the other hand, for a nation that typically doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks unless it needs something from it, I think it underscores that the rest of the world--or, at least Europe--is ready to bury the hatchet and try to start working with the U.S. again.

That, I think, is the motivator behind offering this award to Obama. Frankly, they couldn't honestly give a fuck about our domestic partisan squabbles or how this award sounds to FOX News pundits.
 
You know as proud as I am of President Obama for this and on most things he has done in office already (which easily get overlooked with all the noise on both sides, )
the first thing I thought of was ... oh geez... here comes the critics...
and it's both sides. I guess questioning this is justified as far as timing goes, but the man can't win for losing. EVERYthing he does is being picked apart, and yes, I know BUSH took loads of heat from everyone too, but he STARTED wars, Obama's mantra is stop them from beginning and the man gets ragged on for that. He didn't make these people vote for him... what do you want him to do ,, decline it?

For whatever accomplishments yet to be made, he has changed our standing INSTANTLY in the world just by reaching out and using his diplomatic skills and GASP, actually speaking to our enemies.

That to me IMO, is priceless and worth more than any award.
 
Ok, this statement President Obama just made was simply elegant and the definition of GRACE and humility. How many politicians would stand up and say they don't deserve an award?

OSLO — President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to build momentum behind his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.

Obama said he was surprised and deeply humbled by the honor, and planned to travel to Oslo to accept the prize, which he said he does not see "as a recognition of my own accomplishments," but rather as a recognition of goals he has set for the United States and the world.

"I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize," Obama said.


Read more at: Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize
 
Gibbs said the WH didn't even know he was nominated. Do they make them public beforehand?

I would like to believe that most people wouldn't think they deserve such an award.

One of the reporters just claimed that he was nominated 12 days after he was sworn in
 
Gibbs said the WH didn't even know he was nominated. Do they make them public beforehand?

As far as I know, its a big hush hush secret thingie.

Unless secret services found out before and told President Obama. You know how they always look into our houses with those weird satellites.
 
And even if America is still at war in Iraq, I think there is an exit plan prepared (I haven´t been following that but anyway).

Obama is using the plan for Iraq that was designed by Bush.

We saw a whole nation in paradigma shift. From the tyrant Bush who kept US citizens in fear, suddenly there emerged a majority of the nation shouting "Yes we can". You can only guess what positive impact this had on the country as a whole.

Well, just 52% of them voted for Mr. Obama. Thats not a paradigma shift, just an election win aided by a sudden drop in the economy in the last two months before the election. Whether his election has had any positive impact on the country domestically remains to be seen.

Bush is NOT a tyrant, but an elected and RE-ELECTED President of the United States. Being elected by the people into office is certainly an accomplishment, BUT being RE-ELECTED by the people to another four years in office stands way above that.


There´s nothing left to guess with international relations. Everybody loves him and the U.S. already seems much better to Joe Average citizen - from Europe. from Africa. (Ok, Iran´s Ahmadinejad still has some beef with him, but who wouldn´t have beef with Ahmadinejad)

President Obama still has a lot to accomplish, and imo the peace nobel prize is a sign that the academy in Oslo encourages him.

Perhaps its a sign that the little acadamy in Oslo likes to give awards to its favorite celebraties for doing extremely well in annual PEW research polling.
 
The Nobel Peace Price is significantly politicized... They gave it to Obama more for perception than for reality, which in my opinion is a complete nonsense.

But, then again, the Nobel Peace Price has lost quite a bit of credibility. I was wondering if the Oslo Academy should stop giving it and restrict themselves to sciences and arts.
 
this is an absolute joke. i voted for obama, i like obama... but this award was given to him for one reason and one reason only; he's not george bush.

obama may do something that warrants him winning the peace prize in the future, but he hasn't done jack diddily squat compared to other candidates yet. and don't give me this he closed g'tmo bullcrap line. guantanamo bay is still open and operational to this very day. this is a political stunt that cheapens the peace prize. nothing more.

Agreed 100%

Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize is way too premature. There should be a rule that says someone has to active in whatever they're doing peace-wise for let's say, 5 years, then they are eligible to be nominated.
 
hey everyone! i just received word that i've awarded been awarded the nobel prize for photography based on the picture i plan on taking
 
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