So, Obama was nominated for the prize less than two weeks after his inauguration. He was awarded the prize because he talks about hope and peace. He’s made some promises.
Throwing the Poles and Czechs under the bus by crushing plans for the missile defense shield on the 70th anniversary of Stalin’s invasion of Poland was a nice touch. Then, of course, he called for Israel to end their occupation of lands won in 1967.
But really he got the prize because Oslo hates Bush. How very interesting that Bush still has such an impact on politics.
Other takes on the matter:
Taliban Rising: No Troops for Nobel
Times Online: Peace Prize Starts Fight
The sad thing is, Obama’s ego probably will let the Nobel committee set foreign policy. I guess someone’s got to do it, right?
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I don’t normally blog about US politics, but I did a post about this one too.
Nuts.
When I first read it, I honestly thought it was a joke. Like April Fools or something. I was wondering if they had that in October in the US. Then I saw the UK news sites and realised that it was absolutely serious.
My husband and I were talking about this today. He thinks that the Nobel Peace Prize should not be an annual event, but rather something that is very occasionally awarded to special individuals in special circumstances that fully honor the original intent of Alfred Nobel.
This bizarre award has made a nonsense of the prize and made it look more like a popularity contest.
What a joke.
Sadly, I was not even surprised to hear that President Obama had won. I’m afraid that I am getting really difficult to surprise when it comes to anything political. Sigh.