So, President Barack Obama "won" a Nobel Prize...for Peace (at least that's what it says on the trophy). Lots of reaction here in the U.S. - natch. Here's what news media types in other parts of the world are saying about it...(Funniest line?: Courtesy of "the left-wing NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands): ”What got into the committee to award this prize to a man who has yet to live up to the high expectations? Were they drunk?”
For whatever it's worth, I don't think you can blame Obama for doing anything other than accepting the prize. (If he had demurred, I would've saluted him from here til the end of his administration.) But the bottom line is he didn't win it for anything he's done other than make speeches. That's a pretty low bar, especially when you measure him against previous winners (minus Arafat and Kissinger...maybe a few others).
TIME gets into the act...
Saturday Night Live scores again...
According to Eleanor Clift, "The truth stings even when it's packaged in laughs."
So who gets to nominate? From the folks who hand these baubles out:
Qualified Nominators
The right to submit proposals for the Nobel Peace Prize shall, by statute, be enjoyed by:
1. Members of national assemblies and governments of states;
2. Members of international courts;
3. University rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology; directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes;
4. Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
5. Board members of organizations who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
6. Active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee; (proposals by members of the Committee to be submitted no later than at the first meeting of the Committee after February 1)
and7. Former advisers appointed by the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
The Nobel Peace Prize may also be awarded to institutions and associations.
You also need an understanding of the "inside game."
Add nominations: For whatever it's worth, the nomination process began two months before the general elections here in the U.S. and closed just 12 days into Obama's first term (or 0.82 percent of the way into his presidency).
Maybe she should have won some sort of prize. I mean, she actually accomplished something.
Finally, a reminder: Tonight, from 8 – 8:30 p.m. (Pacific Time), it’s another edition of The John Batchelor Show. I’ll be joining my fellow panelists to discuss the events and news of the week. You can listen to the show at KSFO-AM 560 San Francisco/Northern California, KFI-AM 640 Los Angeles/Southern California, WABC-AM 77 NY, WMAL-AM 630 Washington, D.C., and on XM/Sirius Satellite Radio (throughout the universe).
1 comment:
This is not unprecedented. For example, Bishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his fight to abolish apartheid a full decade before it was ended. Nelson Mandela was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize before the abolition of apartheid. Although by that time, he had already been leader of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), which he co-founded. He coordinated bombing campaigns against military and government targets, making plans for a possible guerrilla war if the sabotage failed to end apartheid. Mandela also raised funds for MK abroad and arranged for paramilitary training of the group. I'm not saying that Mandela didn't deserve the prize, I'm just saying that this is not the first time that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded based on a persons words rather than his deeds.
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