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The decline of the prize
The surprising selection of President Barack Obama for the Nobel Peace Prize says more about the decline of that venerable institution than it does Obama's achievements as president. Gone are the days when one actually had to do something to be seen as worthy of the Nobel Prize; now it is sufficient merely to be (or, in this case, not be, as in George W. Bush).
The Nobel Committee, which once honored Theodore Roosevelt for brokering an end to the Russo-Japanese War and Woodrow Wilson for the Versailles Conference, has more recently used the Nobel Peace Prize as a platform for making political statements. Hence the decision, on the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the New World, to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Rigoberta Menchu, a 33-year-old Guatemalan Maya Indian activist and author of the fraudulent eponymous autobiography, I, Rigoberta Menchu. In this case as well, the prize seems to be a condescending attempt to reward America for correcting its past "bad" behavior.
Barack Obama is an honorable man, who weeks ago emphasized the value of hard work in a speech televised throughout America's schools. What does the act of accepting the Nobel Peace Prize for merely being say to America's sons and daughters? In my view, there was an honorable way forward: The president should have turned down the Peace Prize. He should have thanked the committee for its flattering award, but declined to accept the prize on the ground that he has not (yet) earned it. Not in the week and a half between his inauguration and the closing of nominations for the prize. Not in his nine months in the White House. Not in his four years in the Senate.
Perhaps Barack Obama will achieve the stature of a TR, or a Woodrow Wilson; all Americans should hope so. That, however, is but a future possibility.
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Peace prizes
I certainly hope that Obama does not achieve the stature of former Nobel winner Woodrow Wilson; or tries to. If Wilson mastermindeded -- a questionable proposition -- the Versailles Treaty, then let's keep in mind that its harsh treatment of the WWI losers is widesly regarded as cause of World War II. Hardly a peaceful outcome.
Wilson wasn't only harsh to former enemies at that conference. He is almost solely recalled in Australia, an ally in both world wars, from his attempt to expel tiny little Australia (3 million population) from the Versailles negotiations. This idea died in the next five seconds when the senior Aussie present riposted with the number of his fellow-countrymen who had died in WWI. It matched, almost to a man, the number of American casualties in the war.
People who turn to hope in politics are fools
Politics is not an area for hoping, nor is it an area for assuming. Assuming that our President is an honorable man seems minimally polite, but if "honorable" is to be taken seriously then we must remind ourselves of many unfulfilled promises from his candidacy and reversals of promised positions. We must also wonder about what "honor" lies in drone attacks that have a high likelihood of killing innocent civilians. Then there is the question of continuing trade policies that inflict starvation and disease on third world farmers, some of whom are committing suicide because their honor requires it as failed debtors.
The Nobel PP committee also awarded a PP to Henry Kissinger. Is any further comment necessary?
Why do you postulate that
Why do you postulate that Obama is an honorable man? What exactly, has he done that has been so honorable? Oh, let me count the ways:
1. Signed a statement on the IL bar application that he had never been known under another name, when in fact he is AKA Barry Soetoro.
2. Won election to the IL Senate using dirty, underhanded tricks to get his opponent thrown off the ballot.
3. Voted "present" in IL Senate instead of taking a position on critical issues.
4. Dismissed his grandmother as a typical white person with racist tendencies to gain political favor.
5. Dismissed his 20year relationship with the hatemongering Rev. Wright, his "inspiration" to embracing Christianity, to regain political favor
6. Lied about continuing obligations to Islam, the religion of his childhood.
7. Voted "present" in United States Senate instead of taking a position on critical issues.
8. Embarked on a campaign for higher office after serving just 143 days of a six-year commitment to service as a United States Senator.
9. Spent $900k /- in refusal to produce bona fide original documentation of his citizenship at birth, as well as any papers on which he claimed foreign citizenship to gain financial benefits from the government.
10. Denied all knowledge of ACORN and its mission despite having spent a significant amount of time involved with them as an attorney and community organizer.
11. Funneled $800k +/- campaign funds to ACORN subsidiary for activities to benefit his Presidential election campaign.
12. Violated settled bankruptcy law and the US Constitution by usurping authority to negotiate settlement with GM creditors and giving unsecured creditors in the form of union political contributors/supporters more favorable terms than the secured creditors.
13. Ignored treaty obligations to Israel and Eastern Europe in favor of concessions to Iran and Russia.
I could go on, but my hands are tired. The long and short of it is, this man has not the least clue of the meaning of honor, let alone begin to embody it.
Right decision wrong recipient
The Noble committee can only be accused of being too diplomatic in its approach: The Peace Prize rightfully belongs to the US voters - their choice made the world with one swoop a much more peaceful place!
historical accuracy
Wilson absolutely did not "mastermind" the Treaty of Versailles. The only thing he managed to get at the Paris Peace Conference was the League of Nations. Everything else he wanted (quite an impressive list of enlightened policies, I might add), he lost. He certainly was not a proponent of punishing the Germans -- quite the opposite. You can blame the French for that one.
As for "tiny little Australia," you may want to recall that poor little Australia was responsible for eliminating a clause from the treaty that would bar discrimination on the basis of race or nationality. Not too racially enlightened, those tiny little Australians.
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