Obama Wins Nobel Prize

[Rachmaninoff]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]If you haven't heard the news yet, then here's a little something to bring you up to speed:

[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8298787.stm"][U]Obama Wins Nobel Prize[/U][/URL]

Now I honestly haven't followed who gets these kinds of things in years so I couldn't say if it's become more of a political thing vs a more impartial selection. I only know that when I saw the article I was surprised since I was unaware he was even being considered.

I wasn't surprised by some of the heavy criticism that stemmed from it though. I about can't get through a single day without hearing someone bitterly complain about him in some way. If you're curious, this article here has a bit more and links to some of the articles that bash the decision.

[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8299697.stm"][U]US media on Obama Nobel award[/U][/URL]

So now I need to do some more reading up on this before I can give much of an opinion. As for the rest of you, what are your thoughts on it? [/FONT]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Certainly I'm curious what prompted the Nobel committee to award President Obama the Peace Prize given he has not been serving as the US President very long at this point and his concrete achievements on a "world peace" scale would tend to be quite limited. I do congratulate the man on achieving this accolade but I would have to agree that political motivation seems to have played a rather large part in this.

I can only hope his future actions merit this award.[/SIZE]

[Boo]

[size=1]Everyone I spoke to about it, including myself because I talk to myself quite occasionally, could only blurt out a "... Why?"[/size]

[The Spectacular Professor]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Too early.

Fillerfillerfiller[/FONT]

[Sangome]

[FONT="Microsoft Sans Serif"][SIZE="1"][COLOR="#862A51"]Everyone's beat me to it.

It's...really way too early. He's not even done anything yet; he's not even been in office a full year...[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[chibi-master]

They gave it to him for his "vision"? He'd been in office for 12 days when they signed him up! I don't think he deserves the prize, really. He hasn't done anything to earn it. What about the other nominees who actually DID something? This seems like an insult to them! You know, I am getting honestly and truly scared about how everyone is trying to make Obama out to be a god. In fact, I'm already thinking of different countries to move to, should this get too bad... (Any suggestions?)

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]In light of the recent posting, I'd like to shift the focus [I]off[/I] of the President, if I might.

To me, whether or not President Obama deserves the Peace Prize is a relative non-issue. On some level, he has to deserve to get it. Pol Pot sure isn't getting this award. That would make the Nobel Foundation look bad.

But looks are actually what this award has been about for quite some time. The Peace Prize may be prestigious—let's face it, the award would look absolutely smashing on your resume—but the focus of the prize hasn't been the recipient for years.

It's been the Foundation itself. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Barack Obama [I]this[/I] year so that the Foundation could say "Look at us, we've awarded our most prestigious accolade to Your Celebrity, aren't we amazing for recognising him and his achievements." Same limelight-monkeying that's happened for several past years' awards. Same that's went on with TIME's Man Of The Year award. It hasn't been about the recipient before then and it won't be for some time to come; this year it's about (and it's been about) the bandwagon and who can jump on it, in order to be able to brag that they were on it.

The major point is that if we didn't have these institutions groveling politically for attention, this discussion wouldn't even be occurring. And it doesn't bother me all that much that Obama received it.

What bothers me is when an accolade becomes more about the people giving it than it is about the person getting it. Then it no longer has meaning; it's merely a device to puff up the giver's image.[/FONT]

[eleanor]

[font=trebuchet ms] Here for Raiha's obligatory Obama-rage post.[/font]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Lunox'][font=trebuchet ms] Here for Raiha's obligatory Obama-rage post.[/font][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]lol[/SIZE]

[Rachmaninoff]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][QUOTE=Allamorph][FONT=Arial]The major point is that if we didn't have these institutions groveling politically for attention, this discussion wouldn't even be occurring. And it doesn't bother me all that much that Obama received it.

What bothers me is when an accolade becomes more about the people giving it than it is about the person getting it. Then it no longer has meaning; it's merely a device to puff up the giver's image.[/FONT][/QUOTE]Now that I've read up on it more. I'm in agreement with this. I'm going to start whacking the people I know raging that he doesn't deserve it, and point them in the direction of the Foundation that decided to pull such a move. Not that I think it will work, they're too busy having fun being ticked over it. [/FONT]

[CaNz]

If you look at the right details you can give anyone the award. I have nothing against the man i voted for, but I dont want the nobel peace prize turn into the Emmies or Oscar night.

If they believe he truly deserves it then fine, but if they are doing it because he is a celibrated figurehead of society, then I am disapoint.

[Axel]

No no, remember. He HAS done something!

He smiles consistently.

He should at least win a prize for that. :P

[youtube]XFrBQkoMLks[/youtube]

See.

[chibi-master]

[quote name='Axel Alloy']He smiles consistently.

He should at least win a prize for that. :P

[youtube]XFrBQkoMLks[/youtube]

See.[/QUOTE]

Apparently, he aslo has only one tie, or else has many that are identical.:p

[Kikyouchanx]

Heck, I don't care if he won it or not. We all should have -SOME- respect for our president.

[Retribution]

[quote name='chibi-master']Apparently, he aslo has only one tie, or else has many that are identical.:p[/QUOTE]
[font=Arial]All these photos were taken at the same event.

Also, an interesting counter-perspective:

[B][url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=271d_lVwfrw[/url][/B][/font]

[Rachmaninoff]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]That's an interesting video Retri. I find it ironic since earlier today I was telling some of my anti-Obama friends that whether they want to admit it or not, the guy is trying. [/FONT]

[chibi-master]

[quote name='Retribution'][font=Arial]All these photos were taken at the same event.[/font][/QUOTE]

Aaahhh... I see... *facepalm*

[Kastom]

To me, it just seems overly presumptuous to award something with as much prestige as the Nobel prize to someone that has arguably yet to do anything on an international scale related to "Peace". As a friend of mine put it, "That's like giving someone the Nobel Prize for Physics for saying they WILL come up with a great theory..."

Then again, as another friend of quipped in return, "For what you ask? For saving the world from George Bush."

*laughs*

But really, the simple fact of the matter is that the Nobel Prize is not the type of award that has the reputation for being given out prematurely. Perfect (and famous) example: Albert Einstein. He was not awarded the Nobel Prize for Physic until 1921, and it was primarily for his work on the Photoelectric effect, not his now-better-known General Relativity. And when did he produce his paper on this? 1905.

I will be the first to admit that this is a rather extreme example (not to mention slightly difficult to compare due to the varying natures of the awards: Science and "Peace") when compared to many of the other awards given, however even then, Nobel Prizes are, for the most part, not given out in such a seemingly premature manner.

While I don't deny that I believe that Barack Obama has in fact done some important and "peaceful" things, overall it still just appears to me to be a rather impulsive decision on the Nobel Committee's part.

[James]

[font=franklin gothic medium]I actually think that Obama should have politely declined this award.

The fact that he has won it (simply for - and I forget how they put this - "creating a new atmosphere of change" or whatever) is itself an issue. And I think it kind of de-legitimises the whole concept of the prize to begin with.

I have no axe to grind against Obama, but he's a new president. He faces many challenges. And despite any air of change that has been created simply due to him being president...he hasn't yet achieved outcomes that warrant this prize.

It would be great if Obama actually won this award down the track due to his peace efforts. But to award it now just seems horribly short-sighted to me.[/font]