". . .extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
~~Nobel Prize Committee (stated as the reason President Obama was selected to win the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize).
It was only February 2007, (less than three years ago'), when I began pounding the pavement in support of my candidate for President, and at least 75% of the people I approached responded,
"Who is he?"
I responded, "Write down the name and remember it; he's going to be your next President."
From relative obscurity to Presidential candidate, to President of the United States, to the most powerful, admired and recognized man in the world, to the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the forty-fourth President of the United States, President Obama is only the fourth U.S. President, and the third sitting U.S. President to win the prize. The vote was UNANIMOUS.
According to CNN news, a roomful of reporters gasped when the announcement came that President Obama had won the coveted prize, since Obama had not been considered a front-runner for the prize.
According to an Obama Administration official, when the President was awakened to be the news this morning, he said that he was humbled to be selected.
A very significant fact is this: The deadline for nominations must be postmarked by February 1 each year, which was less than 2 weeks after President Obama was inaugurated earlier this year. President Obama has only begun to fulfill the promise which put him in office:
CHANGE, you can believe in.
After making several phone calls this morning, some of the people I contacted were surprised to hear the news, but the delight was unanimous, as well as the opinion that President Obama is deserving of the award.
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Here's the CNN story: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/09/nobel.peace.prize/index.html
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Congratulations President Barack Obama, and First Lady, Michelle Obama, and a question to the President: Mr. President, you continue to outdo yourself in terms of greatness in every area that you venture, on every issue you undertake, and with every challenge you face. What an exciting time in history to be alive. I can't wait to see what's next under your administration!
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Comments: 91 ( 3 removed by ~Lady Neeetah of California~Obama #44 W. )
Giving President Obama such a prestigious prize shows that Peace trumps War. Wanting to engage in dialog with with decades old adversaries like Iran and Cuba is just a breath of fresh air.
Why would anyone want to see the continuation of the decades old blockades that have done nothing but strengthened the leaders of blockaded nations and hurt the citizens they propose to help?
It's insanity. Another case of doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for different results.
The people of these nations hold no grudge against Americans like you and I. They despise the leaders whose policies have regulated them to second and third world status. Depriving them of fundamental goods and services such as medicine and food items.
Just think about it? Do you hate the people of Iran or Cuba? If not, then why would you support any policy that punishes them for the actions of their leaders?
If your ultimate goal, like mine, is to live in peace, then today is a day to hope for Peace on Earth!!!
Today was a good day.
I'd like to thank you for posting this article to our group, Barack Obama's Presidential Appointments, Bills and Policies.
http://obamasupporters.gather.com/
It is now our latest FEATURED post.
Lloyd
He deserves it and those persons of his own nation which he is working so hard to put back together who are shouting down his win and belittleing his accomplishments should be ashamed by the fact that other nations see more clearly how amazing and hard working and humane our President is when they themselves are still blinded by their lingering anger that he won the presidency at all~
Now I hope this gives him some strength in dealing with his critics here who are saying that he hasn't done anything in his first year of office while forgetting it hasn't been a year yet.
This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.
To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.
This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.
So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.
Thank you,
President Barack Obama
How did the panel establish that the world hates us less, or are you just making an assumption?
Did we do well, in fact, quite excellently in electing this man President, or what!!!
The repubs and some die hards wanted to put a wedge between Hillary supporters and Obama. I made the right choice, Obama!!!!
That is the reality. Sorry to be the fly in the ointment about this.
The Nobel Committee obviously wasn't delivering a judgment on how instantly the President you may have supported has gratified your wishes. There's an awfully complex mess to untangle after decades of mismanagement. We can't just drop what you don't like, immediately and reboot the world. I really don't understand where people get that thinking.
And that's not peace, either.
It's not about power vacuums or terrorists, that's just an excuse to pursue getting the pipeline to bring Caspian oil to a warm water port. It's not just a coincidence that this was UNOCAL's project back when our friends the Taliban visited Texas to work on this when George Bush was governor.
The pretense that we're killing all people who might, at some time in the future, attack us is delusional (or propagandistic) not peace(ful).
Obama is definitely not doing it that way.
Fine with me if you hate Obama, and everything else all that you wish. I only ask that you refrain from the vulgar language. Thanks much.
They're (Obama administration) still using 9/11 as an excuse for us to be there. The people who allegedly did 9/11 died that day. War against a group of people for what they might do at some future time is illegal, immoral, and certainly not worthy of a peace award.
Tragic things will happen no matter what is or isn't done, and it's obviously a thankless job no matter how important it is to bring an end to war in the area.
It's too early to know if Obama's plan will work because it looks like it's still being re-thought - so we don't even know what it's actually going to be.
We (our government) don't care at all who treat women like dirt. That issue only comes up by propaganda. We didn't care in Afghanistan when we helped the fundamentalists who didn't want the Afghan government to teach little girls to read. We don't care about how women are treated "like dirt" in Saudi. We don't care how women or people are treated anywhere unless it suits our interest. Look at our "partner" in the "Coalition of the Willing" in Iraq, Uzbekistan. They were supposed to be helping us rid the noble Iraqi people of their cruel dictator Saddam Hussein, all the while they were boiling their political dissidents.
The point is making war on anyone just because they're labeled a terrorist is illegal and immoral. It's all about what we want, not helping anyone. It served our interests to help the fundamentalists in Afghanistan when they were opposing the Russians. It served our interests to enable the Mujahideen and make bin-Laden powerful. It served our interests to support Saddam Hussein and supply him with WMD, and increase funding to his regime after he gassed his own people. It served our interests to remove Iran's democratically elected leader so we could install a dictator, just as it served our interests to do with same in Chile; removing Allende as we supported Pinochet while he killed and "disappeared" thousands, same with our support of Pol Pot who killed millions for crimes like "wearing glasses."
That's what we do, and despite all the cheering for Obama, he hasn't changed that routine enough to deserve a "peace" prize. We still spread depleted uranium around the world. That alone would be easy enough to stop, but that's not happening. No, we go on and on being manipulated by fear and the idea that a "war on terror" against an "enemy" with no air force, navy, or army needs to be addressed with massive military hardware deployments instead of criminal enforcement which addresses the reality that acts of terror are crimes, not military engagements.
By now that's neither here nor there. We already meddled really bad and royally messed things up (it spilled into Pakistan, too) and now we are responsible for not leaving the place worse off then we found it. And that might be impossible. We'll see.
echoed here
So, he now joins the ranks of anti-Semite Jimmy Carter and terrorist Yasser Arafat as former Peace Award winners! What a great group to be part of!
I thought not.
Robert, thanks for closing the discussion. You have such an open mind.
--clink---a toast to our President and the Nobel Committee!
Anyone know of anybody on that committee who has a dog in this race?
Although I kinda like to think they were prompted to give it to him quickly before one of the Teapartiers (aka KKK'ers) made good on the numerous promises to do him in. No awards given posthumously, y'know....
(And please don't bother defending the Teapartiers.. From here, the noises they make are exactly the same...)
Pros and Cons
However, Robert brings up some valid concerns.
The banning of depleted uranium ordnance would certainly be a step in the right direction.
And getting the hell out of Afghanistan (screw the pipeline) is the only sane thing to do.
The Afghanis have prevailed against every adversary in history.
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
We are just celebrating the event.
It is an honor granted to OUR U. S. A. President Obama.
From: "President Barack Obama" Add sender to Contacts
To: "Nalita ______________"
Nalita --
This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.
To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.
This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.
So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.
Thank you,
President Barack Obama
Hear them sizzle in their oozing hatred. I Love it so!!!
With all the sour grapes headed our way, we could make a sea of wine from their whine.
Go figure!
Realizing that:
1) One MUST give him a chance -- he's barely had 8 months so far in which to take steps to reverse the calamitous damage done by the Bush and Cheney regime over 8 + YEARS.
2) Each person has a slightly different idea of WHICH "issues" deserve to be ranked at the top of the "Things the Newly Elected President Should Change" List and there are so MANY items on that list marked "URGENT" this go-round.
3) As with happens with MOST of our newly elected US Presidents who are chomping at the bit to implement those changes which rank highly on their own list of priorities, most discover much to their dismay a short time after taking office that these solutions APPEAR to be far more easily accomplished when one is standing OUTSIDE the Oval Office Door than one finds is actually the case once one is inside.
4) I honestly feel President Obama was blindsided when the realization hit him (fairly soon after taking office) that he had vastly underestimated -- not only the naivete of certain, fairly large, segments of the American population and the extent of the power that their manipulators appear to have over them -- but also the lengths to which these same people would go to promote divisiveness, suspicion and downright hatred amongst
those standing on their fringes...
I believe he honestly thought that, once he proffered the proverbial "olive branch" to his naysayers and opponents on the Beltway and they saw that he was sincere, they would lay down their arms, pick up white flags and meet him halfway on the field of battle. I don't think he really had a good grasp of how greedy and evil many of these people really ARE and how low they're capable of stooping to protect what they feel are their own interests... Also, I think he was surprised how "conservative" even those of our Democratic legislators with the most "liberal" of reputations have become...
It shouldn't have been that much of a shock, though, IMHO. How did he think they SURVIVED (hopelessly outnumbered, I might add, by powerful people who have no qualms whatsoever about "fighting dirty" -- VERY dirty -- to get what they want) in the Washington climate of the last decade or so -- much less were able to ADVANCE in that same time period?
They "compromised", that's how -- on MANY different issues and actions -- by shifting themselves further toward the middle of that hypothetical "road".
I want to make it clear that I voted (most heartily) for Mr. Obama and I support 99.9% of his policies and political philosophies. That being said, however, I have a short list of issues I think should be being pursued with more speed, more motivation or, in some cases, should be being pursued -- PERIOD -- because they AREN'T (or at least don't seem to be) at the moment:
1) GitMo should have been razed to the ground by now with not a footprint telling where it stood.
2) Israel should have been made to understand the very integral part it is playing in holding up the peace process in its part of the world. Or, at the very LEAST, it should have been REMINDED how its OWN people felt in the past when a certain political group did the same kinds of things to THEM that it appears to be doing to the Palestinians and other "neighbors".
3) ONCE and for ALL "Don't ask, don't tell" should have already been relegated to the same historical netherworld where "separate but equal" and "trickle-down" have taken up residence.
4) I would've expected -- at the very LEAST -- fully HALF of our military personnel in Iraq should've been home by now to STAY along with 100% of our people now in Afghanistan.
5) We should have some kind of comprehensive universal health-care initiative AT LEAST to the "bathing suit competition" by now.
These are difficult missions -- ALL of them, I realize -- and I know that he IS, in his own manner, undertaking most of them... I'd just like to see a little less David Letterman (or whoever) "walk-ons" and a little more all-nighter camp-outs in the Conservatives offices.
Hello Jean.
I believe you've provided us with a fair and balanced look at our duly elected President's first 8 to 9 months in office.
Having probably one of the most difficult jobs in the world, I think he has accepted the many challenges head on.
Can he do better? Yes.
Are there people doing everything in their power to thwart his attempts at moving our country into the 21st century? Yes.
Are the missions extremely difficult? Yes.
Are we better off for his pro-active stances regarding the economy and our relations with both friends and enemies? Yes.
In the end, did the majority of American people make the right decision in electing our 44th President? Yes.
The election of our duly elected 44th President should not be a love fest. But unlike those whom do everything in their power to undermine and weaken him, those of us who support him should speak out just as you have.
We are better off for reasonable debate as opposed to just saying "NO" or "I hope he fails."
Great reply. I only wish you would have initiated a article and posted it to our group, Barack Obama's Presidential Appointments, Bills and Policies.
http://obamasupporters.gather.com/
I doubt things have gotten better. Societies rarely change. What I mean is that this country -- in its infancy -- was born with a problem; that problem was racial hatred. Jefferson, Franklin, and the Northern Framers should have nipped the problem in the bud back then, but they failed to do it. The result was that racial hatred became the legacy of the United States, and definitely a large portion of the foundation on which this country was established.
There are those who falsely believe that things have changed. What has changed is that there is now more legislation making certain hateful activities unlawful -- "hate crimes" -- but at some point these people may come to see that you cannot legislate bigotry; it is an emotion. What has really happened is that the feelings of bigotry, and hatred have not dissipated, but rather, they have gone underground, but they are still there.
Look at the situation with President Obama. What is the discussion which occurs in my circles when only African Americans are present? We all agree that the reason for MOST of the objections of the President have NOTHING to do with his policies, and/or his politics. We see it, as we have seen it, and more importantly, LIVED ITall of our lives. The objections are based on racial bigotry. Sure, we are constantly hearing people say this isn't the case, but we are NOT FOOLS, or IDIOTS. We get it.
Were Obama White, he would be lauded and praised as one of the most brilliant men of this generation. Take a look at the rest of the world, and consider how THEY see him. The difference is that so many other countries have not had the taint of colonialism and racial bigotry, as has the U.S. where the Black man and woman is concerned.
In short Landen, your fears are very well-founded.
Jeff,
So much for "thinking".