Why Obama's Nobel Peace Prize Is Deserved

Republicans apparently have one more thing to hate about President Barack Obama now that he has won the Nobel Peace Prize, beating out 200 other candidates for addressing the threat of global warming; for trying to rid the world of nuclear weapons; and for attempting to achieve a global peace.

In Oslo, Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjørn Jagland said:

Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. We are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future, but for what he has done in the previous year. We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do.

Right-wingers are unsurprisingly outraged, calling Obama's award a travesty, claiming the president hasn't yet "accomplished" anything that would merit such an honor. As the news broke Friday, conservative pundits were in high-gear robotically regurgitating the primary talking point that Obama won the award simply for not being George W. Bush.

But let's get something straight here: this is a very proud day for America. For all Americans. After eight embarrassing, unrepentant years of reckless cowboy arrogance marred by war, war crimes and human rights abuses, Obama's Nobel Prize symbolizes the beginning of the United States' return to respectability and perhaps even greatness someday. A time when the world is looking to America, and its president, for leadership. This isn't about Bush. It's about Obama and what he represents on the world's stage.

The notion that Obama's prize is undeserved is absurd and an insult to every American. First of all, who said the Nobel Committee's criteria for winning requires candidates to be "accomplished" U.S. presidents? Or that they even be a U.S. president, for that matter? So the fact that Obama was selected so soon after his inauguration is totally irrelevant. This honor isn't about what he's done since January. To the contrary, it's about how this relatively unknown Midwestern politician with humble beginnings became the first black president of the United States by inspiring a nation through a message of peace, hope, and aspiration -- and thus shifted the political and racial winds in this country and throughout the world. The award is a recognition of Obama's vision for a new, harmonious planet, and how he's serving as a catalyst for that change. To say he's won because he's not Bush is grossly oversimplifying the significance of the prize. Rather, he's undoing the colossal damage that's been done by Bush. Big difference.

It's been eight years since America's been led by such an intelligent, inspirational figure as Obama. A president who thinks before he speaks. One who weighs options before he acts. A president with depth and intellectual curiosity. A president secure enough in his manhood to be able to talk with his enemies, rather than simply talk tough. A peacenik rather than a warmonger. Obama's restored dignity and diplomacy to the most important office in the world, while setting an example for everyone else in the quest for peace on Earth. That's why Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.

It's unconscionable that on this great day for America, Obama's achievement has to be turned into something ugly and partisan by a bunch of un-patriotic, mean-spirited, sore-losing Republican crybabies who've yet to emotionally get beyond last November -- and probably never will.

Comments

[floridafun]

i dont recall the exact dates but i think these were what obama was doing in his first couple weeks..
1. decreed that interrogators must follow techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual when questioning terrorism suspects.
2. told top military officials to do whatever planning necessary to "execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq."
3. ordered the Guantanamo detention center shut within a year.
4. froze all white house staff salaries of $100.000.00 or more.
5. overturning the so-called Mexico City policy that forbids U.S. funding for family planning programs that offer abortion.
6. lifting Bush's limit on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.
7. declared once again to restore science to its rightful place. "The days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over," he said
8. tells the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."
9. reversed a post-9/11 policy making it easier for government agencies to deny requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act.
10. repealed a Bush executive order that allowed former presidents or their heirs to claim executive privilege in an effort to keep records secret.
11. required closure of cia secret black site prisons abroad.

[Troyxx]

It's great that most intelligent people are celebrating Obama's win. These people, thanks to their intelligence, know that he's made America proud. The Neanderthals (read Repugnants), on the other hand, due to their lack of intelligence, can only grunt negatively. While Obama represents good, the repugnants represent everything evil. The world is watching and they're a disgrace to a great nation. They should not be tolerated. Vote them out of office!

[Bladernr1001]

Oh...so smart people are only the ones who agree with you?

Come on......the comedians are having a field day with this (even left wing ones like Conan). Even many liberals and supporters of Obama are considering this a headache to deal with.

[Ged2012]

I would like to thank the administration of our Nobel Peace Laureate, President Barack Obama, for donating money to the flood and landslide victims here in my country, the Philippines.

Two different storms, each as powerful as a category 3-4 hurricane, striking my country in less than a week.

Experts say that the sudden surge in storms is caused by global warming, something many Republicans seem not to believe.

You guys in the United States need to educate the Republicans to use their God-given gift of intellect, and using one's intellect means not believing everything Conservative radio hosts say, or allowing these guys doing the thinking for them (I believe some of these hosts still don't believe in global warming).

Most of us outside the United States rejoice in the award given to your President, because we desire a US that leads with common sense and dialogue--not through bullying and fanatical Christian exclusivist thinking.

[wanda665]

Ged2012, I really appreciate your post. Thank you.

[nk007]

Thank you so much, Ged2012, for reminding us of the importance of recognizing the consequences of "global warming," as well as the importance of international cooperation, based on mutual respect for all the peoples of world, irrespective of race, religion and even political ideology. Americans really need to hear from people like you.

[JZAONE]

I'm Filipino too, and I wish there were more Filipino commentators in the news like you and not like Michelle Malkin.

[Ged2012]

On the BBC, a certain blogger, who is obviously a Republican, said that GEORGE BUSH DESERVES THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR WHAT HE DID IN IRAQ, because he established freedom in the country, etc.. Quite shocking, really, which shows that our capacity to use our intellect and be mpore broad and open-minded, such as trying to understand the viewpoint of the world through the eyes of non-Americans, continue to be bashed by the right as an act of elitism.

Use your brain and analytical skills, you are an elitist. Believe Rush Limbaugh and you're a genius. Stupid.

I'd rather have Obama be given a thousand Nobel prizes than that warmongering, dim-witted ex President.

[thepianodiva]

Thank you, Mr. Ostroy. I loved this piece you wrote. Obama is a visionary/world leader. He is one of the most exceptional individuals to appear on the world stage in decades. He is here as midwife to help all of us usher in a new world of piece and justice. The ugliness of the Republicans is revealed in all its nastiness. They belong to the past, Their time is over. They need to go away.

[Bonobo]

The substance of this post actually supports the contention that Obama mostly got the prize for not being Bush. It's largely about how he doesn't behave like Bush, and is changing Bush policies. Which he isn't, actually. From bailouts for bankers to black sites for renditions, most Bush policies remain in place.

And anyone who thinks Obama is a peacenik hasn't actually listened to what he has said about the use of military power ("I'm not against wars, just stupid wars"). The original Nobel prizes were almost entirely given to men who worked to reduce the size of standing armies. I guarantee the military will not be smaller at the end of Obama's term (excepting involuntary reductions by military or economic catastrophe).

The Bush years were the triumph of wishful thinking ("Hope") over rational and unbiased observational skills. Please let's not go down that road again.

[GwenWare]

You should try understanding what you read before you expose yourself for what you are.

[Bonobo]

Which is?

[nk007]

So Do you think Bush should have received the "Nobel Peace Prize" for illegally invading Iraq and authorizing torture? Or may be be you think President Reagan should have received the Prize, a CBS' Chip Reid suggested, because he supported the violent overthrow of the government of Nicaragua, and was willing to sale arms to Iran to achieve that objective. Hey based on your argument is it not possible that Dr. Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize because he was not George Wallace?

[Bonobo]

How the heck did you get there from what I wrote? I suppose it makes the world simpler if there are only two sides to every issue. If you could keep your knee from jerking all over the place, you would see that I was critical of Obama for continuing Republican policies. And of the essayist for internal contradiction.

[Bladernr1001]

Liberals have always gotten diplomacy wrong. It is certainly honorable to seek peace...no argument there but what you don't get is that you cannot really achieve peace unless you unless you have the potential use of force to enforce the conviction of your negotiations and show that you are not afraid to use it. Liberals want to stand down armies, weapons and aggression. This can actually destroy the peace process especially when you are dealing with a party that is looking for weakness to exploit.

Bullys tend to harass those that do not fight back....it is really no different when you are dealing with countries. Usually you only have to use force once or twice to garner effective respect.

[Nosybear]

Important to remember is this is the beginning of America's return to respectability. We could and I fear may slide back into the ways of the last eight years - like most GOP positions they seem easy and logical given a superficial look and are seductive. In reality, they lead to isolation, a warlike, aggressive nation and ultimately could lead to a totalitarian, Soviet-like America, except conservative instead of liberal. We are literally one election away from resuming our long descent into horror.

[MichaelMcKLA]

Thanks for that. And I appreciate the honest and truthful characterization of W's presidency.

[enelrac]

As an Illinois State Senator, Obama gave a speech on Oct. 2, 2002 against the build up to the Iraq war. That speech reflected his world view then, 7 years ago. And if his vision had been the policy of the country then, peace would have been the outcome instead of the years of war we have suffered since. His hope for a peaceful world and striving for such did not start when he became President. The world knows this, too bad it has escaped the conscience of our own nation! Google the speech and read it and have your eyes opened...he was totally prophetic at a time when it was not popular to speak out against GWB and his war of choice.

[UNOINO]

Obama was awarded this honor because he is a great visionary.
He can conceptualize a future world so tranquil and peaceful that all the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize will likewise have done, absolutely nothing.

[billyboil]

the last straw was david brookes - an apparently educated, rational, intellectually-able american - calling the Nobel Committee "a bunch of left-wing loonies in Norway".
He also said "Obama should reject the award".
No wonder the world despises americans, and their arrogant, shallow, self-centred view of the our world society.

[wehrke]

So the Nobel Piece Prize should be given out to Obama because he replaced an unpopular president? I am sorry but I think the awarding of this prize was premature. I feel even Obama thinks that is the case.

[nk007]

Did you even bother to listen or read the reasons why the Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to the President? What exactly qualifies you to judge what the Nobel Committee should or should not do? What Obama feels or thinks is irrelevant. I am sure many past recipients were probably just as surprised as Obama and thought they were not deserving of the award. The fact that President Obama had the humility to acknowledge this publicly has absolutely no relevancy to the criteria used by the Nobel Committee that selected him. We really must be in a new era when pundits and talk radio imbeciles get to decide who should, or should not, receive the Nobel Peace Prize. I suppose Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill Kristol, Chip Reid, Jake Tapper and wehrke think they should be the ones to decide who is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Well tough lack! It Only the Nobel Peace Prize Committee is authorized to decide who receives the prize; whether right wingers, or so called progressives, like it not. As a sport's fun, I have often vigorously disagreed with individuals chosen as the MVP's in football, basketball and baseball. Nevertheless, no matter what I thought about the merits of people selected, I still felt that they deserved respect. This is also true of my views about all recipients of the Nobel prizes in other fields; as well as the awards given out by the media, movies, the military, Academia, and others.

[TiaLee]

Fabulous! Thank you!

[myk-os]

I completely agree. Thank you for this piece.
I am very proud of our President. I am very proud that we elected him. He is a great role model for everyone - that is an ongoing achievement that cannot and should not be diminished by anyone.

To those who dismiss his positive effect on so many around the world, I only have pity for your miserable souls. If you fail to see the goodness in our President, it is only because you are full of hate and yourselves. There is a bigger world that celebrates a good man, a great leader. I pray that you see it too.

[PepperzMom]

"But let's get something straight here: this is a very proud day for America. For all Americans. After eight embarrassing, unrepentant years of reckless cowboy arrogance marred by war, war crimes and human rights abuses, Obama's Nobel Prize symbolizes the beginning of the United States' return to respectability and perhaps even greatness someday. A time when the world is looking to America, and its president, for leadership. This isn't about Bush. It's about Obama and what he represents on the world's stage."

That's all you needed to write, as it says it all. Clear, concise, and most importantly, 100000% accurate!