Yes, You Can Oppose Obama's Nobel Prize, Be Progressive, Disagree With the GOP - and Not Be a Terrorist

UPDATE: In his remarks this morning, President Obama (quite commendably IMHO) said he didn't feel like he deserved the award. Big props to him for the intellectual honesty in the admission. As I said, this is really more about the Nobel committee and our society's obsession with celebrified politics more than it is about Obama.

A very quick post on the Obama Nobel Prize award after spending the morning in the virtual focus group known as talk radio in a major swing state. Some points we can - or at least should be able to - agree on:

• President Obama's speeches on nuclear non-proliferation and on the need to do a better job on multilateral diplomacy were very important, as were his efforts to pursue a diplomatic track with Iran.
• Much of the world hated George W. Bush and likes Obama.
• Obama is the president of an administration that may have "inherited" two wars in the heart of the Muslim world, but is also continuing on its own to prosecute those wars. In fact, he's considering massively escalating one of those wars.

Do these facts mean Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize award? My opinion is no.

I think that in light of these verifiable facts, the award proves that - like so much of society - the Nobel committee has become one (at least this year) that values celebrified politics over everything else. Obama's fame - not his actual policy or record - is what is being honored here. And that's not surprising: As I said, we are a society that is increasingly organized not around issue, cause or movement, but around celebrity - and this reflects it.

I think you need to actually make peace (which requires lots of risks/courage/success) rather than simply talk about making peace (which requires far less risk/courage/success) - I think, for instance, that Chinese dissidents who have risked their lives taking on the most authoritarian government in the world are more deserving.

I think a president commandeering two wars in the heart of the Muslim world doesn't deserve the award, especially as he considers an escalation, and especially as his particular policies continues to rack up carnage around the globe (see Glenn Greenwald's post for some of the grisly details). And I think the idea of giving an award to someone to "encourage" them to be more peaceful before they actually prove to be peacemakers is ludicrous for two reasons: 1) if that's a rationale, why not give it to brutal dictators as an incentive for them to lighten up? and 2) sure, the award may encourage more peace, but it also may be used as a political shield to justify more war - if Obama escalates in Afghanistan, for example, the award will let him try to brush off the antiwar movement by simply saying, hey, you can't question me, I'm a Nobel Peace Prize winner!

Others, of course, can have their own opinion - and I respect people's right to disagree with my own. One thing, though, I hope we should be able to agree on is the idea that we can disagree on this without being called right-wing sympathizers or worse, terrorists. I know that's hard for some hard-core Democrats and Democratic-affiliated radio talk show hosts to understand - these people are trained/paid to simply say that everything good for Obama is good, and everything else is bad. They are people who, when a Democrat holds the White House, scoff at Teddy Roosevelt's old adage that, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

But the truth of what I'm saying should be self-evident.

By that I mean, you can be a genuine progressive interested in peace and think this award is a travesty on progressive grounds, and also not think that the Rush Limbaugh/GOP attacks about this award from the right are valid at all. Likewise, you can think this award is a travesty and simultaneously hope that one day President Obama truly ends up building a record deserving of such an award. You can even think this award is a travesty and think Obama is on the way to building up such a record, but is undeserving of the award because he's only been president for 9 months and hasn't yet proven himself a Nobel-level peacemaker.

So the fact that the Democratic National Committee is calling everyone who opposes the Nobel committee's decision a terrorist is, in a word, disgusting. I know the DNC is responding to Republicans (whose basis for opposing the Nobel prize to Obama I disagree with), but by saying all critics of the Nobel award and of Obama's record (or lack thereof) are terrorists by virtue of their opposition is just sick and wrong.

If we are going to build a real movement, we have to resist that kind of nonsense wherever it comes from. Disagreeing with, pressuring, and criticizing President Obama does not automatically make people GOP sympathizers or terrorists, just like disagreeing with, pressuring and criticizing President Bush did not automatically people Democratic sympathizers or terrorists. Those who say the opposite are exactly the people who have partisan-ized our politics to the point of destroying any social movement ethos. They, in short, are the real political terrorists in America - on both sides.

 

 

Comments

[Bart Motes - Huffpost Blogger]

Obama does something. Sirota, Greenwald, and Hamsher bash it. Predictable as clockwork. Why I'm as liberal as the next person, here's why Obama has failed/is not living up to his promises/is not a good liberal. But I'm not the only one who thinks this! See [Sirota/Gr­eenwald/Ha­msher].

The critique would be a bit more compelling if it wasn't so predictable.

[orwell]

I get it David. You aren't happy with President Obama...ab­out anything.

With friends like you who needs enemies.

Congratulations Mr. President.

[devadasi]

The DNCis not saying that anyone who disagrees with Obama's choice is a terrorist. That is a lie. The fact that the repug nuts are saying that that they agree with the Taliban and Alqada in regards to Obama is treason. The five person committee made the choice. If you don't like that start your own award committee.

[1dogs2]

Little nuances like that escape people who call themselves "progressive" as surely as they do the right-wing nutters.

[happycozy]

Sorry David, but it's nice to see a black man get the Prize for something other than fighting for his basic human rights.

[Tanyars5]

thank u

[HSmith]

Adult Analogy At It's Best....Pl­ease Pass This Link Along To Any Americans That Still Want This Country To Prosper...­.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/33249779#33249779

[nikki77]

What I find interesting is not the issue about whether or not Obama deserves the prize, but really how many of us (who lean more toward the left) come off as looking so dis-unified. It seems as if "conservatives" no matter what-stick together-and somehow we haven't learned that lesson. Life isn't always fair you know (just look at this country's history and its treatment to many of its people). This isn't time for philosophical wondering about "what should of happpened" or "what could have happened". Lets accept the result and make the best of it. Yes I'll be honest I was shocked too, but then I was happy for the President and our country-because you know what, I know what team I'm on.

[vlm1948]

So totally agree.

[bioluminescence]

The whole world is watching a group of Americans declaring war on their president for the simple act of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. When we don't have bullets. We use words.

[notthistime]

isn't that an embarrassment and they are too self absorbed to know it.

[dwillisno1]

The fact that given the chance to make the award you may have chosen some else for some other reason doesn't give you license to dis the President or the Nobel Committee. They clearly stated their reasons, and whether you think that it rises to the level sufficient to fit your criteria, it clearly fit theirs. Why not say, while I would not award my Peace Prize to Barack Obama, and according to Barack Obama, neither would he, as an American I am proud to be an American and proud to have my president and country so honored by an award presented by the Nobel Prize Committee. I would also point out that it is so easy to say who deserves it most when you are not the one who makes the choice.

[Manx]

dwillisno1

"The fact that given the chance to make the award you may have chosen someone else for some other reason doesn't give you license to dis the President or the Nobel Committee.­"

Since when does one need "license" to disagree with the Nobel Committee? Mr. Sirota's critique is quite thoughtful, deliberative and intelligent. Who gave you "license" to disagree with Mr. Sirota?David Sirota is an independent thinker, a refreshing alternative to the ditto heads in the media.
Long may he wave!

[dwillisno1]

I remain unconvinced. Once again my problem with Mr Sirota is that although I find him as you have noted, thoughtful and intelligent and yes quite independent, he is criticizing the Nobel Committee for choosing the recipient of "their" award. They did not violate their own criteria, and they very clearly stated their reason for their choice. They may very well have chosen some one who he and I and you may think more worthy, but they still chose some one worthy.

[Charmed]

So let me get this straight..­...you should only get the award if you achieve peace? Then why isn't there peace from the other people that have received this award. The same people talking about what MLK did only acknowledged or liked him AFTER he was dead......­.People are reacting like Obama stole the Award from a kid in the candy store.

[klondiker]

David, thank you so much for this post!

I have been a member of HuffPo for almost 4 years. You can go through the thousands of comments that I have posted to see that I am a progressive through and through. And, yet, on the main post, when I dared to suggest that this might be a bad idea, I was immediately attacked for being a "troll".

Seriously, can we not have honest disagreements within the progressive movement anymore??

[Wayne Trujillo - Huffpost Blogger]

Excellent post. I also blogged today about President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize win and the criticism sure to follow. However, I just read this post and I'm amazed at the nuanced, full-bodied analysis David presented so soon after the award's announcement. Compared to the knee-jerk criticism I read from others, not to mention the instant negativity merely for sake of negativity mainly coming from the right wing, this post is both outstanding and cogent.

[1dogs2]

"[T]he award proves that - like so much of society - the Nobel committee has become one (at least this year) that values celebrified politics over everything else. Obama's fame - not his actual policy or record - is what is being honored here."

That's "nuanced, full-bodied analysis"? On the contrary, that's a knee-jerk recycling of the GOP's "celebrity" trope of the election cycle by one who claims to be a progressive, but who, like many Americans, is unable to see the US from the perspective of the world at large, and like the right-wing, is dismissive of the significance and effect of President Obama's initiatives.

Any American who travelled abroad during the election season knows the effect Obama had on people in other countries, reflected in the restoration of the US in under 9 months from well down the list to first place as the most admired country in the world. Sirota has apparently missed the world-wide appeal of Obama's vision of a more just and peaceful world and of the early steps he has taken toward that end -- reaching out to the Muslim world, initiating diplomatic talks with Iran, trying to restart peace talks in the Middle East, ending the use of torture and vowing to close Guantanamo, chairing a meeting of the UN Security Council that unanimously adopted the goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

These radical changes in policy are what is being honored.

[vlm1948]

Agree with this totally, I was very surprised to read that we were the most admired people in the world. I felt the award was partly given to us, the American voters for making the change from the Neocon's vision of world politics.

[notthistime]

nuanced and full bodied? oh please. Whining and griping. Bad sportsmanship. It isn't your award to give. No one asked for your opinions. The peace prize was awarded to OUR President and you are analyzing if he deserves it?

Suck it up. He won it. Now be a good citizen, extend your hand and say congratulations. sheesh.

[Wayne Trujillo - Huffpost Blogger]

What I meant by “nuanced and full-bodied” was that David’s post presented criticism of President Obama’s win with some very reasonable points in a very brief time after the award’s announcement. Personally, I was surprised but happy that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. I also wrote in my own post that it would be cool if the ideological warfare could cease for at least a day in a symbolic honor of the prize, referencing the Republican vs. Democrat battles on Capital Hill on all fronts. However, I acknowledged that wouldn’t likely happen. But I also think that anybody would agree that, as citizens prizing free speech, we should be able to express our opinions. And, whether or not we agree with all David’s points, he does express them extremely well in a relatively brief period and time and space. Case in point: We do live in a celebrity age. I’m happy that our president (and party) can benefit from this… but, to deny it would be naïve.

[rssrai]

President Obama's presidency may be short, but he has visited more muslim countries than all the last 4 repug presidents combined. I think the last 4 repug presidents visited only the muslim countries who had the oil.

[SageFire]

I have to respectfully disagree that President Obama should not have won the Nobel. He has done more to bring together people of the world, and certainly many of the citizens of this country, than almost anyone I can think of. Standing on the Mall in January, freezing, hungry, sleepy, we were universally peaceful in a way I have never seen any other crowd. This counts. The renewed hope in our hearts for the possibilities ahead of us count. Remember the celebrations around the world on the night of his election? President Obama is one man, one man only, and therefore only an icon for what could be. The incredible courage it took to run for President and win, in the face of the worst kind of danger for him and his family, for that alone he deserves it.

[111]

The majority of what I have seen on Huffpo are responses that are more of a celebration of victory over the Republicans. They respond as if this is a tit for tat game, score one for our side. If one is critical of Obama and his administration the name calling starts, usually with Tr0ll. Now Dems are calling us terrorists, etc. There is no discussion, no consideration, just a visceral, knee jerk reaction that usually turns into insults.

Real progressives think that escalating the war in Afghanistan, among other things, is reason enough to negate handing the award to him. Look, Obama seems like a nice person but he also trampled every principal he ever had in his fight to win the White House.

I think it must be bittersweet for him because he knows that there were many other candidates who deserved the award for years of work. He was nominated only two weeks after taking office which makes this award suspect.

Thank you for the post. One of the voices of reason here.

[Guscat]

What principals did he "trample"?

Who are the other candidates? John Bolton, Dick Cheney?

The nomination was in November, but the vote was within the last few days.

[Stringer32]

No Im sure Obama does not feel "bittersweet" about the award he is taking it all in stride with class and dignity. Have some perspective, this is no great injustice or tragedy.

[timewaster2dcore]

It's not your prize, Sirota. It's 'Nobel" prize, and was given to Obama by them because they feel like it. It isn't an " American Far Left Wing Peace Prize" nor an " American Far Right Wing Peace Prize", either. If you wanna have a say in it, Sirota, work harder and amass enough wealth to create your own "Sirota Peace Prize"--then you can do whatever you want about it.

[squee127]

Thank You! I was thinking the same thing and you saved me from typing it all out :)

[devadasi]

Fanned Timewaster­....David Sirota seems to relish in taking an opposing view for the hell of it.
Obama's win is America's win. The world is so grateful and relieved, as they should be, that GWB is no longer our dictator. The war monger is finally gone and the world rejoices. Plus, the consumate diplomat, Barack Obama, is a man of grace thoughtfulness and dignity and extending himself to world leaders in his speeches prior to his inauguration were enough for the commitee to be impressed enough to choose him.

Insteading of nitpicking we should rejoice..

Today, not for the first time in my life, I am proud of being an American.