During the initial 24-hour news cycle following the announcement that the President of the United States had won the Nobel Peace Prize we heard all manner of demeaning, diminishing, and ridiculing of the President and the prize. Beltway pundits David Brooks and Ruth Marcus appearing on Jim Lehrer's News Hour both bashed President Obama and the Nobel prize as being unwarranted and insignificant. Brooks called it "a joke." On Democracy Now! I heard Naomi Klein say pretty much the same thing as the Beltway savants. A lot of commentators heaped praise on John McCain for being "gracious" because he didn't diss Obama for winning the prize. But what would you expect that grumpy old man to do? Spit bile all over it like the rest of his Republican colleagues?
The cynical and sordid response in America raises a few questions: Have we lost the ability as a nation to accept something good when it comes our way internationally? Have we become so traumatized by the belligerent Bush-Cheney-Bolton unilateral militarism of the previous eight years, with its attendant hatred for the world and its people, that we are incapable of recognizing the simple fact that it is much better for America to have a president who is admired and respected in the world than one who is despised and feared?
It wasn't long ago when Republicans and right-wingers across the country (the evolutionary predecessors of the Tea Baggers) were pouring out French wine into gutters and burning Dixie Chick CDs in protest of anyone who had the wisdom or forethought to try to warn us that invading Iraq, toppling its government, and militarily occupying the country without international support might not be a good idea. The Franco-phobia ran so deep that Republicans in Congress, led by Representative Bob Ney (who is now fittingly in prison), changed the name of "French Fries" in the House cafeteria to "Freedom Fries." Anyone not going along with the party line that invading Iraq was a vital national project had his or her patriotism questioned and was silenced in the mainstream media.
Fast forward to the 2008 Republican National Convention and we hear Rudy Giuliani demean and diminish Obama's experience as a "community organizer," which was one of the more memorable laugh lines from the gathering. And then from that point onward just about everything Obama has achieved has been met with withering sarcasm and ridicule. He sends Bill Clinton to free American prisoners in North Korea and it turns out to be a stunning success that offers a breakthrough in relations with that weird and dangerous nation and the media greet the news with a collective yawn. His efforts to win the 2016 Olympics are fruitless but provide hours of content for right-wing bloviators who ridicule and demean his effort. He wins the Nobel Peace Prize and these same gasbags trash the Nobel Prize and the President. David Brooks said on the News Hour that "nobody cares what five Norwegian guys" think.
What's missed in the deafening cacophony of right-wing noise and chatter is that Americans should use this Nobel Prize as yet another Obama-inspired "teaching moment" to come to terms with just how much George W. Bush's foreign policy scared the hell out of the rest of the world. And we should understand how the world is relieved Americans came to their senses and looks to us for global leadership.
To illustrate this point one only has to compare the media coverage of Bush's landing on the aircraft carrier the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln off the San Diego coast on May 1, 2003. Chris Matthews and the rest of the political media talking heads embarked on hours of breathless commentary about how regal and wonderful the spectacle was and how proud they all were to be Americans and blah, blah, blah. G. Gordon Liddy even spoke admiringly of the bulge in President Bush's codpiece. Masculine virility and macho militarism was fused with the national symbols of the flag and the military.
Europeans have seen this before. When we were engaged in our little rah-rah rally, the rest of the world was absolutely horrified. The biggest military power on Earth was acting belligerent and its president was indulging in bombastic nationalistic grandstanding. And this display was happening at the same time Baghdad was gearing up for a horrific sectarian bloodbath that everyone seemed to be able to see except for the Americans and their imperial president prancing in a flight suit and declaring "Mission Accomplished."
What Bush did was shift the posture of American foreign policy toward militarism and unilateralism, and he did so with a jingoistic right-wing Christian fundamentalist flair. President Obama, in less than ten months, has reset American foreign policy more toward multilateralism and a mature engagement with the world.
He has a long way to go and things might not work out. But at least he is moving in the right direction. The Nobel committee was just trying to give him a nudge. It's a symbolic prize. I don't understand the vitriol aimed at the President for winning it. But it is an international recognition that Obama is at least on the right track.
If the media would only cover Obama's peace prize win with half as much enthusiasm as they did Bush's landing on the aircraft carrier we might have made some measurable progress. We'll have to wait for Obama's next success and see what happens. Maybe all the demeaning and diminishing of Obama will grow old and tired, boring and repetitive, and then the media can move on to find something else to ridicule. But I won't hold my breath.
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Huffington Post: Obama's Nobel Peace Prize: HuffPost Bloggers Weigh In
President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize early Friday morning, and HuffPost bloggers have offered opinions that range from skeptical to angry to adulatory.
Michael Moore: Get Off Obama's Back: Second Thoughts From Michael Moore
Obama is moving too slow for most of us -- but he needs to know we are with him and we stand beside him as he attempts to turn eight years of sheer madness around.
Jeffrey Feldman: The Outrage Pandemic
Less than a year ago, tens of millions of Americans descended on DC, just so they could say, "I was there." Now, a majority of Americans seem convinced that Obama has personally slighted them.
Robert Creamer: Obama's Nobel Prize Is Really a Tribute to American Voters
This award celebrates the fact that American voters chose a President committed to progressive values, instead of pre-emptive war and the Neo-Con theories of unilateral action.
Tom Watson: Obama and the Peace Prize: Too Much, Too Soon
It's not Barack Obama's fault that the Nobel Committee went goofy. Despite calls to contrary, he had to accept the Nobel -- anything less would have been far less than gracious.
Ebadi told me that part of her job is to help women interpret Islam "correctly" in order to assert their claim to equal rights. If she is any indication, the Iranian Women's Movement is in extremely capable hands.
Deepak Chopra: Dear Mr. President: Make This a Real Peace Prize
Peace begins with those who have the power to make peace. Obama stands in a unique position in this regard. We've turned the corner from Bush's belligerence, but avowing peace isn't the same as action.
Timothy Patrick McCarthy: Barack Obama: America's First Gay President?
Election Day 2008 was one of the greatest days of my life: We finally had an ally in the White House who would fight with and for us. In retrospect, we were foolish to have such hope.
William Bradley: Why Obama Doesn't Deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, Or the Olympics Rap
Just as I never thought that Obama would win the Olympics for Chicago, it never occurred to me that he would win the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
Frances Beinecke: Nobel Prize Recognizes Link Between Peace and Climate Action
After eight costly years of inaction, the United States has begun to lead. Since taking office, Obama has moved quickly to put climate change near the top of his agenda.
Barack Obama's peace prize starts a fight - Times Online
Obama peace prize win polarizes Web - CNN.com
From right and left, questions about peace prize - Yahoo! News
http://www.braquedubourbonnais.info/en/dog-name.htm
Until this President calls for a cease fire in Afghanistan and starts negotiating for real peace, he is neither worthy of the Noble Peace prize or the picture of Muhammad Ali he has hanging on the wall in the White House.
http://www.ericmargolis.com/political_commentaries/surging-into-disaster.aspx
I think we are on the same page. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-the-nerd-ferraro/why-cant-we-just-say-obam_b_320512.html
Rogue third world dictators and suicidal theocrats aren't going to change their ways because we've all elected Mr. Obama and sung a few chorus of Kumbaya.
They don't care who we elect. They hate us anyway.
In the spirit of complete honesty, I am not certain George Bush's way was any better. I really think it doesn't matter. These guys are going to be a thorn in our side no matter who we elect.
Crying that others pounced on this for purely political reasons is reflection of yourself in the mirror.
Your post sounds like a dialog your having with yourself. Nothing you are inferring here is based on the words that I have written – they are based instead on preconceived notions.
This is hardly a great example of how to deal with confrontation. I have an opinion you don't like, so I am the enemy. Pet names for those you hate don't help the matter much either.
There are many democrats who share the opinion in question. Do some reading.
"Anyone who spoke out against him were never to be heard from again, so how so you explain that?"
I have no idea what you mean. Are you implying that people were eliminated? Or do you mean that they we never actually "heard" from them again? So, in short I can't explain something that is so unclearly posed. But I can refute both possible points you are making.
If you will recall Bill Maher incident. I think he claimed that the terrorist who attacked the twin towers were not cowards. He got a lot of flack for that. But, I don't think he's dead and I believe he has a pretty decent career going for himself. As a matter of fact I think he made a movie about how terrible religion is during the Bush presidency. So the idea that "anyone who spoke out against him were never heard from again" can only be seen as false.
Does that explain it?
Gosh. Does anyone recall anything being said bad about George Bush?
Did anyone from the left ever demean him?
You know, I just can't seem to recall that ever happening.
And you know, now that I think about it, we do want our presidents to consider European public opinion as the true judge of his merits. Why didn't I see that before.
Forget that free speech in America thing, where the people of America are supposed to be trusted to judge the truth and worth of policies. Lest we forget, here are two quotes:
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. ~John F. Kennedy
If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. ~Noam Chomsky
Now, with Obama, he was attacked even before he took the oath of office. What a bunch of sour losers the GOP is.
Frankly, I think this country doesn't deserve him ... his sister is married to a Canadian, and maybe we could work something out so the Obamas can come back with me in three years when I retire to Ontario... and, folks, those of you who invite me to leave now? ... don't bother ... I didn't divorce well and need my well-earned, paid-into Social Security!
Even Obama doesn't agree with you on that one.
I am not unhappy that he won the prize. Good for him.
But like many on the left, I think it's hard to see what he has done to deserve it.
This relates to peace in what way? I guess if the prize was for the guy you'd like to be seen with, he would be the obvious choice.
We are truly lucky to have Obama as our president it is America's best last chance to regain some national prestige . . . I agree it is a nudge to keep going . . . in particular Obama has got to defy Congress and stand up to israel . . . israel is the main obstacle to not only peace in the Middle East but to world peace . . . it is time our self-regarding Congress slavishly devoted to the AIPAC really listened to what is happening in the rest of world and stopped measuring the rest of the world by their own stupid assumptions and faultly ideologies . . .