The Nobel Prize Committee May Have Done Obama More Harm Than Good

The Nobel Prize Committee has made a gross miscalculation in awarding the Nobel Prize to President Obama. Speaking to reporters, Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said "We would hope [the Nobel Prize] will enhance what he is trying to do." However, in awarding the Prize to the president, the Committee has risked undermining much of the president's momentum on a number of fronts by focusing supporters and detractors alike not on what he has done, but on what he hasn't. President Obama has only been in office since January, and has been tackling, for better or for worse, the economy, health care, Iran's increasingly aggressive stance, tough decisions about troop levels in Afghanistan, and the worsening situation in Pakistan. While it is true that he has reached out to the Muslim world in unprecedented ways, reengaged our allies, helped the U.S. reach a tremendous milestone in race relations, and spoken out on nuclear disarmament, he has yet had the chance to solidify gains on any major policy issue or really have the opportunity to turn his attention to issues of peace. In fact, as Afghanistan becomes increasingly discussed in many quarters as a war of choice, Obama has had to focus his attention not on peace and diplomacy, but on calculations of conflict.

Because of the selection of the Nobel Prize Committee, today many around the world are questioning whether Obama's accomplishments during his short time are deserving of this great honor. And, at a time when some are feeling disappointed that Obama's promises of change are not being fulfilled fast enough, this award may not actually be helpful to the president in the way that the Nobel Committee hopes. Rather, it may shine a spotlight on a lack of accomplishment, even for those who support the president. For those who wish to undermine him, this award will prove a fertile talking point for raising questions about whether the President will prove to be more about optics or substance. (Fox News will certainly be having an early Christmas because of this announcement.) So, in addition to having to live up to the hopes that his campaign and election raised at home and around the world, President Obama will have to earn, in the minds of many, this prematurely bestowed award.

So far, the White House has had little response to the announcement. However, if President Obama wants to assure the world that he is focused and grounded, it might benefit him to recognize that his accomplishments in fostering peace do not match up to those of prior recipients, and take the opportunity to talk about the work being done by others, and the long distance we still have to go in achieving the goal of peace. Otherwise, Obama may face a growing number of skeptics who worry that he will accept words over actions in this important arena. The Nobel Prize Committee ultimately may have given fodder to Obama's detractors, but the president can still seize this moment to demonstrate that he recognizes the difference between rhetoric and actual change.

Comments

[gymmy]

......as I post after some time this came out, I can see that this articles' style of interpretive speculation of the cause, and moreover, the effect of the Nobel Committee decision, now has much merit.
In addition to 'giving fodder for detractors', The Noble Committee's own identity would seem ulteriorly motivated. Of course, angling or strategizing for world peace is not always bad, but the Noble Committee should've waited on this. Whiffs of the prize being 'rigged', are now all over the place, and maybe that’s just hearsay and may not amount to something, but still,... later - 'wins' ...and in this case,.... sooner - is just at a 'loss' .....of authenticity. (Our own President was surprised and at a loss of words when he was first told)
There is nothing wrong with winning such a highly esteemed accolade, but the timing of this, definitely is 'peculiar'. I'm sure Obama, must have thought', ".....I start trying to take basic civil responsibility for cleaning up the last administrations' garbage, and I win a Nobel?....­..........­.....Uh oh, what are they really thinking?"

[Kevins]

No one has ever "achieved world peace"--not even Christ would win the Nobel Peace Prize if it were for "accomplishing" peace, an end to wars, the elimination of conflict....

What Obama did, from the morning he entered the White House, was change the environment for the whole world regarding the prospects for peace, regarding peaceful diplomatic resolutions, regarding respecting world treaties and agreements, regarding respecting the peoples of the world, regarding what had til then been the hooligan use of weapons.

Obama did EXACTLY what is the mission of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate: he made straight the path toward peace.

[londongal]

Why do people keep insisting that words don't matter? YES THEY DO!

Ms. Gans, I disagree with your assertions and simply will say that Mr. Obama is well deserving of this prize and just because YOU and others believe he doesn't deserve it, doesn't make you and them right.

This is for America, this is for us (yes, despite my screen name I'm an American citizen).

BTW, to the MSM and all pundits who insist on calling Afghanistan Obama's war. No it friggin well ain't! It's America's war and we are all invested in the President getting this right and bringing this madness that President Bush started to a close.

I'm a military spouse and I long for the troops to get the hell out of there and come home.

[gymmy]

..I dont believe she's saying "he doesn't deserve it"......on the contrary, it's about how the 'Prize' can better serve his and the worlds' efforts for peace, if he would have recieved it later.

[S1m0n]

The Nobel prize isn't an award for things done while president; your objection is specious. It's not about the president, it's about the man.

[MighteeAphrodite]

The president's detractors do not need fodder. They cultivate and dispense manure as a political obligation.

[TheStreamAlwaysWins]

Ms. Gans, please read the list of Nobel Peace Prize winners over the past fifty years and note the people who have won but do not have a "body of work" to show for it. May I remind you that Dr. King worked hard for the Civil Rights Law but received the Prize before it was even in Congress; that he marched and organized and gave speeches, doing the unthinable along the way, before being awarded the prize. Suu Kyi did not topple the dictatorship in Burma but she recieved it and although she's in jail not everyone has to go to jail to win it. Al Gore ran for office, organized, became a pain in people's neck 'til he was taken seriously.
President Obama organized and ran for office and in the process changed an intractable worldview, allowed even the most lowly to see themselves differently and believe it or not, changed the world.
The Nobel Peace Prize is not about fixing the American Economy or stopping the war in Afghanistan. It's about much more than that!
And you know what the people in the street know it! The pundits? Their six and seven figure incomes depend on being willfully ignorant. [See Joe Scarborough and Mika "whatever"].

[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

[VMA]

People in this country amaze me...and I don't mean this is a good way!

[chlai88]

I'm sure President Obama is a wise and smart enough guy to know not to waste time worrying too much about his own image. He knows that history will judge him on the ton of work he has to do to live up to the honor.

[OneLiberalLady]

Well put. The dismay on the right at Obama getting this accolade is somewhat understandable. The reaction of some of the left says more about them than it says about Obama. However, he' s had to live with being the smartest guy in the room for a long time, so he will certainly be able to deal with this.

[clarryr]

President Obama is a fairly resilient guy. I'm sure he will survive the shame of winning the most prestigious prize for the advancement of peace.

[TopJack]

I know. How will he go on.

[clarryr]

I am baffled why anyone would think that winning the most prestigious award for the advancement of peace somehow disparages that person. That the world rejoicing in the vision of a peacemaker somehow makes his job harder.
I would counter your argument that winning this award makes Obama's job harder with the thought that what it really does is challenge the American people and the diverse peoples of the world to redouble their efforts to follow where he leads towards a nuclear free world. Where nations treat each other with respect and all strive for peace.
The Nobel committee did not make a mistake with this award. But many are proving themselves unworthy of the honor this award bestows on the American people and all those that pray for peace.

[Gidster]

Good post! ^^^

[OneLiberalLady]

Excellent comment: fanned.

[gymmy]

Ok, giving him the prize now, is worthy of celebration and inspiratio­n.........­......but giving it to him later, (most of us know he would've been a sure shot to have won it anyway) makes it a much more worthy and a much more respectably usable accolade in course of pursuing peace.

[bingvangorden]

What a cynical joint this was. Can we bask in the glow for a day at least before delegitimizing, as the right does, the Nobel Peace Prize? No, let's look for the negative first and just kill any momentum we could use to help the dude in DC out and get vocal about what we voted for. No let's just destroy the moment by dissing it. A month from now I could have read this as thoughtful criticism, now it's just another cynical and self defeating diatribe. Thanks for killing the moment everybody. I was surprised too but saw it as an opportunity as apparently the President has. Even David Sirota is a buzz kill. There's a time to bitch and a time to push. This article served no purpose other than miss an opportunity to whine a little bit. Boo Hiss.

[TRex86]

It will be easier for him to make peace in the Middle East than with the obstructionist Republicans.

[Cassiday1784]

The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Committee will be the laughing stock around the water cooler for a loooong time.

Let's see, who else has been nominated [but thankfully, not chosen] by this wise and enlightened group? Hitler [ 1939], Stalin 1945 AND 1948], Mussolini [1935].

Who has NOT received the Peace Prize by this wise and enlightened group? Mahatma Gandhi [a 5-time nominee] and Popes John XXIII and John Paul.

Do we laugh or cry at these debased hypocrites? . . . I think I’ll just shake my head and do both.

[Gidster]

Hitler's nomination was withdrawn Jan 1939, so he was never really considered.

Gidel nominated both the Academy of International Law AND Benito Mussolini, the former being his primary choice, again, never really in consideration, besides, in Feb '35, Italy had not attacked, invaded or in any way aggressed it's neighbors yet.

Stalin was nominated for his efforts to end World War II.

[TRex86]

Why do you bother sharing real facts with a Republican propaganda spouter?

[TJinSoCal]

I'm about as liberal as you can get, a gay, west coast progressive type. But. When I saw that Obama had won the Nobel, all I thought was "Huh?". Maybe it's tough for typical Americans to grasp how Europe sees us, but to award the Nobel to Obama so early in his presidency seems more like a bitch-slap to Bush and the right more than any kind of appreciation of the president's efforts and accomplishments.

I desperately want Obama to succeed and be a 2-term president, but the timing of this Nobel only waters down the prestige usually associated with winning a Nobel Peace Prize.