Nobel (Sur)Prize: Words Matter
A last word on how Obama didn't "earn" his Nobel Prize.
Reading the near unanimous commentary about how Obama didn't really deserve this reward -- including the president himself in his typically apt comments -- reminded me of something...something...ah yes: it was identical to those who doubted the candidacy of a young Senator who was "articulate" but had few accomplishments. What's he done?
We know how that ended. So too the Nobel.
Skeptics from Lech Walesa to George Will apparently don't get it. They fail to grasp what the Nobel Committee and most of the world do -- that Obama represents the power of positive speaking. Deeds may be better than words but words can be powerful and transforming. When Lenin said he wanted "land, bread and peace" for Russians in 1917 and Kennedy said "ich bin ein Berliner," their language so fit their moments that they cracked the levees of history.
Conservatives are left to argue that it's a bad thing that Obama won, a bad thing that he's more popular in other countries than their own elected leaders, that he should have actually turned it down (David Brooks and Ross Douthat in the New York Times). They are scornful that Obama won because he wasn't Bush. Let's assume that's true. It's nonetheless rational to reward Obama for at least talking up a nuclear-free world and engagement rather than unilateral invasions and disdain for diplomacy. The president's positions may seem self-evident, but they weren't to Bush and Cheney. The world noticed.
We've seen this movie before with President Obama and will again: especially when in a jam, he can literally talk his way out, whether it was Rev. Wright during the nomination battle to his visionary remarks in Egypt about Islam to his speeches at the UN and elsewhere about nuclear arms and diplomacy. And who can doubt that he'll again give a winning acceptance speech in November in Oslo? His combination of eloquence, elegance, equaniminity and progressive patriotism is a gift that keeps on giving. It won him the presidency, won the Nobel, and wins him support far beyond even his largely popular policies.
There will no doubt come a time when, as Saturday Night Live mockingly did two weeks ago, people will assess if his performance matches his promise. "May the deeds I've done speak for me," goes the Baptist Hymn. Eight months into his term, he's at least laying out a vision and a program that will enable future generations to grade him.
Liberal were and are still irked at Reagan's popularity. But the fact was that most Americans just personally liked him and his way of speaking, irrespective of the harshness of his policies. Obama is our Reagan. We will soon enough determine if he's also our FDR.
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Hello!
Words matter!
In the beginning was the word.
With noble and powerful words, Obama is leading and transforming our world for the better.
The GOP -ers are deaf and blind not to know this, but the world isn't.
From the Nobel Prize website:
"The Committee bases its assessment on nominations that must be postmarked no later than February 1st each year. Nominations postmarked and received after this date are included in the following year's discussion
Let's see, inaugurated on January 20th. So Obama's nomination was based on his 12-day presidency? What a farce.
And as for "We will soon enough determine if he's also our FDR," I think he's got that one in the bag. His Federal Reserve chairman, Helicopter Ben Bernanke, (originally nominated by the modern day version of President Hoover, George Bush) has just a wee bit more to go in destroying the U.S. dollar. When that task is complete, let the depression begin.
In Minnesota's Itasca Park there is a tiny creek you can step-over that is the source of the mighty Mississippi River.
Like the Mississippi River, Obama's efforts on behalf of world-wide reconciliation will receive the contributions of many Nations and individuals. It is for this, he and his supporters received the Noble Peace Prize.
In contrast to the imprudent logic tight compartment thinkers, the "clever" ones, and the orgasmic iconoclasts, the Nobel Prize committee acted with the upmost prudence.
addendum:
For those people who don't believe mere "words" matter:
If this is true, you can't blame the Palins, Limbaughs, Becks, Bachmanns et al of the country for stirring up hate or propagating damaging lies and misinformation to millions of people who will REACT accordingly to that rhetoric. After all .... it's only words. Right?
Words can be a force for hate, despair, and motivation for the masses to engage in negative actions. Words can start wars.
Words can be a force for hope, change, and motivation for the masses to engage in positive actions. Words can help end wars.
The world has listened to PO's words and felt hope that the US will be a force for positive change in the world, especially after the last 8 years. Words matter.
Congratulations to PO and the people who voted for his vision for this country. Whether or not the Noble Peace Prize was "too early" or not .... it wasn't our decision as Americans to award this prize. And quite frankly, it seems exceedingly bad taste and manners to complain about it to those who awarded it. Silly, "ugly Americans.
Btw, even the Italian Prime Minister, who's not known for intelligent comments, got this one right. He said "The Nobel committee is SPOT ON! This prize is an investment on the future, and we should all help him achieve it."
(Translation is mine)
The world celebrated the election of an American President on Nov. 4, 2008. Very unusual. A great beginning and renewal at the same time for the US.
Words matter ....
Great post, Mr. Green.
Excellent piece, Mr. Green. I've been saying (since early 2007) that Obama is the reverse Reagan!
As a former Republican, I haven't been this happy with a president since Reagan. President Obama is remarkably capable and charismatic; and may just turn out to be one of our greatest presidents.
I agree with your comments. I think Obama was honored for setting a different standard than we have been seeing in other leaders-- for honoring different values than we have been witnessing other politicians doing. Gosh-- it is inspiring to see someone come forward and speak out for and make every effort to act upon the values of compassion, peace, humanity, equality. And, in all honesty-- it is really the negativity of his opponents and their clinging to old and worn-out ways of being and leading that is slowing the process of change down. I have only just recently realized that I-- and probably a lot of us-- under-estimated the opposition Obama and his New Order would encounter. I thought everyone could see how important and necessary these changes are and how much they will benefit everyone and serve the Greater Good. Instead we are seeing many people priding themselves on obstructionism-- and/or simply venting negativity and ignorance in huge and violent ways-- and/or people who are so impatient for the changes that impact them that they also go into negativity and againstness constantly cos it all hasn't happened already.
So true! thank you for pointing thi sout.
I'm really sorry that the critics did not watch Rachel Maddow Friday night. She really laid out the reasons for the win very clearly and she pointed out how most other winners never saw their visions or ideals accomplished before they won. Some of what many were fighting for were never realized at all. I love Rachel. She was able to show that as far back as 2007 Obama starting laying out his vision for peace and diplomacy. Only two weeks in office before the nomination??? So what the work had begun long before that. Thanks Rachel for pointing that out!
Please watch this video.
http://www
So right! Thank you Rachel, and thank you Faithtoo for the link! I faved that video, it should go viral.
It's appalling that Americans are not proud of their president winning this prize!! What is wrong with everyone.
Worse, they can't contain their joy over Chicago losing the Olympic bid. On the bright side, there are far more Americans who are proud of Obama than there are haters.
Haters are often the loudest. Unfortunately
So very true!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! President Obama speaks well and listens well. He is a transformational leader. Unfortunately, too many people do not understand his style of leadership nor the fact that words are acts in their own way.
The conservatives keep underestimating this President. They do so at their own peril.
You better hope he is not your FDR. FDR incarcerated thousands of innocent japanese based solely on their race and without due process of law.
Who is your favorite president?
We were at war, we were attacked, and as unjust as the INTERNMENT for two years (NOT incarceration), of an entire ethnicity was and still is, FDR ordered the torture of NO ONE and violated no Constitutional or International laws at the time.
What's sad is that you want to judge FDR's FOUR TERM Presidency during a depression, AND WWII, by this one response to the first real attack on American soil in its history.
well said mark green. like mlk,jfk and rfk proved words do matter. in our 24/7 cable noise, people here forget obamas impact around the world. they also have no clue about what a true leader sounds like. our progressive friends need to stop whining. give the man a progressive congress to work with. obamas playing chess and the rest of us are getting fat sitting on our behinds watching screens all day.
Presidents don't just speak. Their words, if they are to be effective, must have consequences.
So what consequences have Obama's words have? Has the war in Afghanistan ended with a stable and democratic government securely in place. Similarly for Iraq? Has Gitmo bay closed its prison? Has the Darfur conflict moved towards resolution? Have the lot of gays in the military been improved?
What have been the real-life consequences of Obama's words?
You gave Bush eight years to screw it up and you only give Barack eight months to fix it. That doesn't seem quite fair. I feel he deserves this award for the vision he has shared with the world. One of peace and mutual respect. Give the man a little time. He will be one of the greatest Presidents of all time. Unless, you are one of the ones that wants him to fail. By the way, you might encourage the GOP to work with him on addressing some of these issues. He will have to achieve these goals in spite of them, since their only purpose is to obstruct.
So True!
By February I thought that at least two divisions would be out of Afghanistan; by March I had expected all troops would be home and Iraq's government a paragon of democracy - as Chaney said.
I was surprised that he did not fix the banks by May! These rapacious bankers have been looting customers since the 1980s but I couldn't understand how Obama couldn't deal with such a small problem. He shouldn't get the Award. Such travesty!
After all Dr. Martin Luther King HAD TO make sure the Civil Rights Laws were signed before he was awarded his Nobel. And not only that, Dr. King couldn't get his Nobel until there was total race equality and it was only when poverty ended for good in India did Mother Theresa receive hers.
The Nobel Committee does not normally award Peace Prize to people who do not finish to perfect completion, their tasks. We should all check out Nobel.Org.
You're almost as good as Colbert. LOL...be careful the wingnutters will take your sarcasm for truthiness.
Nothing I like better than sarcasm.
But of course I did not suggest that you must completely solve a problem before being awarded the Nobel Prize. I did suggest that one should have to accomplish something tangible and real.
And the accomplishments of Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King were tangible and real, and their prizes were won only after decades of sacrifice and struggle. To compare Obama with these two is perverse.
Another example of a person who defines progres only by their own terms.
The real life consequences of Obama's words is that there has been large strides in growth of how much other countries trust the US. There has been a growth in the willingness to actually work through differences and used diplomacy instead of force.
Unlike no other president, Obama has been able to ratchet down the rhetoric that has been growing for years. So many want to dismiss this as him "not being Bush", but such a calming effect is extremely rare, and it is certainly rare in a world leader. Right now I can not think of a single world leader that has managed to be such a stabilizing influence through non-agressive means.
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