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Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

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Doctor Oak

Doctor Oak

Staff member
Overlord
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8298580.stm

US President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Committee said he was awarded it for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".

The committee highlighted Mr Obama's efforts to strengthen international bodies and promote nuclear disarmament.

There were a record 205 nominations for this year's prize. Zimbabwe's prime minister and a Chinese dissident had been among the favourites.

The laureate - chosen by a five-member committee - wins a gold medal, a diploma and 10m Swedish kronor ($1.4m).

"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," the Norwegian committee said as the prize was announced.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."
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He's only been in power half a year - and hasn't done anything in that half a year anyway! I mean, if, by the end of his term in power, he'd pulled out of Afghanistan, Iraq, peacefully disarmed Iran and accepted that Global warming is science not a fucking 'myth' - then fair enough. Give the dude a medal. But so far all he's done is play non-committal about pulling out of Afghanistan and Iraq, arse around the G20 making pals and called Kanye West an idiot. And even though the Kanye West bit is awesome - and even though he got rid of Bush (which is, y'know, yay - but was going to have to happen anyway), that's really not enough to base a peace prize award on...

Methinks the Obama worship has gone a little bit too far this time.
 
Tatile

Tatile

I have to agree with you there Oak. I saw the thread and thought 'what for?'; all I know of him doing so far is winning an election based on 'not being that other guy' and splitting America in half over the possibilty of getting an NHS and de-demonising socalism. If anything, the prize would probably have been better deserved by the PM or dissedent mentioned (can't be bothered to Google name right now...) as it would more likely highlight the distress in China and the OHSHIT factor of Zimbabwe as it stands now. Or rather, how it sits dying of cholera and tuberchulosis.

I could say 'positive discrimination', but the Zimbabwe PM is also black, so it IS Obama worship going overboard. Poor America, a failed utopia that is being pandered to now because of large corporations and missiles.
 
Chadwyck

Chadwyck

I've never been the biggest fan of Obama, simply for the fact that his entire platform was "Vote for me because I'm not John McCain." And the fact that he made a bunch of promises that have been sort of hidden under the rug. (for lack of a better metaphor)

Even though I'm not his biggest supporter, I could see that maybe if he had done something great by the end of his term he would deserve it. And that's a big maybe. It's ridiculous that the guy has won the Noble Peace Prize just because everyone is idolizing, and what's worse is they are doing so for no reason at all. He hasn't even done anything yet.

I completely agree with you Doctor Oak, it's going a little far giving such an honor away because the guy is charismatic. I mean, if he'd actually accomplished anything, I wouldn't mind. It's great he's all for getting rid of nukes and stuff, but so are a lot of other, more qualified people.
 
Carmen Lopez

Carmen Lopez

I agree with the general consensus of this thread: it's too soon! I was shocked when I opened Firefox to my Yahoo homepage and saw: Nobel Stunner: Obama Wins Peace Prize. My reaction was liek lul whut? Yes, I am totally a Obama fan, I voted for him, he won and I think the US is a better place for it.

But this is too much--at least give his resolutions and plans time to work. So why is everyone jumping the gun (both the Obama haters AND supporters)? Then again, this isn't the first time a person has been given the Nobel Peace Prize for reasons I find rather lacking or questionable.
 
Linkachu

Linkachu

Hero of Pizza
Staff member
Administrator
I completely agree with you Doctor Oak, it's going a little far giving such an honor away because the guy is charismatic. I mean, if he'd actually accomplished anything, I wouldn't mind. It's great he's all for getting rid of nukes and stuff, but so are a lot of other, more qualified people.
Click to expand...

I guess that's just it with him - his charismatic nature. I'm kinda not surprised that it alone has captured so many people because, regardless of how they lead, charismatic people always have a way of winning countless people over. History has shown us many good examples of that...

I like Obama, but I think what Chad said are my thoughts on things. It's great that he's all-for these things, but so are many other people who'll never win an award for it... I guess the world just hated Bush so much that they can't see past it.
 
H

Hunting Rifle

Obama is a promising president, but to this point he's not as good s we thought he would be. Personnaly, i think they should wait a little bit longer so we can judge him better, and then we'll see if he deserves the Nobel Prize. I think he's better then MCcain would have been. But i'm a democrat, and it's only an opinion.
 
Shiny Motley

Shiny Motley

2016 Singles Football
Every week, we have to read two or more articles on a current event or another, most of them revolving around Obama himself. So, for this week, we're reading about this. On the same day he got the Noble Peace Prize, my humanities teacher decided to make us read the CNN article about him getting the prize and then giving us a little one-question quiz on it when we come back to school on Monday.

And according to the article that I was reading, the vote was unanimous.

I don't have a real opinion on him so far; my parents praise him, but because I live in almost totally-republican Texas, most of my friends say bad things about him because of what they hear from their parents... but even so, it's a bit early imo to give him the Nobel Prize for Peace when he's been in office for only, like, eight months.
 
Cody

Cody

See, I'm kind of going to disagree with you all.

I think he did deserve it, and I don't think it's too early. I'm not sure category he got it in, was it in Peace, or was it in Humanities? Eh, regardless. The reason given for his award was "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

Well, hasn't he done that? I mean, he gave that speech in Cairo to the "Muslim-World" (is that politically correct?) and his speech in the United Nations about not expecting the United States to "fix it all" and calling for us as a planet to work together. He's working for peace in the Middle East, and trying to peacefully dismantle rouge Nuclear states. I think he's deserved it, at least, for the reason given.

It might not be the greatest reason ever, but I think almost all of us saw it was coming.
 
Chadwyck

Chadwyck

I understand what you are saying Cody. My only problem is just that "efforts" there are tons of people who are putting effort into many things that would help the world as a whole, just because he's Barack Obama doesn't mean he deserved it more than any of the other people who have been doing the same things.

His speeches were applaudable, and they had great messages, but that's all they were messages. I don't mind him winning, but they need to give it time to see if he's going to make a difference, instead of just believing that it will.

But I do respect your opinion, and I'm simply stating my own. You don't have to agree with me, I'm just conveying my reasoning behind my personal disapproval.
 
Doctor Oak

Doctor Oak

Staff member
Overlord
It should be pointed out that the nominations window closed ten days after his inauguration. At that point, the only thing he'd managed to do was be elected - which is a fair enough feat in and of itself, but not worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize.

At least he donated the money to charity though. It may not be his fault he was nominated and selected, so the blame can't be left on him - but it's a good thing that even though he accepted the award, he was still sensible about what to do with it.
 
Tatile

Tatile

So, he may have been nominated a bit soon (possibly on the wave of Obama-love) but seeing as it's now October, the consideration of prize most likely includes the several months he has spent in office. Still, too soon.

Nice to see he donated the money, he's a nice guy, but a man only.
 
Secad MS

Secad MS

In my opinion, as with Oak's, Obama couldn't have gotten a Peace Prize this early for a good reason. I mean, the whole 'lesser of two evils' thing was there for at least a bit of the election (for me, at least). So I must summarize this and say the award was Obama worship. He hasn't done much yet, though he could in the future.

As a note, I was for Obama the entire election after I summarized their platforms (views on Roe vs. Wade, etc.) and found which one was closest to my views.
 
W

Weeds

I don't live in the US, but still I've been an Obama fan. I really don't know why. So, when I first heard about this, I was all like "YAY! Way to go Barack!". But, after reading an article about this in a local newspaper, I started thinking. An interviewed New Yorker had a good point; "It seems kind of wrong that we get the Nobel Peace prize while we're fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan."

This changed my point of view. Now I agree with the general opinion with this thread: he did not deserve it. Or not yet. Because, as has already been mentioned, he hasn't really done anything yet.

I still see Cody's point, he held great speeches, but personally I don't think just that enough to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for. This is my opinion.
 
Xatu

Xatu

I had a number of conversations about this over the weekend. The best comment I've heard so far is "I read books, can I get a Nobel Prize in Literature?"
Personally, I think there may be a number of things going on here. I have respect for the rest of the Nobel prizes, but the Peace Prize has just been a joke for quite some time. (Come on, Yasser Arafat won the Peace Prize back in '94.) I'm thinking the Swedes have gotten smart and realized that if they give Obama a peace prize, it may influence his policy. A Peace Prize Laureate can't just go to war.
 
W

Weeds

Xatu said:
Come on, Yasser Arafat won the Peace Prize back in '94.
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I didn't know this before. I heard about it today, and I was shocked. And guess who've been nominated for the peace prize? Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler. It's just insane.
 
O

Once More

He's in office, get over it. If you don't like it, blame America, not the man trying to help it.

Let the man work. I'm sure he doesn't care about his praise as much as a bum on a rail road track would. But if he manged to get some, he must be doing something right.

Despite the degrading most people would say, he's doing great to say he hasn't been in office that long. Failure to see this, makes YOU look bad (not pointing out anyone in general).
 
StellarWind Elsydeon

StellarWind Elsydeon

Armblades Ascendant
Staff member
Administrator
The point is not 'letting the man work' as much as it's the fact that he didn't do anything to warrant a noble peace prize YET. Except talk. Talk is cheap.

If he got the prize AFTER making a significant achievement, no one would have said anything bad about it. But other than getting elected, he did eff all so far.

It's the so far that gets people.
 
O

Once More

The Noble Piece Prize is not just about achievements, it's also about what you stand for. He stands for what he talks about.

If "talk is cheap", why did America accept it? I'm pretty sure we don't consist of foolishness all the time. He's only been in for 8 months. That's not enough time to get what you may think is an achievement done. If you want to blame someone for that, blame the people who votes against the bills. Like congress. Everyone SHOULD know that the president can't do anything with out their approval.
 
Chadwyck

Chadwyck

But see, what you're missing is that the Noble PEACE Prize may be about what you stand for, but it's also about what you do to get what you stand for done. No one here is saying that he wouldn't have deserved it at a later time, all we are saying is that it should have been awarded to him after he'd gotten something done.

If he does something that deserves a Noble Prize later on in his presidency, that's great, I'm all for it. But in the mean time, he didn't deserve it. As you yourself said, he's only been in office for eight months, meaning he hasn't done a single thing to deserve the Noble Peace Prize yet.

And as for the Congress not passing his bills, and why America accepted it. First off, his bills are ridiculous. They'll do more hurt than good in the long run, and if you don't believe me, go find them and read them. The president's office focuses on what people want to hear as far as media is concerned, but if you actually read the bills, there are giant problems. And as for why America accepted his talk, it's because he never stood for anything other than CHANGE during the election, something incredibly vague that people could apply to their own lives. And seeing as how a vast majority of Americans are unfit to vote in the first place (in my humble opinion) it was enough to get him elected.

But I digress. This is about the Noble Prize, and if he proves that he's going to get things done at a later date, give it to him then. For right now, the prize would have been better off in someone else's hands.
 
O

Once More

Don't insult me. It was a typo.

His bills are to help people like you and me. You know, the people that lack 200,000 dollars in thier paychecks. You basically spat on every single working class person good sir.

Sure he's doing somethings that aim to be equal among the people, and not one sided. But he does so, to keep things cool. Lets face it, no one will actually perform a change because they won't be known for it as long as most would. (Mainly because they would differ in social standings.)

I'm not here to put down anyone, and I'm not here to start something with you. But admit it, you just don't like him.

But yes, to the topic, I think he deserves it.
 
Chadwyck

Chadwyck

I most definitely wasn't insulting you. And yes, I have not been an Obama supporter, and probably never will be. However, I did not spit on anyone.

I'm not trying to start anything either, I'm just asking you to see what the other people in this thread are saying. You're assuming that we all think that he won't ever deserve the prize. That isn't what anyone is saying at all, the general opinion is that it's just too soon to be giving him a Noble Peace Prize. It has nothing to do with liking him or not liking him. It's all about what he's done.

You are entitled to your opinion, but the way that you're talking seems to suggest that you aren't open to other people's opinions. There is no right or wrong here, it's all a matter of opinion, which everyone is entitled to. Your opinion is that he deserved it, mine is that it's too soon to tell.

Now before this topic gets out of hand, can we leave it at that? If not, just PM me with any other things you'd like to say I'm wrong about, but this topic is not the place for this discussion.
 
O

Once More

*sigh* Truce.

I had a feeling someone might say that, I just was hoping I'd say it first.

Just remember: Mostly everyone said he didn't deserve it. That may have triggered what would make it seem that I censor your opinions. When really, that's way I came to this topic in the first place.

(edited)
 
S

sheesheesh

Obama hasn't done anything yet. All he's done is promise hope and prosperity, whatever the hell that is. He is a very good public speaker, but I wouldn't say he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, or a Nobel Prize at all, for that matter. I'd consider the Nobel Prize committee to be biased towards good public speakers.
 
StellarWind Elsydeon

StellarWind Elsydeon

Armblades Ascendant
Staff member
Administrator
I think you are the one that forgets what it stands for.

Let's have a look at the Wikipedia article for the Nobel Peace Prize, hm?

According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize should be awarded to the person who:

"during the preceding year [...] shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

Uh. Yes. during the preceding year, has Obama did any of that?

Didn't think so.

He TALKED about it, maybe, but the will says have done, not have talked about.

He probably got the damn thing because no one else did anything either.

This planet is effed. And this thread has little discussion value left.
 
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