Obama’s Nobel Peace “Surprise”

On the morning of October 9th, the world woke to learn President Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize. What does the Nobel prize mean these days? Well, unfortunately, to me it hasn’t meant a whole lot for quite a while now. Today the award has become more about picking the most out spoken liberal than choosing someone who truly promotes the idea of world peace. Al Gore won the prize in 2007 for his documentary that was riddled with mistakes, exaggerations, and even a few untruths. Many feel that prize should have went to Irena Sendler, the sweet woman who saved thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust instead of Al Gore, but who are we to judge?

I thought I had heard enough when Yasser Arafat and Al Gore had taken home the prize, but Barack Obama winning this year simply takes the cake. Every major piece of legislation this man has pushed as President has failed to pass – cap and trade and health care being are among the largest. I cannot recall our country being more divided as it is today despite Obama’s campaign rhetoric promising to be everyone’s president. A worthless spending bill as pay back to the left wrapped up and disguised as an economic stimulus package is his most notable accomplishment. The stimulus bill that was supposed to protect us from 10 percent unemployment has failed to free us from the shackles of unemployment which topped 9.8 percent this month. (1)

Barack Obama becomes only the fourth US president in us history to win the honor. Former president Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2002. He had been out of office for over 20 years and had spent a lifetime devoted to promoting peace around the world. I agree very little with Carter politically, but one can justify Carter getting the award after a lifetime of dedication to peaceful causes. Woodrow Wilson was awarded the prize for founding the League of Nations in 1919. Theodore Roosevelt was given the honor for assisting with various peace treaties in 1906. Both Roosevelt and Wilson were given these awards after they had been in office for many years. Roosevelt was president for about five years and Wilson for six. Barack Obama was given his award after only 10 months in office.

Well Obama must be one heck of a president right? Let’s take a look at his record after 10 months as the leader of the free world. We still have troops in Iraq who are still in danger helping to keep the current Iraqi regime in place. At the same time, his general that he has chosen to turn around Afghanistan has begged him for 40,000 more troops and a new strategy. Obama has yet to make a decision on this and every day more troops and civilians are in danger while the President consults with his advisors. The President has said publically that the Taliban will have to remain in power in certain areas, but away from the Afghanistan central government. (3) The Taliban is still the same group that has supported terrorist actions against civilians and Americans in the Middle East for many years. Gitmo remains open for business, only without harsh interrogation techniques that kept us free from terrorists for many years. North Korea still possesses nuclear weapons and Iran is getting closer every single day to building one. Meanwhile Israel has made it clear all options are open to prevent a nuclear strike from Iran. None of this sounds like peace to me and sounds like the world is getting worse every day. To his credit, Obama did inherit a lot of these problems and was very humble when he accepted the award. I do, however, find it ironic that continuing many policies of the previous administration put Bush in exile, but awards Obama with the peace prize.

So why did he really get this award? What could the committee possibly see to have awarded Obama this honor? Some feel this is a slap at former President Bush and others prior to him who supported America as a super power and sometimes an interventionist. I personally feel this was done as a token of good will from the Norwegian Nobel Committee to make sure Obama doesn’t fade from his radical left agenda. Polls for the President are slipping and he has lost tremendous support from moderate Democrats and many independents who are shocked by the giant leaps to the left our President and this Congress have made recently. Without a drastic change in policy, Obama and many liberal Democrats stand to be voted out of office in the next few elections. This was a way the Nobel Committee could say to our President, while many Americans may disagree with you in these areas, the rest of the world is behind you. This is the single most powerful means of encouragement to keep Obama on his current pace to change America into a more collective system that Europe has had for decades. I also see this as a way for Norwegian elites on the committee to thumb their noses down at Americans like myself who are unhappy with the liberal direction our country has taken. After all, what do we the peasants know anyway? Haven’t the elites always made the best decisions for us throughout history?

The good news is the Nobel Committee does not vote in our elections…you do. As I have said time and time again, America will always reject these ideas because we are a nation that focuses more on individual freedom and individuality rather than a collective rationing body. No foreign Committee will ever decide what you think is best for America. Sadly, the real losers in this deal are all the significant people who have earned this prize throughout the years back when it meant something. Every year this award becomes less and less meaningful and more political. This year’s decision has all but destroyed any sanctity that remained with the Nobel Peace Prize. Many people around the world see this for what it is and many high ranking liberal commentators are calling this act premature. Perhaps there is an outspoken liberal in his home right now who is worthy of this award today. Maybe we could take this a step further and award this honor to everyone in the world so we can all feel good about ourselves. I guess I should be happy that another American has won the prize. However, when the prize is given away for political purposes, as it has for many years, I would rather it went to someone else in another country who really deserves it.

(1) http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/02/payrolls-unemployment-jobs-markets-equities-economy.html?feed=rss_markets
(2) http://nobelprize.org
(3) http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/08/obama-war-council-focuses-al-qaeda/