Barack Obama awarded the Nobel peace prize

No.  Because Vietnam was a split country that did nothing to the US, and Afghanistan is a unitedish country that lashed out.  We may yet lose in Afghanistan.  But we can win, if we do it right, even if it takes 10 years.
 
Back to the prize. This is also meant as an encouragement. I hope it will stimulate Obama even more to go on.
 
Well, the way I look at it, he really has done wonders for Islamic-Western relations.  Not just in the Middle East, also in areas like Indonesia.
Also, 5: sorry for getting so angry at you there.  It is very hard to see people denigrate the contributions of my country and all the other NATO countries to the mission in Afghanistan, even though I know you didn't mean it the way it was read.
 
No, not at all, I wasn't meant to denigrate no-one. Your (explication) post was very emotional and it touched me deeply.
 
Thinking about the Afghanistan debate makes me worry too much about our future as human beings, its difficult to be positive about the future.
 
As for Obama winning the Nobel Peace prize, my answer is like others here: what for?  Promises?  Other American politicians have been down this road before.  Only actual deeds should go rewarded.  But then I don't hold this prize to be that important.  If peace was the only and the number one criteria, Mahatmas Gandhi would have won it by now.  If Obama brings peace to the parts of the world he wants to, then he'll deserve it, but until then I'll withhold my congratulations.

EDIT: EW Congrats on post #666.   
 
Thanks, GK - I've now revised that post accordingly.

Today most of the world has had time to comment on the Nobel Committee's choice, and I get the impression that most comments in media agree that this is a premature award - some papers, and CNN's regular Nobel prize commentator, are almost ridiculing the Committee.

The real test for Obama is if he can end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq without leaving both countries in turmoil. I doubt it, because that is a truly massive task. Almost as massive as Manchester City Football Club (guess only the UK posters will get that one).
 
I agree with those going "what for"???  I thought I heard something the other day about Obama getting the Nobel prize,  but I thought it was a joke,  or that I misheard.  Seriously,  what are their criteria???  WTF?
 
Eddies Wingman said:
The real test for Obama is if he can end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq without leaving both countries in turmoil. I doubt it, because that is a truly massive task. Almost as massive as Manchester City Football Club (guess only the UK posters will get that one).
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He might need his full eight years to do that.
 
Here's the liberal, me, I guess I'll just jump right in. Danger long post!  Sorry; I'm a typaholic.  Don't get mad!!  :S

I'm a huge Obama fan, as I am of the Kennedys before him, although I wasn't old enough to see most of them alive.  (And they weren't perfect either, I know.) 

and my reaction when I'd heard he won yesterday was (and I quote myself):  Already??  I felt like I was seeing into the future.  LIke the Norwegians must celebrate Christmas in July.

True, he has not stopped nuclear proliferation in our time or won much in Afghanistan yet, and there are those who agree/disagree about the handling of Iraq.  War is war; It's like this huge unending sorrow, that's all I can feel, for the whole thing and some would say - how do you give the Nobel to a wartime president? 

It's valid to criticize the handling of this year's award because I think most people would agree, it's the first time it was given out, ever, to someone for promise alone, whose charisma and meteoric rise give even the most common political snuff real weight with voters and with people all over the world, especially those from areas with the least excuse of a hope evident.

When Obama said hope and change, people rose up like they were lifted by an elevator and not just in the US.  All over the world it was like this wave of joy after he was elected.  I sound like a cornball.  But never in the common era has one person embodied so much to so many, even JFK or Bobby.

A lot has been said about the least common denominators (especially in the US, where they proliferate, wave guns at Town Hall meetings, and probably do think obama is the anti-christ) but Obama is like the symbolic highest common denominator.  Although few people will be born with that kind of intellect or personality, somehow, he's inspired everyone to believe everything is possible.
Even peace, even nuclear disarmament, even a handshake to a despised dictator.  (Or wasn't it a hug, in Chavez's case?)

Fidel CAstro, who hates everyone it seems, applauded Obama's nomination, because I think he realized Obama was willing to at least talk, to have the US be a little more flexible because the future still depends on where we stand, or what we stand for.

I think that's what the prize is for then;  Obama is willing to talk, to open dialogues, and since it seems apparent he will have that fanboy effect on world leaders of the hardest caliber, his presence at a table, or the presence of his representatives, already means a great deal, meant a great deal on January 21st, in fact. 

It's the way he can inspire people to act, to commit to a course of action, that's the valuable thing here.  Like he's the most popular guy in school that everyone wants to sit next to at the lunch table, and they might - MIGHT- set aside the most ancient animosities to do so.

It's that odd ability to be strikingly popular to all different people at all different levels for all different reasons, that's what the award is for; there is virtually no one else who can do it; he's one in six billion, if he can't bring people together, and sit them down maybe for a beer and a peace agreement, then who could.  LIke maybe people really want to talk, but they need a good excuse to give the minions back home:  "Well, it's Obama! That's why I signed the treaty!"  Basically, as a NYTimes OpEd writer said: the prize says this:  Thanks for Being You, Mr. President.  Were you going to eat your dessert?
:)
 
jmpoet said:
Here's the liberal, me, I guess I'll just jump right in. Danger long post!  Sorry; I'm a typaholic.  Don't get mad!!  :S

I'm a huge Obama fan, as I am of the Kennedys before him, although I wasn't old enough to see most of them alive.  (And they weren't perfect either, I know.) 

and my reaction when I'd heard he won yesterday was (and I quote myself):  Already??  I felt like I was seeing into the future.  LIke the Norwegians must celebrate Christmas in July.

True, he has not stopped nuclear proliferation in our time or won much in Afghanistan yet, and there are those who agree/disagree about the handling of Iraq.  War is war; It's like this huge unending sorrow, that's all I can feel, for the whole thing and some would say - how do you give the Nobel to a wartime president? 

It's valid to criticize the handling of this year's award because I think most people would agree, it's the first time it was given out, ever, to someone for promise alone, whose charisma and meteoric rise give even the most common political snuff real weight with voters and with people all over the world, especially those from areas with the least excuse of a hope evident.

When Obama said hope and change, people rose up like they were lifted by an elevator and not just in the US.  All over the world it was like this wave of joy after he was elected.  I sound like a cornball.  But never in the common era has one person embodied so much to so many, even JFK or Bobby.

A lot has been said about the least common denominators (especially in the US, where they proliferate, wave guns at Town Hall meetings, and probably do think obama is the anti-christ) but Obama is like the symbolic highest common denominator.  Although few people will be born with that kind of intellect or personality, somehow, he's inspired everyone to believe everything is possible.
Even peace, even nuclear disarmament, even a handshake to a despised dictator.  (Or wasn't it a hug, in Chavez's case?)

Fidel CAstro, who hates everyone it seems, applauded Obama's nomination, because I think he realized Obama was willing to at least talk, to have the US be a little more flexible because the future still depends on where we stand, or what we stand for.

I think that's what the prize is for then;  Obama is willing to talk, to open dialogues, and since it seems apparent he will have that fanboy effect on world leaders of the hardest caliber, his presence at a table, or the presence of his representatives, already means a great deal, meant a great deal on January 21st, in fact. 

It's the way he can inspire people to act, to commit to a course of action, that's the valuable thing here.  Like he's the most popular guy in school that everyone wants to sit next to at the lunch table, and they might - MIGHT- set aside the most ancient animosities to do so.

It's that odd ability to be strikingly popular to all different people at all different levels for all different reasons, that's what the award is for; there is virtually no one else who can do it; he's one in six billion, if he can't bring people together, and sit them down maybe for a beer and a peace agreement, then who could.  LIke maybe people really want to talk, but they need a good excuse to give the minions back home:  "Well, it's Obama! That's why I signed the treaty!"  Basically, as a NYTimes OpEd writer said: the prize says this:  Thanks for Being You, Mr. President.  Were you going to eat your dessert?
:)
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So to sum up, you think they gave him the award because they think he's awesome?  :P

Ok, a little crude and I do know you really mean they gave him the award because he's supposedly inspired people, but even that is a little premature to celebrate, inspiration in itself is not enough.

Also, this post is kind of a case in point about people raving about him before he has really done anything. I wonder if people really want to set him up for a gigantic fall or something. The expectations weighing on his shoulders are massive and it will be certainly interesting to see what happens. I of course hope he comes through on people's expectatons, but I also wonder if I should prepare for mass-eye-rolling when it doesn't happen quite according to plan and people start the hate on him.

I'm trying really hard not to launch off into a very insulting post here, I have trouble connecting with those who gush the love out about someone who hasn't done much yet, particularly in political figures.
I don't want to seem overly pessimistic and negative here either, I do like Obama and I do want him to succeed. I'd also like to make clear there is nothing wrong with supporting Obama or anything like that, I mean no offense here.
 
Ardius said:
So to sum up, you think they gave him the award because they think he's awesome?  :P

Ok, a little crude and I do know you really mean they gave him the award because he's supposedly inspired people, but even that is a little premature to celebrate, inspiration in itself is not enough.

Also, this post is kind of a case in point about people raving about him before he has really done anything. I wonder if people really want to set him up for a gigantic fall or something. The expectations weighing on his shoulders are massive and it will be certainly interesting to see what happens. I of course hope he comes through on people's expectatons, but I also wonder if I should prepare for mass-eye-rolling when it doesn't happen quite according to plan and people start the hate on him.

I'm trying really hard not to launch off into a very insulting post here, I have trouble connecting with those who gush the love out about someone who hasn't done much yet, particularly in political figures.
I don't want to seem overly pessimistic and negative here either, I do like Obama and I do want him to succeed. I'd also like to make clear there is nothing wrong with supporting Obama or anything like that, I mean no offense here.
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No none taken, and I don't want to gush, but I end up gushing.  I'm a big Obama supporter, but I did mean to inflect some irony here, but I don't think it made it through. And I understand your irritation because there is nothing worse than an empty-headed support for a belief, in the Nobel committee's case, belief in the future actions of one man.  I understand your wanting to tear up a post that could support that, but I don't see the weight of most other political figures as relevant these days.  Who else is there?  I'm sick of them all, but there seems to be only Obama who can actually make them all look like they're doing something constructive. (See the G8 and G20 meetings as examples.)  I'm willing to bet on him.

But think of the quandary of the Norwegian committee -- can you give the prize to Obama as he is young and untried compared to most Nobel winners, or can you give the prize to some poor schmuck who has ostensibly been working towards world peace or at least peace in his own little corner for decades, maybe even putting his/her life on the line, only to see that those decades went for almost nothing, very cheap in terms of effect.  (I don't know who the other nominees were, but I'll bet they had regional but not global reach.  That seems common in those awards.  But I'll throw another bet down for needing someone to win with global reach.  Who else is there?) 

Obama has the promise those other poor schmucks couldn't manage to have dug up in thirty-forty years.  That's terrible and unfair, but popular figures win out over substance way too often anyway. I don't like that kind of rule, but it's not my rule; that is the way the world is though. Well now we've got a popular figure with substance -- can he win? I hope so because the world will benefit if Obama's promise comes true, the promise of a de facto leader who can work internationally on many levels to affect all the issues that seem about to explode. Those other nominees must have worked so hard and yet, for all their accomplishments and proof of life-long peace activism, have managed to leave the world much as they've found it.  I say that only because I look out there and think what the hell has changed here?  Really only one thing, one part that could affect all the others -- I say could, might.

In fact, that occurred to me just now that is what happened really -- the Nobel prize given out not to a hard working activist, but to a de facto potential leader like some kind of crown, a little awkward, really, like the committee needed to choose the one most likely to lead, most likely to have the power to get people together to accomplish something.  (Not inspiration but leadership, not the awesome guy, but the guy who lucked out with the highest personality quotient, something I just ain't got.)  It's a theory -- that the Nobel committee didn't want an activist -- "we've got 'em up to here!" -- they wanted to award a world leader who could possibly move everybody forward.  I don't know who else that could be. 

It's the Nobel version of Back to the Future. Oh,well, either way, it's done now.  :)
 
 
I'm not really bothered about the reasons they gave him the award, I'm more bothered about what effect it will have. No doubt Obama is pretty embarrased by it and it puts an enormous pressure in his hands. What if he doesn't deliver? Like I said, I'm more worried they are setting the guy up for a gigantic fall from grace than helping him. They are also risking Nobel Peace Prize becoming worthless in the public eye.
 
Ardius said:
I'm not really bothered about the reasons they gave him the award, I'm more bothered about what effect it will have. No doubt Obama is pretty embarrased by it and it puts an enormous pressure in his hands. What if he doesn't deliver? Like I said, I'm more worried they are setting the guy up for a gigantic fall from grace than helping him. They are also risking Nobel Peace Prize becoming worthless in the public eye.
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Well, in a way, I suppose.  For me, no not at all.  It's hard for the award to become worthless when not too many can name receipients of the Peace Prize without using Google.  I couldn't name many of them either!  So the prizes come out every year and they'll move on, and Obama will be left with -- you're right -- another load of expectations.  Republicans are gearing up to tear him a new one for accepting the reward.  There's a nasty op-ed in the NY Times on that.  But reader comments reacting to that Op-ed today were mostly pro-Obama, and a lot of people in that reader's comments section were happy that a sitting US President had been awarded the prize.  They were proud of him and proud that America was seen as a part of a positive movement forward.  I was surprised reading the comments as I thought they might tear Obama up too, but no.  He definitely seemed embarrassed making his statement the other day, that's for sure.  I don't think it was the kind of attention he wanted to bother with.
 
You still miss my point, I'm talking about reactions to what he does manage to achieve, not reactions to the award, if he fails to achieve what people expect, people will be disappointed, he's being built up as if he is going to solve some rather large problems and rather than people hoping he achieves them, they are expecting him to now.
 
Ardius said:
You still miss my point, I'm talking about reactions to what he does manage to achieve, not reactions to the award, if he fails to achieve what people expect, people will be disappointed, he's being built up as if he is going to solve some rather large problems and rather than people hoping he achieves them, they are expecting him to now.
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Right.  Many people in the Obama camp think this award did not come at a good time, precisely because it adds undue pressure.
 
I think they awared it to President Obama just to stick it to Bush. But reading some of the other posts in this thread, I have to say something that has been eating away at me. I did not vote for Obama to overhaul the healthcare system in this country. The message I got from his campaign was that he was going to try and fix our economy. We continue to shed tens of thousands of jobs each week. How the hell are we going to pay for forced healthcare insurance when alot of working class people have no jobs?
 
I'd say let everybody speak for themselves. I expected something from Obama before he got this award. Hell, I expected something from Obama before he was elected. I have no reasons to complain since he has taken the office. I am a big Obama supporter, I admire his world diplomacy. No reason to bugger about this.

You may wonder if people who don't like his doings in (e.g.) healthcare (which have nothing to do with this award!) are in his camp....  It's possible that they project this award on anything they don't like about him, and therefore have a colored view on this issue. My 2 cents.
 
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