Nobel Peace Prize

Congratulations Mr. President!

He's got my congratulations also!!

This morning he woke up to hearing he's done something right!

He's a person like the rest of us, needing good news and someone somewhere telling him he's getting something right when others only see faults.

Carol

Yes, it was a great start for the day!

Ann

He deserves the peace prize for putting up with Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and Rush Llimbaugh.

Congratulations to President Obama!


P.S. maybe everyone who has to put up with narrow minded conservatives and the religious right deserves a prize.

P. Gordon Kennedy wrote:

Congratulations to President Obama!


P.S. maybe everyone who has to put up with narrow minded conservatives and the religious right deserves a prize.

You can say that again.

Good news for Obama. Bad news for his opponents.

He said his little girl woke him up and told him he'd won the Peace Prize and reminded him she had a three-day weekend because of Columbus Day.

He was humble. He looked overwhelmed and said it wasn't his alone but others in the world.

This is a symbol of hope but only if others see it that way.

Carol

I didn't really get it. He won for inspiring hope while fighting two major wars. And while considering a plan to put 40,000 more Americans in harms way with the mission of killing as many of "them" as possible.

Did I miss someone getting a prize for not having a bell???

Phillip,

He didn't start the wars and would like to see them ended. He is considering what is necessary to do so.

We can each believe what we wish, but to me "hope springs eternal." In my life at the present it is all I have, and anything in this world to even hint of hope for a peaceful future I consider honorable.

He has been criticized for not sending more troops more quickly as well as criticized for considering doing so.

What I learned from researching my book is that it is necessary for debate and arguing and looking at issues from all sides before making decisions. High officials that were involved in Vietnam said that doing so would have possibly saved many lives and ended the war much sooner.

Let's hope the individuals contemplating how to end the two wars will come up with the right decision, that they will be guided by their consciences, Divine Providence, and hopes for the United States.

We can believe in hope if we choose. It is what I choose.

Love, Carol

David, very funny!!

Wish I could share your feeling of hope, Carol. I gave up on that a long time ago.
Obama is a good man doing the best he can in a nation severly divided and a world even more severly divided.

I am not very political because I never felt I had control over a anything.

But, what I hope is that one person who has reason can stop a train. It would be a lot easier for that one person if other people stood up. I stand up in this my 67th year with hope (Carol knows about hope as I do) for deeds that accomplish miracles.

I am reminded of discovering rat holes in the porch, full of corn and sawdust and stinking to high heaven of fat rats who have lived free and torn the house down bit by little bit.

The owner of the house does not move out and give it up to rats. They do what they can to keep their home from falling down. Get rid of the rats and patch the holes up one at a time. It is hard work because the rats are always there baring their teeth and sneezing on everyone. What courage it takes to take back a house!

Love,
Betty

Criticism is leveled at Obama as though he did something wrong by receiving the peace prize. How absurd.

Absurd is the correct term. Republicans ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Thry started the mess this country is in and are mad that they can't keep it going.

I've read several comments in the news, voicing concern because the nomination deadline was in February, only a few weeks after Obama's election, but the prize is actually voted on and awarded the same day it is announced. No one knows how many nominations were on the list, but according to the foundation's website, "thousands" of invitations are sent out.

http://nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/process.html

Not only has President Obama inherited these two wars, he has actively worked for ways to end them, including his address in Cairo, and his opening the door for dialogue with leaders of countries like Iran and North Korea. He has changed the direction of American diplomacy toward the recognition of a world-wide community rather than a collection of states vying for prominence. He is changing the European perception of our country in a positive way.

If the Nobel Committee chose to honor our president, why would we question their choice? It seems to me that there are those who are trying to block his effectiveness, and are concerned that this recognition will help him achieve his goals.

Ann

Good post Ann.

Thank you Ann for voicing my thoughts. For many years it was uncomfortable flying internationally because people next to me from other countries would inevitably start asking why the people of our country put up with a president so damaging to us at home and abroad. Well, the people spoke. The international stage has also spoken. We have a person leading the country that makes me proud to be an American. Of course we must still have discourse that provides multiple sides to an issue; that keeps our administration sharp and humble. I do believe, however, sniping without facts just to damage his administration is not constructive and not a benefit to anyone.

I also wish he had kept the 1.4 million (in today's world, a relatively small sum) because the Nobel Peace Prize for all the political hoopla is an award to an individual, sometimes an organization. The money is to put monetary value on that award, something beyond a certificate of recognition. Unless there is some government regulation that says he cannot accept the money and must donate it elsewhere, I would like our President and his family to know their future is comfortable and he can continue leading from intelligence, conviction, and a solid cadre of experts worldwide and not have to worry about anything financial or the influences from those with financial clout. The fact that CEO's that brought our country down earned in the billions galls me when we have a president who has a modest income in comparison to the demands on his expertise and the ramifications of his decisions.

I heard an NPR report that I cannot quote exactly. As I remember, the nominations come in from all over the world and when finally winnowed down, left 201 choices for the Nobel Prize. The final choice was made by the five-person group that I believe consisted of four women and one man in Norway. They have been working on their decision for more than six months, plenty of time to have the input they needed for their final choice.

Okay - my opinion is full of bias. My grandparent came from Oslo.

Excellent posts, and Ann you saved me some searching. I wanted to know who the other nominees were, but your site said they would remain sealed for 50 years, so I'll never know.

Obama is a person like we are. It must be overwhelming when one has ideas of how he/she would like it to be, campaigns on those values and ideals, and then steps into the oval office and finds out information none of the rest of us have. He wanted what so many others want: to close Guantanomo, to end the wars we are involved in. People say, "Why hasn't he done so?" Well, maybe when he stepped into that office he found out why. We are not a kingdom but a democracy, a form of government where the wheels turn slowly.

We became a spending society, a society that wanted things instantly: food, houses, roads repaired, new cars. That society imploded on us. It could only work for so long. We can do better. We can be savers. We can find greater value in that which takes time to complete.

People here have good thoughts. We don't agree on everything, but we speak from where we are as people, as individuals who think for ourselves, from the experiences we have had whether those are from world travels, or poverty, or illness.

Love, Carol

Carol, that was very politically correct. Thanks. Sometimes we forget that our opinions are limited to our experiences; therefore, they are bound to differ from those who travel a different path.

I'm sorely disappointed in the deeds of our President. I read the award and it seems to have been given to a world leader who speaks of diplomacy instead of threats, insults and refusal to speak to our enemies. Quite a difference from the previous President. It just seems to me that speeches without actions would not be enough to win such an award.

I like a lot of the President's promises but I don't see the deeds, yet. I think he should have turned down the award. If he really believes what he says I would think he would seek talks with the Taliban to end that war. I remember Kissinger and the North Vietnam guy won the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating a peace treaty not for talking about it.

As Nixon said, "...peace with honor..." which lasted a few weeks until the North Vietnam Communists overran the whole of Vietnam and now we are all friends.

Phillip, you're full of it.

Dear Phillip,
So there you are sitting there feeling good about what you would do if you had the chance to be the President. How sorely disappointed are you and about what particular deeds. what would you have done to earn that award that you feel he does not deserve.

I remember Kissinger and all about Vietnam. What a sad, sad, sad time it was for the national honor. It takes a person who looks outside his own fame to bring peace to this world. A person who cannot worry about his/her place in history... Just do what needs done without fear.

Once in a while, someone stands up. They stand up to all the flack, the bullshit, the mean-ness, the prejudice of this world and face it head on.

It is at that time that other people stand up to all the flack, the bullshit, the mean-ness, the prejudice of this world and join in facing it head on, united.

In the absence of any outstanding candidates, the Nobel committee can opt to not give an award as in 1914,1915,1916, 1918. Since the whole world was at war, the awarding of a peace prize would have been absurd. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Switzerland, won in 1917.

No award was made in 1923, 1924, 1928. Why? I don't know.

!939-1943 saw no awards since the world was again at war. The International Committee of the Red Cross, Switzerland, won again in 1944.

No awards in 1948, 1955, 1956, 1966, 1967, 1972 but an award has been made every year since '72.

This year's award seems to be more in hope for peace in the near future. That seems to have been the case in 1917 and 1944.

I am glad President Obama got the award. He needs something other than opposition and flak.

He has been opposed at every turn.