I’m not upset with President Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, I bet when he first heard about it he probably said “What? What for?” followed by “Oh crap, I don’t need other people creating more problems for me.”
He deserves credit for his modest acceptance speech. He did not ask for the award or campaign for it. He correctley said that he was not worthy. Five Norwegian old farts felt that his campaign rhetoric was worthy of what used to be a true honor. Personally, I think the Nobel jumped the shark when Al Gore won for his farcical scientific rants. Here’s a list of some of the 204 other candidates that were passed over this year.
It should be noted that nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize were due by January 20. This was only twelve days after Barack Obama took office. So, what did he do to earn this prestige? The following list comes from Tommy De Seno at www.JustifiedRight.com:
Nominations for potential winners of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ended on February 1. The president took office only 12 days earlier on January 20. Let’s take a look at the president’s first 12 days in the White House according to his public schedule to see what he did to deserve a Nobel Peace Prize:
January 20: Sworn in as president. Went to a parade. Partied.
January 21: Asked bureaucrats to re-write guidelines for information requests. Held an “open house” party at the White House.
January 22: Signed Executive Orders: Executive Branch workers to take ethics pledge; re-affirmed Army Field Manual techniques for interrogations; expressed desire to close Gitmo (how’s that working out?)
January 23: Ordered the release of federal funding to pay for abortions in foreign countries. Lunch with Joe Biden; met with Tim Geithner.
January 24: Budget meeting with economic team.
January 25: Skipped church.
January 26: Gave speech about jobs and energy. Met with Hillary Clinton. Attended Geithner’s swearing in ceremony.
January 27: Met with Republicans. Spoke at a clock tower in Ohio.
January 28: Economic meetings in the morning, met with Defense secretary in the afternoon.
January 29: Signed Ledbetter Bill overturning Supreme Court decision on lawsuits over wages. Party in the State Room. Met with Biden.
January 30: Met economic advisers. Gave speech on Middle Class Working Families Task Force. Met with senior enlisted military officials.
January 31: Took the day off.
February 1: Skipped church. Threw a Super Bowl party.
Again, let me reiterate that I’m not upset with Obama for this craziness. This is truly a premature awarding of a prized based on the hope that he gets something done. I think it actually puts some pressure on the man, which isn’t a bad thing. But the committee dropped the ball big time. I consider it the same as giving someone their high school diploma for simply starting their senior year. After all, isn’t the Nobel committee telling is that it’s the message and intention that matters? That being said, I’ll be looking in the mail for notification of my first Grammy Award for the album I’m thinking about releasing.
