Huh.

[apocalypsos]

I was a bit "... bwuh?" about Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize -- and I like the guy, but ... yeah -- but reading this in one of the comments on ontd_p made me get it a little more.

From "Common Misconceptions About The Nobel Peace Prize":

Myth: The prize is awarded to recognize efforts for peace, human rights and democracy only after they have proven successful.

More often, the prize is awarded to encourage those who receive it to see the effort through, sometimes at critical moments.

So basically they're going for a really expensive back pat. I can get behind that.

That said, the first thing that rolled into my head was this:

OIC: "We'll pass on Chicago."
Republicans: "Ha, ha! The world hates Obama now!"
World: *rolls eyes, gives Obama the Nobel Peace Prize instead* "Yeah, we like HIM, we just don't like you hateful fuckers."

*

I'm not sure if I'll have Friday thoughts for SPN, since most of my reaction to last night's episode was flaily glee and OH BOYS and I maybe had a heart attack of awesomeness from that "Soon" preview.

I have yet to watch Flash Forward or NMTB. That will definitely be accomplished sometime today if I can help it, but right now I need to shower and go get my damn paycheck so I can, you know, eat.

Comments

[breakthecitysky.livejournal.com]

thank you for posting this. i like him, but i was kind of baffled about this, in a lot of ways. most helpful.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd already seen a couple of other people question it in their journals, not to mentioning wondering about it myself, but that comment on ontd_p makes sense.

[scary-being-me.livejournal.com]

It makes much more sense now.

Don't get me wrong, I think Obama is THE MAN; but I was thinking the prize might have been premature.

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

Hmm.

The nominations close 1 February... and he was sworn in on 20 January.

So they really did nominate him exactly for being not-Bush.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Yeah, probably. Although to be fair, it's not like he showed up on January 20 after never having been heard of before that. He generated a hell of a lot of international good will during his campaign and in the four months after he got elected, the first international good will we've had in eight years. And if it's meant to be a back pat and a "You can do it!" from the international community, he deserves it on that count.

As a comparison, Bush was nominated for one in 2002 and didn't get it. So basically, he'd already squandered a great deal of the world's sympathy over 9/11 in four lousy months.

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I mean, I'm still pretty stoked about it; I definitely voted for Obama and donated to the campaign and all that, and I have great hopes for the rest of his term in office to be stellar. It just still feels a hair like jumping the gun.

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

I don't even think the Olympics thing was about hating America so much as wanting to diversify - Rio made a good bid and they're going to be the first South American host, so the IOC got everything it wanted.

[agent-mimi.livejournal.com]

I am so tired of people always complaining every time a Peace Prize is announced that the person hasn't done enough to deserve it. And every time, newspapers run the same articles about how the Prize is truly given out. Thank you for posting it, though, most people on my flist and on forums haven't even seen the article.

Not sure why they even bother with the articles to clarify why people win the awards. No one ever remembers. The next time someone American wins the Prize, just wait, everyone in the U.S. will be complaining again.