U.S. President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Friday, becoming the 97th individual to receive the honor according to the Nobel Web site.
The announcement coincided with 98 percent of Americans suddenly deciding they cared about the Nobel Peace Prize.
OK, I don’t have any data to back up that second sentence, but from the looks of people’s postings on Facebook this morning the number can’t be that far off. The real question is why the new found interest in a prize that has been awarded since 1901?
I understand that some people may question Obama’s laureate status given that he has been in office for less than a year (and ballots were due barely two weeks after he took office). On the other side, there is the fact that Obama has been pushing for many of the efforts cited by the Nobel committee long before ascending to the presidency.
But none of that is really the issue today. What I’m curious about is the outrage.
If you’re angry about the award, take a second and think back to who was given the Peace Prize last year. In fact, take another minute since I need to look this up…OK. Ready for the answer? Martti Ahtisaari of Finland.
Here’s another test of your commitment to honoring the legacy and preserving the intergrity of the Nobel Peace Prize–name five laureates. Ever. If you’re reading this, there’s a solid chance you’re at least 25 years old. So that would be only a fifth of the winners in your lifetime, or you can select some of the slam-dunk names from before we were born to make things easier.
I’d be willing to bet you can nail five Oscar winners for Best Actor a lot faster, and would probably agree that their work is slightly less important on a global scale.
Give up? Here’s a list of every Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
It’s OK to think an event or idea is odd, and want to seek out more information. It’s OK to talk about it and have a civil discourse. But expressing outrage at something that has never ever meant the slightest thing to you just makes it look like you wake up every morning with a plan to find something to complain about, and then do it very loudly.
So congratulations, Mr. President. Now let’s all take a deep breath, take a step back, and move forward together to find solutions to some of those major problems affecting our world.
Ha You're awesome! Why didn't I know about this blog. I shall have to read it regularly…as long as I can figure out a way to get it sent to my BlackBerry, which shouldn't be too difficult. 🙂
I totally agree. Congrats Mr. President!
ok i promise i didn't look at your list. did Eli Wiesel win? I probably royally screwed up the spelling of his name… another guess would be Al Gore for his global warming awareness efforts? or is that not peaceful enough… maybe Jimmy Carter for working on the Israeli / Palestinian conflict? ok i give up. time to see how wrong I am.
heck yes i was good at this one. and i thought of Mother Teresa but figured she was too high profile. and MLK Jr, should have nailed that one. in which case, i would have had four. ah well.
Kyle–you probably didn't know about this since it hasn't been in existence that long…but welcome!
Laura–you may have Eli Manning on your mind, which is understandable. Not quite on Elie Wiesel's level though.
I know Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Yasser Arafat and El Baradei won—predictably—for their dubious benefits to world peace. I also know a pre WWII American Nazi sympathizer won (famously, in retrospect). I can't think of the name. But that would be five. Yay, Barack.
Anyway, I'm really fascinated by a current theory that this prize was a political football pressuring Obama against a surge in Afghanistan or a preemption against action regarding Iran. Think there was any such motive involved?
Interesting times.
There's also the "here's an award for being not-Bush" theory. I saw a funny editorial arguing that if that's the reason for the award, it should actually go to all of the Americans who voted for Obama.
Haha, I think I read the same or a similar article. Actually, it's kind of funny: One of the political blogs I read has a headline section, and every 5 or so headlines for a while was something along the lines of "______ Should Have Won the Prize 'Cuz ______!"
No one gave a damn until Obama won. Well played, Nobel Comittee, well played.