it can’t be interpreted except as anything except a slap in the face of America

By the daft, perhaps.

Come on. They’re obviously taunting us for electing a President who’s no more American than they are. There’s no other conceivable explanation. Anyone who claims otherwise is either a moron or a liar. So what will it be? Take your time.

The right has been specializing in unwarranted celebration for a number of years. Permanent majority. Mission accomplished. We have Obama right where we want him.

it can’t be interpreted except as anything except a slap in the face of America

By the daft, perhaps. The award strikes me as a nod to the American electorate for repudiating discredited ideology, unwarranted arrogance and costly incompetence. The slap is aimed at un-American conduct such as torture, endless detention, immoral military action and reckless disregard for the interests of others.

ArthurKirkland: Why so much concern about a lousy Nobel Prize?It’s not an Olin-Bradley-Searle-Bradley-Olin Prize, let alone an OBSBO Distinguished Prize.Or an OBSBO Award.Or designation as an OBSBO Scholar . . . or Fellow . . . or the OBSBO internships . . .It’s just a lousy Nobel Prize, a paltry bauble tarnished by ideological considerations.Who cares?

Well, it’s not that the actual event is consequential – sure, it can’t be interpreted except as anything except a slap in the face of America – but it’s a slap by a gnat, and the gnat mostly hurt itself.

The reason it’s noteworthy it’s just so indefensible as a rational choice that partisans on both sides feel compelled to respond… the right because they smell blood, the left because… well, I can’t figure out a good reason why a liberal would be that stupid to defend it, but the evidence is they do.

It is also worth noting that for the Framers, “government” was an actronym: A polyseme whose original meaning was an activity that acquired the secondary meaning of “those engaged in the activity”, which for “government” would be “officials”. Another example of an actronym is “militia”, meaning “defense activity”, and secondarily those engaged in defense activity, or obligated to engage in defense activity if called up. There are many actronyms in 18th century usage whose original meanings as activities have been lost in modern usage.

Perhaps, respectfully, the awarding committee members should be asked their opinions.

But what about Martti Ahtisaari? Muhammad Yunus? Kofi Annan? Barack Obama? Wangari Maathai? You’re really telling me these guys aren’t furners from the Middle East? And isn’t Kim Dae-jung some kind of dictator?

As another commenter noted, it’s the Nobel Peace Bribe.

nevinscrna: OK, what I see is a lot of representation from the middle east, with a lot of arab/muslim sounding names. What the hell is the Nobel foundation thinking keeping throwing Peace Prizes at the most volatile region of the world?

Out of the 16 prizes you listed, only 3 went to people who are actually from the Middle East. Everyone knows who Yasser Arafat and Mohamed El-Baradei are (El-Baradei’s prize was jointly awarded to the UN agency he headed, so even this may not even count) so need to rehash those cases. The third one went to an Iranian woman who is a human rights lawyer and founder of Centre for the Defence of Human Rights. As a lawyer, she has taken up the cases of some of those dissidents who have been persecuted by the theocratic regime. In late 2008, her organization was raided and shut down by agents of the theocratic regime.

This was a profoundly uninformed comment on your part and I hope you take it back.

It’s not an Olin-Bradley-Searle-Bradley-Olin Prize, let alone an OBSBO Distinguished Prize. Or an OBSBO Award. Or designation as an OBSBO Scholar . . . or Fellow . . . or the OBSBO internships . . .

It’s just a lousy Nobel Prize, a paltry bauble tarnished by ideological considerations. Who cares?

Let us hope Obama doesn’t live up to the hopes of these arctic idiots!

lls: It’s amazing how becoming the President of the United States is a nothing achievement!

Making absurd, naive promises in bad faith in order to win the votes of half of the minority who votes may not be a “nothing achievement,” but it is hardly a laudable one.

Bernard-Henri Levy and Harvey Weinstein for their courageous defense of persecuted filmmaker Roman Polanski.

French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand for his dedicated work with underprivileged young men in Thailand.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his tireless work on behalf of a Final Solution to the Jewish Problem in the Middle East.

Leo Marvin: That has already happened. Le Duc Tho, a joint winner with Henry Kissinger in 1973, refused the Peace Prize on the grounds that there was no actual peace in Vietnam.
I thought that was Marlon Brando.

It was Marlon Brando playing Le Duc Tho. ACTING! BRILLIANT!

second history:
That has already happened. Le Duc Tho, a joint winner with Henry Kissinger in 1973, refused the Peace Prize on the grounds that there was no actual peace in Vietnam.

I thought that was Marlon Brando.

OK, what I see is a lot of representation from the middle east, with a lot of arab/muslim sounding names. What the hell is the Nobel foundation thinking keeping throwing Peace Prizes at the most volatile region of the world?

Muslims not killing people is remarkable. There ought to be a prize for it, and that one wasn’t being used for anything, so there you have it.

Nate: I need to stop reading these comment threads. At least half of you sound like you are forming militias in North Dakota somewhere.

We don’t have to “form” militias. We already all are militia, and so are you (unless you’re a public enemy).

But a lot us need more training and to do something about our fitness. :)

This might be a difficult concept for you to accept. I doubt you will. But try to imagine the people that (as geokstr so pithily puts it) were on “the other team” a few years ago. They thought that Bush was frogmarching us to fascism, destroying the rule of law left and right, probably had secret orders to take over the government etc. Seems kind of silly, right?

Now we have those who are on your team saying that Obama is hellbent on turning us into a socialist nation. While, perhaps, democrats = socialist in your playbook, I don’t think most people believe that having a President that isn’t a Republican is quite the same as a Marxist/Socialist. But yes, you seem kind of silly. For example, reforming the health care system, something which Obama promised to do and which is arguably part of his mandate, and bringing it to something close to what the other industrialized democracies have, is not armageddon. You might argue it is unwise, or poor policy, but the hyperbolic treatment just makes you look…. silly.

Krauthammer’s millenarianism continues to render humorously.

loki13: …Now that he’s won the Nobel Peace Price (presumably adding to America’s prestige, and helping us in foreign relations) we get, “He’s an empty suit that should never have won!” I didn’t like Bush, but I didn’t want him to fail…

To the extent that one views the prize as recognition for actual accomplishments in foreign affairs, this represents an obscene case of grade inflation. However, I do give the president credit for admitting: “I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments…”

loki13: oki13 sa

Certainly not to the people who think this prize greatly adds to the United States’ prestige, or who confuse the United States prestige with an individual’s.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee is selected by Norwegian parliament and is dominated by Norwegian politicians.

This is just an award to those most accord with their world view.

In other words, it is an award from exactly the kind of leftists who spent their entire lives hoping America would fail. Not just the past 8 years.

So now we find ourselves in a bizarro world where, according to the DNC, you are siding with Hamas if you’re not thrilled that the guy endorsed by Hamas during the campaign won a vanity prize.

And now apparently it’s hoping for “America to fail” if you’re not in lock step with a committee that is trying to strengthen Obama’s hand to implement the policies that ensure America fails.

The Nobel Peace Prize committee makes no bones about it. They are trying to strengthen Obama’s hand. It is pure manipulation. And I agree with them that Obama’s policies are more in accord with the rest of the World’s values.

Given that most of the rest of the world lives in tyrrany.

Look at the EU. Not quite a tyrrany. But they are doing their best to concentrate power in Brussels against the will of the people. They don’t want referendums, ignore them as in France or Holland, demand nations like Ireland have a do-over if they don’t like results, and then violate their own laws to influence the results. Soon Europe can live under a President the people can’t vote for.

Yes, Barack Obama is exactly the kind of man people who support that would also support.

Things have changed since Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson accepted the prize.

Thorbjørn Jagland (Chairman) – President of the Storting, former Labor Prime Minister, vice president of the Socialist Inrternational, named by the KGB as a ”confidential contact”.

Ågot Valle – Socialist Left member of Parliament.

I also notice you are having troubles with the Swedish-Norde thing and this is very often common to the commons…

Nobel he was Swedish, at the time of his death Norwegians and Swedes were of the union.

The Swedes did foreign affairs at the time and he thought them too corrupt so he gave it to the Norwegian led parliament at the time to decide.

I leave you with this quote from his will-

the Peace Prize should be awarded “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

Do not get the chill.

Sincerely,

Ludwina