Obama “Surprised” and “Deeply Humbled” by Nobel Peace Prize

I have to admit that was Obama’s best attempt to actually sound humble.
If we hadn’t already heard a million times how “it’s not about me”.
Must have taken every bit of inner strength to not talk about his historic climb to the presidency. No need for TOTUS–he’s got that life story memorized and so do we.

“forcing young, healthy people to buy health insurance”
I am surprised a conservative would suggest that young people should not prepare themselves for eventualities dealing with medical care.
I guess if Obama said something about water being wet, the right would insist that was in fact dry.

“forcing young, healthy people to buy health insurance…”
Fascist Hyena | Oct 9, 2009 12:41:20 PM
Excellent. So when they show up in the ER with a broken leg, take up weeks in the ICU from a motorcycle spill, or need very expensive treatment for testicular cancer (a young, healthy man’s disease – just ask Lance Armstrong), society won’t have to pay for it.
The choices are:
1. Making everyone contribute to insurance.
2. Letting free loaders sop off those who so contribute via the ERs.
3. Letting foolish young adults literally die from treatable illness and injuries. (The public will still have to pay for the disposal of bodies simply as a matter of public health.)
Those are the ONLY three options. Which one do you prefer, 2 or 3? Do you have any base to your bumpersticker opinion?

“To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.”
Didn’t Al Gore win this? Barry I agree but don’t sell yourself short.

If young people do not get health insurance you will be the first to complain about the cost. The only way to reduce the health care expenses is to see that everyone has coverage. You know that but refuse to accept it. I want the public option as I have dealt with insurance companies and the only way to keep they under wraps is to have choice. They are a business making 400% in profits these last years and they don’t care about you or your health. Any company that drops people and gives a bonus should be condemned. That is what Obama is trying to get fixed so open your minds for a change and realize what is going on.

Nobel Peace Prize for 2009
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.
Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.
Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.
For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama’s appeal that “Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”
Oslo, October 9, 2009

Me thinks the European Liberals are getting worried about Obama’s poll numbers in American…Even Obama is “surprised” with this award………

Doesn’t the Bible say that the Humble will inherit the earth.
Congratulations Mr. President.
Leave those rightwinger in the fire of hell.
If America is so great, since when was it not a elitist country. It loves power, being number 1, being called on to solve problems. Well we now has a real man who is leading this great country.
To be negative of your leader is to be a true product of Satan, hmmm wasn’t be once called a nation of devil worshippers – is that the image we want to regain.
Not me I love my President and God Bless America.

At least Obama will have something to brag about and give speeches to the international community about when he is booted out of office in 2012. The part I really love about the award citation is that it is awarding him for his “efforts” as opposed to awarding him for achievements. Did you know that he was nominated for this after only being in office for 11 days as the deadline for nominations is Feb 1st?

His win of the Peace Prize simply continues the path that, over the past few years especially, gives rewards whether deserved or not.
In the high schools around my area, the “top 10 in the class” has been dropped for fear that it would make others feel “inadequate”.
Look no further than the sports and entertainment industries. Everyday we have forced down our throats these young, painfully rich, idiots from Hollywood who have never “done” anything in their lives of substance, yet are put up on pedestals and given awards anyway.
Education, hard work, and ACTION (not just words) are quickly becoming passe. Why? Because we now live in a world of gimme-gimme-gimme with nothing in return. Why bother getting a good education? What’s the reward? God forbid should you be singled out for achievement-someone may be offended and left to feel inadequate. It’s much easier to just stay home, eat your Cheetos, have many kids (better benefits), and get your Food Stamps, Medicaid, Welfare, tax credits, etc. from the government. There’s plenty of taxpayers to cover for you, right?

since this is not american idol..we don’t get a vote on who gets the peace prize..they do not have to meet your criteria or mine…this is a pointless conversation…

007 asks: “how many bogus tea party folks will take a plane to the ceremony to scream and disrupt[sic]”
The answer would be none. First, there are no bogus tea party folks, they were there, so they aren’t bogus or made up. Second, none of us could give a crap about the award, we are just pointing out the absurdity of it all.

Just what he needs, an award to feed his already HUGE ego and for what? he hasn’t accomplished anything and this was determined two weeks into his taking Office.

“Me thinks the European Liberals are getting worried about Obama’s poll numbers in American”
That would be strange since his poll numbers have been stable for the past month.

there are no bogus tea party folks
Posted by: Jason
LOL…… sad that you refuse to ‘fess up to the lobbying/corporate funding and sponsorship of these misguided dupes of the right

ryanc…Stable???? That’s like asking someone if they want the good news or the bad news first…LOL…For a million bucks, who wants to settle for stable??

MARTTI AHTISAARI
2008 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts…ever heard of this guy?????

Three decades of work vs. 9 months of promises…Yep, I can see the correlation………………….

When will “The One” be canonized or beatified? Will the Pope issue a special bull and allow Barry to become a saint immediately? Change the rules so we can worship him while he is still alive. It is not fair for us mortals to have to wait decades to worship “The One”. Will famous Mullahs please let us know if “The One” is the Hidden Iman, the Madhi? This guy is not human. He is some kind of diety. I want to light a candle for Barry now. Barry, peace-be-upon-you, please grant us our prayers.

We’ve now reached the point where RNC press releases sound remarkably like mainstream news commentary instead of political P.R.
“The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’ It is unfortunate that the president’s star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain – President Obama won’t be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action.”

The world has turned upside down. But, then, the Prize has gone to Arafat, an AIDS conspiracy loon, and other lovelies. What a shame the President’s self-regard is being rewarded. Truly a President for our times!

What? No prize for Physics as well? Obama has stated repeatedly his intention to “restore science to its rightful place” in America. Based on the Committee’s new standards of achievement in the field (good intentions vs. actual accomplishments) I would think Obama deserves the Physics prize as well, no? Talk about double standards!

As the world responded with a mixture of surprise and amazement to the announcement of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel insiders revealed that the President’s “beer summit” at the White House put him over the top.
“The committee was definitely split down the middle right up until the end,” said Agot Valle, a Norwegian politician and member of the five-person Nobel committee. “Some of them were still quite upset about that nasty business with the Somali pirates.”
But, according to Ms. Valle, “someone brought up the beer summit, and we all agreed that that was awesome.”
Ms. Valle said she hoped that Mr. Obama’s victory would be seen not only as a victory for him, but “as a tribute to the healing power of beer.”
Ms. Valle acknowledged that the President’s win was widely considered an upset, with most pundits having expected the prize to go to Mad Men or 30 Rock.

I didn’t know we had an ACORN Chapter in Oslo.

The prize should have gone to Bush for his guitar strumming during Katrina.

“I dunno if I would want to be in the company of the last 3 winners, Jimmy Carter, Algore and Yasser Arafat”
Yasser Arafat won in 1994.
Jimmy Carter won in 2002.
The right wing …stuck on stupid.

Apparently, they now give out a Nobel Peace Prize for good intentions. Unless I have missed something, President Obama has not yet achieved a nuclear free world — which was also, by the way, Ronald Reagan’s good intention. He has not yet achieved peace between Israel and the Palestinians — a prospect the Israel Foreign Minister recently dismissed as years away. He has not yet tamed the nuclear ambitions of Iran, which has responded to outreach with deception, defiance, bloody crackdowns and missile testing. He has not yet pacified Afghanistan — preferring, so far, to dither and fidget. He has not yet removed the nuclear threat of North Korea, the world’s wackiest, totalitarian nuclear power. He has not yet solved the problems of global warming, achieved a free Tibet, ended the slaughter in Congo, lifted the oppression of Burma or settled the conflict in Darfur.
At first I thought the announcement of the prize was a joke. On further reflection, the Nobel Committee has made itself a joke. It has decided to give a ribbon before the race, a trophy for aspiration, a gold star for admirable sentiments. Which means that the decision it made is entirely, purely, solely political. Members of the committee like Obama’s goals and rhetoric. And since they aren’t American citizens, this is the only way they could vote for him. In the process, they have forfeited any claim to seriousness. Peace — the kind of peace that keeps people from being killed and oppressed — is an achievement, not a sentiment. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee can no longer distinguish between the two.
Intending to honor Obama, the committee has actually embarrassed him. Europe’s slobbering embrace of Obama is really the worship of its own reflected image — both are critical of America and elevate diplomatic process and promises over outcomes. Americans prefer their honors to come with achievements.

Did Barack Obama earn this Nobel peace prize? Obviously not. The world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons (the main specific area of his “work” named in the citation) hasn’t decreased by one that I’m aware of since he took office. He hasn’t made a dent in the Middle East yet. Iran hasn’t suddenly seen the light.
And, yes, there is the irony that he is in fact a war president, even now consulting with his top military people and – if I had to guess – preparing to send more troops, not fewer, to Afghanistan.
It must be said that it hasn’t been a great year for peace any way you slice it – how many years are? Still, I’d have to say there were many better choices.
So you have to wonder whether the Nobel committee has its tongue part-way up its cheek here. Or that the prize needed some star power. Or that they just really hated George Bush and wanted to make a point. Or something. I see that the fellow in charge said that “it was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve”.

How to Win the Nobel Peace Prize In 12 Days:
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.
So there you have it. The short path to the Nobel Peace Prize: Party, go to meetings, skip church, release federal funding to pay for abortions in foreign countries, party some more.

I thought it was BS that can never be topped when Mr. Obama was eleted. But this Nobel Peace Prize to Mr. Obama is the most BS thing I have seen in US history.

I’m sure the families of all the Iraqi and Afghani civilians killed and wounded by Obama are THRILLED at Obama’s win. Hooray for Peace!

Asst Secretary PJ Crowley quote (Crowley is a spokesman for the State Dept.):
“Certainly from our standpoint this gives us a sense of momentum–when the United States has accolades thrown its way rather than shoes.”

“Boy oh boy. Listen to the right wing carp over this . . .”
Marc Lamont Hill will be surprised to discover that he’s a right winger.

I really think they should close this Nobel Peace Prize shop, stop its operation, investigate for questionable conduct. I hope some of the past winners will return the 1.4 millions that they had won. Who is the lobbyist who donates the money anyway?

It seems most of these guys are socialists in some form.
Norwegian Nobel Committee Members (as of October, 2009)
* Thorbjørn Jagland (chair, born 1950), member of Parliament, President of the Storting and former cabinet minister for the Labour Party. Member and chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2009.
* Kaci Kullmann Five (deputy chair, born 1951), former member of Parliament and cabinet minister for the Conservative Party. Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2003, deputy chair since 2009.
* Sissel Rønbeck (born 1950), deputy director, Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage (Riksantikvaren), former member of parliament and cabinet minister for the Labour Party. Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 1994.
* Inger-Marie Ytterhorn (born 1941), former member of Parliament for the Progress Party. Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2000.
* Ågot Valle (born 1945), member of parliament for the Socialist Left Party. Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2009.
The Labour Party is officially a social democratic party committed to social democratic ideals. During the last 20 years, the party has included more principles of market liberalism in its policy, allowing for privatization of government-held assets and services and reducing income tax progressivity, following the liberal wave of the 1980s.
The Labour Party profiles itself as a progressive party that subscribes to cooperation on a national as well as international level.
This may or could have been a protest or a truer form to the Nobel Peace Prize.
The International Gandhi Peace Prize, named after Mahatma Gandhi, is awarded annually by the Government of India.
As a tribute to the ideals espoused by Gandhi, the Government of India launched the International Gandhi Peace Prize in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This is an annual award given to individuals and institutions for their contributions towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods. The award carries Rs. 10 million in cash, convertible in any currency in the world, a plaque and a citation. It is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, creed or sex.

as one that follows these things… the appearance of it is unsettling even if the president qualifies I mean the movie “a Beautiful Mind” where the guy won the peace prize for Economics was more realistic

I’m sure the families of all the Iraqi and Afghani civilians killed and wounded by Obama
Posted by: Mary
- of course this post was made to have some fun with what used to be said about Bush by the ‘left’.
Blaming Obama in any way for Iraq lacks all credibility even in jest, and says more about the person trying to ‘be funny’ by drawing an inane analogy.
perhaps, the more salient point is the attempt to cover the terrible crimes and strategic blinders, foreign policy debacles and more.
there has been a concerted effort by conservatives, republicans and the right wing to ‘clean up’ what they consider to be a Bush legacy of achievement, while ignoring the current calamitous state of America the Bush administration left.
There are, for sure concrete results that can be seen from the last 8 years of republican policy.., and, they are, to be kind, not impressive from a domestic or foreign policy perspective, indeed, one may argue that the Bush administration has come as close as any enemy to destroying america.
While it is difficult to imagine any politicians in our government not beholden to ‘special interests, it is the republican representation that has done the most damage to american society to crush the middle class. The GOP has now staked it’s claim and policy, to nihilism and hatred of working america.
The healthcare reform policies and the vehement anti-Obama rage for the Nobel award only bring clarity to the paranoia, xenophobia, abject hate that now permeates the ‘right’.

A SMILE IS CERTAINLY IN ORDER, BUT KNOWING THAT PROBABLY THE COMMITTEE IS MADE UP OF WAY OUT LIBS ANYWAY – WHY THE HELL NOT?

I personally think we all are ignoring the sacrifice that President Obama will make in accepting the reward. It’s a really long trip, but I’m sure the President will do it selflessly.
Perhaps there should be a prize for accepting the prize, too.

The best part is trying to imagine Bill Clinton’s reaction. Think of it: Carter has one, Gore has one, and now Obama. This is not going down well in Chappaqua, you may rest assured.

it is a shame that someone who opposed removing a vicious dictator [Saddam Hussein] is considered a person of peace, an absolute joke from people with little heart and no brains.

There is absolutely nothing humble about Barack Obama.
Neda Soltan should have won the Peace Prize.
The Nobel Committee has reduced itself to a bad joke.

There is absolutely nothing humble about Barack Obama.
Posted by: drjohn
why don’t you explain how he’s not ‘humble’