more on the nobel peace prize
As I wrote previously, my initial reaction to the news that Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was not only positive, it was profoundly visceral. I checked my email, saw an alert from The New York Times and got literal goosebumps. I was thrilled. And I know there were lots of people out there who felt the same way I did.
But well before lunchtime I was fully aware that there were also lots of people out there who didn’t share my visceral elation. And I’m not just talking about dittoheads mindlessly spouting talking points about Yasser Arafat. I’m talking about people who support Obama. People who voted for him and are just as proud as I am to call him our President, in spite of any and all imperfections in his accomplishments (or lack thereof) since he took office.
My Twitter/Tumblr friend nonlinearmind described it perfectly in his post titled Hey Nobel Committee, you got it wrong.
I volunteered for his campaign, I believed in his message of hope and change, I voted for him, swelled with pride when he was elected, and felt proud when I recently saw him deliver a speech in person. But Nobel committee, you’ve been blinded by his aura, the very cult of personality conservatives love to mock. You’ve reaffirmed your liberal leanings in the eyes of the right and dealt a blow to your own credibility by awarding Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. What, you couldn’t wait for year two to see if he is an actual agent of change or just talks of it?
That speaks to me. Especially the part about giving fuel to conservative critics. As if they needed any more. Another Twitter/Tumblr friend, coyotesqrl, wholeheartedly agreed with nonlinearmind, and added that he was embarrassed. (Another great post was written by insooutso, which I won’t quote here but is well worth reading, as it includes an anecdote about the time he met Elie Wiesel, his personal hero. Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He also wrote this:
“The true power of the prophet derives from his moral conviction. And from his courage and persistence in expressing it. He does not represent any political group, nor is he the representative of any social class. Typically, he is alone.”
I hope Obama has the courage to be alone.
It’s worth noting that when I emailed nonlinearmind to ask his permission to quote him in this post, he agreed but also told me that he’d since tempered his opinion.
Yes, feel free to post my view on it. Although, I must admit, I heard some justification for him winning and it sort of dampened my opposition of him winning it, but not my opposition of the Nobel committee awarding it. I think he is more deserving of it than I’d originally felt, but that, nonetheless, the Nobel committee was unwise to give it to him, given the work of others who have spent more time and personal effort directed SOLELY at peace and not, necessarily, to win an election or as part of a political party’s overall international strategy (who’s to say Hillary’s international efforts would have been any different?).
What I find interesting about it is that by the end of the day we had both moderated our initially extreme reactions and were more or less in agreement. He didn’t think it was as bad as he’d originally thought, and I didn’t think it was so good as I’d originally thought. We met in the middle. I haven’t taken a scientific sample or anything, but I feel like this is probably a good microcosm of what’s going on across the spectrum of Obama supporters.
Last year I was so emotionally invested in Obama’s potential presidency that I spent a few hundred dollars voting from overseas even though I was unemployed. The night of the election I bawled like a baby. In relief, because up until the moment McCain walked on stage to give his concession speech, I was afraid that something could go wrong, just as it had in 2000 and 2004.
I don’t know. What’s done is done and I’m not going to wish it hadn’t happened. On an intellectual level, I’m curious to see how history will tell this story. On a visceral level, I still love and trust that man with every ounce of my soul.
This week Obama was in Stockholm to accept his award. In his speech he boasted about having prohibited torture and closed Guantanamo, when he has done neither. He spoke of “just war”, when such thing a thing simply does not exist. Honestly, I just don’t get it. I don’t want to be critical. I don’t want to be cynical. I still believe in hope. But, Mr. President? With all due respect? I need you to show me. And I need you to hurry up.
Posted on December 11th, 2009 under Grenada • Tags: coyotesqrl, insooutso, my nascent cynicism, nobel peace prize, nonlinearmind, obama, other blogs, politics, tumblr, twitter. • 
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December 12th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Hello! Second comment from me in one day, after only visiting sporadically.
Don’t bite my head off for asking this, but where are you getting this “no such thing as just war” thing? I’ve heard it before, is it some kind of meme? I mean, I understand the impulse to be firm when condemning war, but Just War Theory has been around for centuries, and its purpose is clearly to LIMIT the use of war rather than JUSTIFY it. Sure, lots of people have cynically distorted it for their own purposes (*cough* George Bush, but also Urban II) but that only means we need to pay MORE attention to it.
I’m mostly with you on Obama, though.
December 12th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I was one of the people who’s initial reaction was “Did I miss something?” because I couldn’t see where the proof of the pudding was. Unfortunately, I still can’t find justification for Obama having received the Nobel Peace Prize and I think overall, it will do more damage than good – to Nobel’s image and to that of Obama and the US.
I was very happy that Obama won the election, but I was never one who thought it would be any miracle ‘cure’ for America’s ills (as seen by the rest of the world, or internally) so I feel I had a fairly level-headed view of the momentous event, ie I’m, I think, a realist, non-American supporter.
Just war, well in theory I guess for some people war can be just, maybe against a despot who is beyond a shadow of a doubt, living high at the expense of his people? But I can’t think of one country or government who I could clearly say has a moral right to take such an action. Not the USA, even under Obama. Not the UK under any of their leaders. Not Israel. Not Iran…
I am just hoping that Obama’s speech about a call to action, I assume peaceful action, is what comes.
December 12th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
The deadline for Nobel considerations/nominees was February 1, 2009. That said, I find little argument that would support him as worthy of this esteemed honor. That is, beneath the surface of his skin. The prize should not be awarded based upon good intentions, rabble rousing speeches and “hope for change”. It should be based upon accomplishment. It’s a shame, for him, the United States and the world, that perhaps the committee should have thought deeper. He may, hopefully will, be worthy of this distinction at a future date. But this year? No, not in my opinion.