Earning the Nobel Prize
Has Obama Earned the Nobel Peace Prize? Of course not. The Noble committee did what the American voters did and voted their hopes. This prize is a symbol of both hope and confidence, a recognition that the world changed last November, and it changed for the better. This award is as much to the American People as to Obama as an individual. Our hopes and the world's hopes match as we celebrate--not the accomplished fact of peace but a tone that makes peace at least possible.
The tone has changed and while no one is promising "peace in our time," Lebanon voted for hope, Iran voted for change, North Korean rhetoric has been toned down. Parts of the Muslim world seem to be willing to listen and even the French seem not to hate us. The gesture of not deploying a useless missile system on Russia's borders, has gained some Russian cooperation on Iran. There is less shouting in the world--except for the world of American cable TV.
We did not elect a pacifist, but we did show the world that while there's a New Sherriff in Town, he is not inclined to shoot first and ask questions later. He has the kind of character that wants to build, not burn, bridges of understanding, hear other points of view and, in the words that many chanted a couple of decades ago, "Give Peace a Chance." This gesture is an incentive that offers all of us the opportunity of helping Obama fulfill our best hopes and truly deserve the Peace Prize.
©2009 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.com
No, Definitely No. Obama Did Not Earn The Nobel Price.
Whatever reason the committee of that prize had, to bestow one of the most prestigious (it was prestigious, right?) award in the world on Obama, is like giving a college diploma to my 9 year-old grandson hoping that he will do something good when he grows up.
I agree that Obama should not have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize even though he is our President. He mentioned himself he should not have been awarded the prize.