Friday, October 9, 2009

For *Doing* What?

The Nobel committee passed over Morgan Tsvangirai and the other 203 also-rans...

...but *this* almost qualifies as "You have got to be kidding me":
The Nobel Committee said he was awarded it for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".

The committee highlighted Mr Obama's efforts to strengthen international bodies and promote nuclear disarmament.
Then again, they also gave the award to J. Carter in 2002...

(yes, there were 205 nominations this year, a record, and as always most were politically motivated placements.)

10 comments:

Mr. Bill said...

Heck, I'm scratching my head over this one. Didn't Pres. Carter at least get Menachim Begin & Anwar Sadat to shake hands before he got his medal? I'm not entirely sure what Pres. Obama's done besides make a lot of pronouncements. I mean, North Korea's still the crazy kid down the street with a ball-peen hammer who likes to run around screaming & swinging the hammer over his head; Iran's still the religious freak across the street with Farsi-language pro-weapons stickers on his car in the driveway; and Afghanistan's still the bi-polar guy the next block over who invites the neighborhood kids over to play wargames from which they never return.

All the old problems are still there; it's not like he's really DONE anything deserving of so high an honor.

Will said...

-He betrayed NATO members by stopping promised missile defense in eastern Europe.

-He sided with totalitarian communists following the outer of the Honduran president.

Most importantly:

-He isn't George W. Bush.

Isn't that enough to get the Peace Prize?

Will said...

Damn. That should read "ouster of the Honduran president."

L.Douglas Garrett said...

@Mr. Bill

My understanding, in the Carter case, is that since he was ignored by the Nobel Committee at the time of the Camp David Accord... Begin and Sadat did co-share the Peace Prize for that... the Committee went back and looked at all his post-Presidential actions, especially the Carter Center, and then lumped together his role in the Clinton-era North Korea and Haiti negotiations, and *then* decided he had enough chops for the prize. Overt campaigning for the prize for years (done correctly) didn't hurt either.

@Will

I'd say that failure to meet condition #3 of yours would be a boat anchor tied to any ambition of ever getting the prize. The other two probably only entered into the judgement of the suitablity of his character.
((grin))

What I really think is that the fix was in. So here's the puzzler for you:

How can an administration so incompetent as to botch the support of an Olympics bid be sly enough to have stacked the deck with the Nobel Committee?

Because, if the same people are responsible for doing both, then you can't have it both ways. Cf. Bush-is-an-evil-genius-and-is-stupid arguments of previous years.

L.Douglas Garrett said...

followup:

Here's a telling indicator as to how well-set the fix was:

(hat tip to Fausta for pointing out Rick Moran's observation...) that the nominations for the Peace Prize closed on 1.February of the year.

Mr. Bill said...

It seems way too shallow that this is the Nobel Committee sticking it to the IOC.

L.Douglas Garrett said...

@Mr. Bill

Agreed. That isn't it.

The vote for the Nobel was at least month ago.

However, my implied point stands: that the people handling the Olympics bid effort (Obama's old Chicago crew) would not have been the ones "selling" the idea of Mr. Obama as a Nobel nominee. That would be have been run by other (and apparently vastly more competent) hands.

Mr. Bill said...

Still, I'm surprised the Nobel committee could be so overwhelmed by even expert politicking that they'd give the medal & prize to someone who's done nothing of real & lasting merit.

Hell, -I- have good intentions, too. I'll take a new coaster & $1.4m if that's all it takes.

Purr said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Purr said...

dang.. I had to delete my post for spelling reasons/

Here it comes again-- if I can get the damn cat off my typing fingers..

Alfred-- the designer for this-- created dynamite?
Nobel in this instance should be Noble-translation~grandiose!

Carter and et al had a few times at this Nobel Prize, whereas Obama, within two weeks of being nominated as President was being viewed by the Norweigans for receiving the award- who are leftists and socialists.

Gandhi could not get his because of some technicality- post something! )he died before he could get it!

The cold weather numbs and dumbs the brain!

(moved the cat's tail- I can now see the keys) I hope I got it right this time--