Americans At War over the Peace Prize: Go Figure
If the [Nobel] award just represented the political views of a handful of left-leaning, self-satisfied Norwegian Eurocrats, as some critics have charged, then it wouldn't matter whether Obama had won it or not. But of course it means much more. The Nobel Peace Prize, irrespective of the idiosyncratic process that selects its winner, is universally recognized as a stamp of the world's approval. For an American president to reject such a token of approval would be absurdly counterproductive.
Obama has shifted U.S. foreign policy away from George W. Bush's cowboy ethos toward a multilateral approach. He envisions, and has begun to implement, a different kind of U.S. leadership that I believe is more likely to succeed in an interconnected, multipolar world. That this shift is being noticed and recognized is to Obama's credit -- and to our country's. Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, October 13, 2009
I am one of those people who, along with the recipient himself, was astonished at the choice of Barack Obama for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, I initially thought it was a dubious choice--coming even before our president had had a chance to prove himself.
I watched some of the comments that day, and I followed some of the blogs, and I saw where this, predictably, was going. Too soon, too political, too celebrity-driven. I was prepared for that. I wasn't prepared for the numbers of liberals and progressives who saw it as nothing short of absolute insanity. Naomi Klein called the award "very disappointing and cheapening of the Nobel Prize". She called the committee "delusional".
Michael Moore said, "You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don't, you'll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo." ( Later, he retracted a little, saying, "I went back and re-read what I had written. And I listened for far too long yesterday to the right wing hate machine who did what they could to crap all over Barack's big day. Did I -- and others on the left -- do the same?")
There are those who bring up Mohandas Gandhi and the fact that, even though he was nominated five times, including a posthumous nomination in 1948, he was never awarded the Prize he so richly deserved. They bring him up more than 60 years later as an example of why we can't trust the Nobel Peace Prize committee to do the right thing.
There are those who bring up civil rights leader Martin Luther King and say he was only awarded the Peace Prize because the committee felt bad about never having given it to Gandhi.
(There are those on the other side who still haven't forgiven the committee for snubbing Ronald Reagan. The Obama pick is like rubbing sea-salt in the wounds.)
I'm trying to look at the bigger picture: Our president received a prestigious award for which he did no campaigning, no bribing, no begging. The fact is, he received it, I'm proud that he received it, and now we all, including Obama, should make the most of it.
Instead we're engaged in a debate over whether or not he deserves it, and what the possible motives of the Peace Prize committee might be. It doesn't matter. He received it. It's an honor. It doesn't tear down the Nobel establishment. It doesn't make us look bad. It can only add to the credibility and prestige we've been trying to rebuild across the globe. But it will only do that if the world is allowed to see us as a nation more proud than outraged over the honor given our president.
But, as usual, we come across like the foolish children the world has known us to be for all too many years. I expect the Republicans and the Right Wing to tear this action to pieces. This huge honor going to our new black Democratic president mere months into his presidency? Right up their alley. More ammunition to store in their already overflowing arsenals. (Click here for the 8 Most Outrageous Attacks on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.)
But the liberals? The progressives? The so-called people for peace? They see it as nothing more than a frivolous attempt at repudiation against George W. Bush. (Robert Reich said, "The Prize is really more of a Booby Prize for Obama's predecessor. Had the world not suffered eight years of George W. Bush, Obama would not be receiving the Prize. He's prizeworthy and praiseworthy only by comparison." While there may be a kernel of truth there, and while I might even see it as a good thing, I don't know this for sure and neither does he.)
They see it as a wrong-headed attempt by the Norwegian Peace Prize committee to push Obama toward more aggressive global peace-making efforts.
At the very least, they see it as yet another swelling of what some view as the already humungous Obama ego.
They don't see it for what it is: Our chance to make an impact on the world; a chance to show them we're not who they thought we were. Our chance to hold our heads high and be proud of what we've done in choosing Barack Hussein Obama as the President of the United States.
We've been looking for a way to salvage our history, our heritage, our worldview and, maybe especially, our dignity. We may just have found it in the Nobel Peace Prize. So can we please let's work at keeping the shine on that medal?
Because, really now--wallowing in the dirt is so. . .yesterday.
Ramona
(Cross-posted at Ramona's Voices here)
I can't say I care either way about his being awarded the Prize. But I haven't liked that it's become another huge distraction getting in the way of ongoing governance and legislative issues. And I do fear that because Washington is more about politics than governance, it's possible that receiving the award may cause Obama to veer in a different direction than he may have B.N. (before Nobel); I hope the direction is more toward peace.
October 13, 2009 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Wendy, if it wasn't this "distraction" it would be another. I don't see it as a distraction, I see it as an opportunity. Until I see evidence otherwise, I'm going to go on viewing it as a good thing.
October 13, 2009 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's fine, Ramona. I'm agnostic, unless it serves to act as a touchstone comparison for every single decision he makes. What a drag that will be, eh?
As a distraction, we're on day 5 or something. I'm listening to the cable shows right now on the computer, pro, con, pro, con...There's so much else to talk about now!!! That's my main thing.
October 13, 2009 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
When I first heard Obama had been awarded the NPP, I went, "Hmmm." And thought, those wacky Norwegians! WTF are they doin'? Then I thought, well, it's theirs to give away, not ours, and our opinion on the matter means squat.
But, by the end of that day after it was discussed adnauseam, the NPP seemed, to me at least, to be diminished in a way. The honor of it was overwhelmed by a downpour of b.s. For me, it had become a distraction.
There are so many other important things that need to be addressed. I have to say, I was surprised that so much attention was focused on this award. Surprised.....and kinda disappointed.
I do like your take on it though, Ramona. An outward looking in view. It does make us look kinda cool, doesn't it?....that our Prez gots himself a Nobel Peace Prize? hahahaha.
October 13, 2009 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Flowerchild, I almost didn't write about this because there was so much already written about it. But it's been many days now and it's still going on. The nastiness over a Peace Prize is almost more surprising than the initial announcement. As I said, I expected it from the Right. I really didn't from the Left.
October 13, 2009 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I still get a kick out Michael Moore. One of my heroes.
The madder that the fascists get mad a Michael, the more I like him, of course.
But when pretend moderates like Joe Scarborough dismiss him as a wacko, THE MORE MR. MOORE IS IDOLIZED BY ME. He pisses them off. hahaha
I disagree on the Afghan situation; that is with Moore. But it does look silly to see a headline that says:
Nobel Prize Winner Deploys Forty Thousand New Troops.
Irony.
My President makes me prouder of my country every day. I tell you and others all the time. I have waited for a leader like this all my life. Do I agree with all his decisions. Of course not.
JFK without the trouser issues. hahahaha
Oh and nice post Ramona as always.
October 13, 2009 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
I want him to take on Big Business and the money interests and shoot them down forever.
I want him, in short, to be a president of the people, because right now everybody but the very rich are bleeding dry.
I want him to be proud of himself, sure of himself, because only then will he have the courage to do the things that must be done, regardless of the pressures put on him by the rich and powerful.
That's why I'm thinking a Nobel Peace Prize can't hurt.
October 13, 2009 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
DD, I don't know what happened in the transmission of my comment to you, but it was cut off. I'll try again:
Your comment about having waited for a leader like this all your life really hit home. Me too!
And maybe that's why I'm so impatient with Obama if he isn't doing the things I want him to do.
I want him to end the wars.
I want him to endorse a Medicare-like health care program and really mean it.
I want him to build a WPA-like work program and put our unemployed back to work.
I want him to take on Big Business and the money interests and shoot them down forever.
I want him, in short, to be a president of the people, because right now everybody but the very rich are being bled dry.
I want him to be proud of himself, sure of himself, because only then will he have the courage to do the things that must be done, regardless of the pressures put on him by the rich and powerful.
That's why I'm thinking a Nobel Peace Prize can't hurt.
October 13, 2009 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well mine came out rather ungrammatical so do not worry. Still some people are having trouble commenting. One of my best friends cannot comment on my blog.
I said it many times before, but we all had a chance to see the entire financial structure torn down and some reasonable substitute installed.
But you and I have seen waves of change before. I do not believe in this first nine month bologna. There is a long way to go here. And things have looked rosier over the last nine months than the eight years prior to that. ha
October 13, 2009 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
We've been looking for a way to salvage our history, our heritage, our worldview and, maybe especially, our dignity.
The NPP was a golden opportunity to salvage this, but as with most of what we have these days, we missed it. It is most assuredly not true that the likes of the Right wing pundits have any desire for this kind of recovery.
What we need more then anything, however, is a MSM faithful to the actual voices of America, rather then being provided this picture of two sides to every story given equal time when the representation of those sides is proportionally greater to one side then another among the people. The bitterness and resentment perpetually broadcast as half the news brings us down. The Right wing pundits bring us down, but they do NOT provide a genuine reflection of the American people, and therefore, we have lost our ability to have a reasonable debate, and to aspire as a country from better things because of the millstone around our necks that is the noisemakers of the MSM.
October 13, 2009 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are exactly right here, Gregor. I'm so disgusted with the MSM, and you have articulated the reasons why. They do NOT come even close to giving the "actual voices of America" an opportunity to make their case. They want sparks to fly in order to keep an audience, and to hell with actual facts and actual numbers.
I don't know how to change this, but until it does change, we'll never have a clear picture of where we're going as a country.
October 13, 2009 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
At first it felt disingenuous when people are losing their homes, hungry children are living in poverty on the streets, people are dying with no healthcare, corporations are laughing all the way to their banks, states are going under, two wars are being waged... But that's us.
One thing I like about Norwegians is that they seem to hold the longer view. From our squelched and depressed perspective here the prize looks different.
I'm also proud of Obama within the longer vision but at the moment I'm still waiting for him to end the wars and close Guantanamo, abolish don't ask don't tell, give us single payer health care, re-criminalize domestic spying on citizens and take control of the banks and corporations.
One excellent thing about Americans is that we can still dream big and hold reality based thinking at the same time. We did elect him, and we still expect him to deliver. That being said, the Nobel Peace Prize is an honor for us all. Now back to work. I appreciate your perspective Ramona.
October 13, 2009 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, Strato. We do expect him to deliver, because delivering us from the past governmental transgressions is so essential. I agree with the list of things you're waiting for him to do. But as I said in my comment to DickDay, this may now give him to courage to take the reins and DO what he promised.
October 13, 2009 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I say, that in my life, having high expectations for others is usually rewarding.
I guess there are a lot of folks with low ones, Ramona. Or maybe just afraid to feel good.
I dunno. Rec'd this blog.
October 13, 2009 8:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bwak, I really did have high expectations for Obama. And even though he hasn't yet lived up to it all, I keep reminding myself that he is miles higher than Bush. That keeps me going.
October 13, 2009 9:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
=D
Perhaps some of us are victims of low expectations.
Maybe.
October 13, 2009 9:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good blog, Ramona. Good comments. Peace to all.
October 13, 2009 9:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks, TheraP. Haven't seen you much, so it's nice to know that you're still around.
October 13, 2009 10:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
You heard it. If you think someone doesn't deserve an award, pretend you think he does deserve the award.
October 13, 2009 9:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
When Americans and Obama stop supporting detention, torture and surveillance, come back and talk to me.
I'd give the Nobel Prize to all the foreigners who resisted our powerful incessant rush to war and quick judgment on the rest of the world over the last decade. Once again we're trumping up charges against Iran to push them into a corner and let our PR/Foreign Policy bluff work its wonder. And at the same moment this nonsense is rewarded a Nobel Prize? Highly insulting to people who spend their lives working towards peace. 6 billion people on the planet, Oslo could have done much, much better.
October 14, 2009 3:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Desidero, I understand your frustration, and much of what you say is true--at the moment. I still have hopes that it's the gears moving slowly and that Obama will be true to his word.
I believe he's a man of integrity and that his worldview is similar to ours. I also believe he'll take this prize seriously and make us proud.
I may be totally wrong about this, but it looks to me like we're trying to work with Iran. At least trying. I don't see the bully tactics that were the modus operandi of the last administration. I see tough but fair.
Obama has a huge job ahead of him, trying to repair the damage caused by BushCo. He needs support from us more than he needs constant attacks, but that doesn't mean we follow in lockstep behind everything that comes out of the White House. We have to keep pushing.
October 14, 2009 7:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
I would like to remind people that the UN Security Council had just passed UN 1887 on September 24, at an historic meeting that convened the actual heads of state of the Council members, and was presided over by President Obama himself, who introduced the resolution calling for a strengthened NPT, a Nuclear Security Summit in 2010, stiffened export and financial controls, and a variety of steps to do more to prevent the transfer of nuclear weapons to terrorists, including threats to take action take action against proliferators that provide nuclear weapons or related material to terrorists.
The next day he followed this up with a statement with Brown and Sarkozy at the G-20 that explicitly placed the Iran issue in the general framework of non-proliferation, and is helping to build a unified global approach to these interconnected issues. Of course, the nuclear non-proliferation context was almost completely ignored by the Iran-obsessed US press, with their typical general contempt for the UN and international organizations, and their general reluctance to look too closely at the issue of nuclear weapons. But in other parts of the world in which there is stronger and more enduring support for nuclear non-proliferation, people are paying attention.
Apparently there are still some places in the world where it is still a big deal if the leader of the Free World, and of the country with the most nuclear weapons, decides to lead the charge on realizing the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. It looks like the Nobel Committee might be one place where they still think this is a big deal, which is not surprising since the Scandinavian countries have traditionally been among the world’s leaders on non-proliferation and disarmament issues. How do we know the committee thinks this is a big deal? Well we can start with the fact that in the first paragraph of the Committee's press release they said, "The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons"!
The award of the prize to Obama was quickly lauded by Ploughshares, Global Zero and other organizations on the front lines of the nuclear nonproliferation battle. For some reason, this major dimension of context for the award of the prize was systematically ignored in the post-award discussion - predictably, on the right, but bizarrely, also on the left - despite the fact that the Nobel Committee had attempted to attach special importance to it.
The right wing absolutely hate this nonproliferation stuff of course, just as they have always hated freezeniks, internationalists and international treaties in general. The right doesn't think too highly of Europeans either.
But the communications strategy the right followed when bombarding left-leaning web sites last week was not to advertise their hatred of non-proliferation, but to hide behind their "Obama hasn't done anything" line, which is the opposite of the truth on the non-proliferation front, but which could be expected to gain some traction among progressives who only pay attention to Israel and US Middle East wars, and neglect almost every other part of international relations.
October 14, 2009 8:15 AM | Reply | Permalink