Whooboy have the ‘tubes been rocking this morning.
Just in case you haven’t heard, President Obama was award the Nobel Peace Prize today. And the reactions couldn’t be more polarized or (in most cases) predictable.
First, from the President via TPM:
Calling himself “surprised and deeply humbled,” Obama said he does not feel he deserves to be in the company of the “transformative” and inspiring people who have earned the prize.
He said the prize often is given “as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.”
“I will accept this award as a call to action,” Obama said, outlining his goals - a world without nuclear weapons, confronting the threat of climate change and respectful of its peoples’ diverse religions and practices.
“These challenges can’t be met by any one leader or any one nation,” he said.
He called for “unwavering commitment to the rights of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in security in nations of their own.”
“This award is not simply about the efforts of my administration,” he said, it’s shared with everyone who fights for “justice and dignity.”
And from the right, a sensible and objective view from Rush:
“This fully exposes the illusion that is Barack Obama,” Limbaugh told POLITICO in an e-mail. “And with this ‘award’ the elites of the world are urging Obama, THE MAN OF PEACE, to not do the surge in Afghanistan, not take action against Iran and its nuclear program and to basically continue his intentions to emasculate the United States.”
Limbaugh continued: “They love a weakened, neutered U.S and this is their way of promoting that concept. I think God has a great sense of humor, too.”
In all fairness, it is absolutely valid to ask why President Obama would be given this award, particularly since he had been inaugurated only 2 days before the deadline for nominations. Are we to assume that the Nobel commission is simple a set of Obama fanbois? Socialists? Groupies? Or is there something larger here?
Perhaps the Nobel community has seen fit to actually award the American people themselves, for their decision to overthrow the awful policies of the past 8 years and choose a new path. Make no mistake, hiring a black liberal (well, not even that liberal, but at least a moderate) for the top job was no easy feat. But since it’s difficult to award 300 million people, they have chosen to do exactly what Obama has said: provide momentum to a movement.
We are on the verge of changing how we take care of ourselves with healthcare. Rather than deciding in a skinny minute to invade and rape a sovereign nation, Obama has clearly taken an extraordinarily patient, diligent and objective path to decide how to deal with the growing problems of Afghanistan. The financial system is far, FAR from being repaired, but it is on the way to being stable. Note that since we caused the current financial crisis (fair enough, other country’s firms didn’t have to purchase our mortgage backed securities or insure with swaps, but we created them and they probably thought we knew what we were doing) as well as the Iraq debacle, it’s probably seen as a good thing that we are starting to endeavor to clean up our mess.
If nothing else, the Nobel Peace Price highlights, with laser like focus and extreme acuity, the fact that we ARE different than we were in the last 8 years. Getting past “Change we can believe in” and all the rhetoric, we can say, unequivocally, that our direction has begun to change. That is equal parts extraordinary and vital.
I, for one, am grateful to the Nobel community for acknowledging our efforts towards being a global leader in peace and prosperity once again, rather than the neo-Imperialist asshats we’ve been for the last 8 years… and risk becoming again if we don’t stay on top of things.
Bravo, I say, to their efforts to assist with ours.
