THE LAST DITCH

Obama's Nobel Farce – The Daily Beast.

The right-wing blogosphere is understandably angry about the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama. Surely that prize, its credibility already much stained, can now never be taken seriously again? How could he possibly have earned it, given that he was nominated when he had only been President for two weeks?

I have linked to the Daily Beast's article on the subject because it is written by a supporter. It cannot reasonably be dismissed as right wing foaming at the mouth. Frankly, I think this paragraph says it all;

I like Barack Obama as much as the next liberal, but this is a farce.
He’s done nothing to deserve the prize. Sure, he’s given some lovely
speeches and launched some initiatives—on Iran, Israeli-Palestinian
peace, climate change and nuclear disarmament—that might, if he’s
really lucky and really good, make the world a more safe, more just,
more peaceful world. But there’s absolutely no way to know if he’ll
succeed, and by giving him the Nobel Prize as a kind of “atta boy,” the
Nobel Committee is actually just highlighting the gap that
conservatives have long highlighted: between Obamamania as global hype
and Obama’s actual accomplishments.

Much though I hate the word "racist" (and all those who regularly use it to debate-dampening effect) I can't help but observe that it applies here. President Obama has, in effect, won the Nobel Peace Prize for "being elected while black." There is no other explanation. 1964's laureate – who famously dreamed of men being judged by the content of their character not the colour of their skin – must be spinning in his grave. He wanted to eliminate discrimination, not reverse it.

7 responses to “Being elected while black”

  1. Kevyn Bodman Avatar
    Kevyn Bodman

    A colleague of mine is a black New Yorker, and not on the right.
    He was saying last year, during the primaries, that Obama was benefitting from the race-based votes of ‘liberals’,and some conservatives, who were reassuring themselves that they were not racist because,after all,they were voting for a black man.
    My colleague was right.
    It is sad that this is the case.
    The award of the Peace Prize to President Obama is ridiculous.

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  2. JMB Avatar

    Well I’m afraid the jury for that particular prize (although I am sure it changes constantly) lost all credibility for me when Al Gore won it. So despite my initial shock on reading the news this morning, is it any more of a shock than that one was? Perhaps.
    Now the suspense for literature is over too. I was told earlier this week by a professor of German, who nominated another German writer this year, that it would be Alice Munroe. So he must be a tad surprised this morning.

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  3. jameshigham Avatar

    Good stuff. I notice even your left wing commenters here agree it was a farce.

    Like

  4. Young Mr. Brown Avatar

    its credibility already much stained
    Well, I thought that its credibility was pretty much dead already, and when I heard this one, it was difficult not to burst out laughing.
    On a serious note, the big question is “Who should have got it?”

    Like

  5. Dick Puddlecote Avatar

    Hey, Tom! You don’t understand. There’s a deeper meaning to it that the Nobel committee didn’t tell us.
    True Obama believers understand it fully. And it’s not contrived to fit with their views and delude themselves that it’s a shit decision or anything, either.
    Seriously, go read and you will be enlightened

    Like

  6. David Davis Avatar

    I believe that the Man Himself was somewhat surprised too.

    Like

  7. Moggsy Avatar

    Don’t be dumb.
    He pretty much got it for not being Bush with a side order of being articulate. Nothing to do with race

    Like

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Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.

Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.

He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that

“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

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