I just heard the amazing news that our newly minted President Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize for Peace. My first reaction... is this a joke? What tangible accomplishments can the Nobel Committee point to at this early stage of his presidency? If I commented to Cristian in his previous posting that it's too early for the kind of recriminating rhetoric he expressed, the same holds true in reverse. It's too early for prizes! Nobel prizes are notorious for being politically tainted toward the left, especially those awarded for peace and for literature (*), but I think any pretense of objectivity has gone out the window with this one. I suppose on some level, it is a rather heartwarming, if childish, display of impetuousness, though more than anything, I actually feel embarassed for the Committee. I guess they couldn't contain themselves for at least another year or two, when it might have been more credible... or maybe not, depending on... results?
(*) Look at the case of Jorge Luis Borges for example, the Argentine author who, because of his right wing leanings, never got a Nobel prize for literature, while authors of inferior abilities did; or on the other hand, the case of Yasser Arafat, who actually did end up getting a Nobel Peace prize...
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"Obama Wins Nobel Prize for Delivering Hopeful Rhetoric" Are you kidding? Is this a headline from "The Onion"!? What were the five Norwegians in the committee thinking? He received the prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Yet the nomination deadline was Feb. 1, just 11 days after Obama's swearing-in....
ReplyDeleteThis award has more to do with an unrealized vision than with concrete achievements. Where is the merit? At best, it's premature wishful thinking, at worst, a politically calculated move to boost a fellow Liberal -especially after the IOC rebuff. It is all the more ironic, given how Obama has escalated our so-called "war of necessity" in Afghanistan. Then again, former liberal heartthrob Mikhail Gorbachev earned the prize just as Soviet tanks were rolling in to quell Lithuania's independence movement in 1990.
Considering that in the past 7 years the prize has been won by 3 prominent Democrats (Obama, Gore, Carter), it's hard not to consider the Peace Prize's political overtones. The Nobel Prize Committee is quickly losing credibility as an impartial institution -if it ever was one.
Me encanta y honra poder ser fiel seguidora de este blog. Sus escritos y notas me enorgullesen. Me anima el confiar en su sensata razon, Sin embargo mis comentarios vendran llenos de sentimientos que quizas cueste a los escritores entender pero que tendran el valor de lo que son...comentarios de una persona ordinaria, con pocos estudios en la materia pero con aspiraciones de poder compartir sus puntos de vista con una perspectiva mayor. Mis ignorantes comentarios quizas puedan dar a los autores el valor del pensamiento corriente que al fin y al cabo son los que normalmente guian al comun denominador. Por ejemplo, respecto al premio Noble de la paz, tendre que decir...que yo no pense en ningun momento que esto fue un "joke", por el contrario senti enorme alegria al saber que no importaba por que, como o quienes me alegraba saber que era el Presidente de la misma nacion que hace veinte anos me acogio. Celebre este triunfo recibido con bastante humildad por el President Obama, con la mayor alegria que esta noticia trajo a mi corazon. Estoy segura que la fe que este hombre trajo a muchos ciudadanos como yo, tendra en ustedes el valor dado a una retorica o palabreria pero que al final un presidesnte como Bush nunca pudo ni por intento dar. Seguire atentamente sus comentarios politicos, pero anelare poder recibir mas amplitud y neutralidad en estos, asi de esta manera ayudar a mis conclusiones. Espero tambien leer mas de los eventos en donde necesitamos una guia mas clara en nuestra labor de ciudadanos, padres, hijos y apostoles de nuestra sociedad. Muchisimas gracias por Invita Fidelis Blog.
ReplyDeletePor mas que el tono de los comentarios iniciales puedan recibir una reaccion impulsivamente negativa por parte de aquellos que buscan simpatizar con este presidente, los hechos no dejan de ser innegables: no hay, en el presente momento, nada a lo que el comite Nobel de la Paz pueda apuntar como un logro meritorio por parte del presidente Obama. En lo que a mi respecta, esto no es tanto un mal reflejo sobre el presidente, si no sobre el comite que tomo semejante decision tan transparentemente parcial. No hay otra forma de decirlo. Me parece que ninguna justificacion, por elocuente que fuera, puede negar este hecho. Ahora, uno pudiese decidir, en solidaria simpatia con el presidente, celebrar este galardon, pero lastimosamente, esto no dejar de ser apesar de tan clara parcialidad.
ReplyDeleteComo le escribi a Quique por facebook:
ReplyDelete"
My criticism is mostly with the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, not with Obama (after all, he didn't "do" anything... :-D ). The prize has lost its credibility. Perhaps we shouldn't put so much weight on the opinions of five Norwegian Parliamentarians regarding who really deserves a "global" peace prize."