I am probably going to sound like the biggest hater on the planet or even worse, a radical conservative but Obama for the Nobel Peace Prize? Really? I'm not very sure how that happened, not based on lack of accomplishment (okay, maybe some of that too) but more so on common sense and timing. The deadline for the Nobel Peace Prize was February 1, 2009, that was a whopping two weeks after his inaguration. Technically, he had not even had his first day at work, although he did have some economic meetings prior to his actual swearing in.
Jimmy Carter received his Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 after years, more like decades of his work to try and resolve international disputes. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received his after years of of working to obtain the civil rights of African-Americans. The only other two seated presidents to receive the awards were Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt and both of them were in their second terms, not their second week. You know some people do not even earn their accolade until after their death. In comparison, I'm really struggling with how the committee selected President Obama to receive such honors based on what appears to be just two weeks of service.
I am not claiming to know all about everything but I'm not sure that even as a Senator that he had accomplishments that were noteworthy enough to receive such an honor. This is not the first time the committee from Norway has been criticized for their method of selection and they expected some criticism regarding this decision as well. According to the Wall Street Journal, "'The committee wants to not only endorse but contribute to enhancing that kind of international policy and attitude which [Obama] stands for, said Mr. Jagland, a former Norwegian prime minister, said at a news conference.'"
Did I misread that or did the committee spokesperson basically tell us that he was granted the award based on what President Barack Obama has promised to do and their faith in him to get it done? It really sounds like they awarded him this honor because they EXPECT for him to do great things, not for the great things he's done.
I don't want to take away the magnitude of the honor itself, if the committee thinks he's deserving for whatever reason but to me it just seems a bit premature and I think is going to call the credibility of the committee into question, very publicaly.
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