The Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Peace Prize is for those that earned it. The announcement today that Obama was awarded this prize is a joke. It’s not a joke because Obama did anything wrong, nor do I believe he is involved in any shananigans to win it. The problem is bigger than him. The problem is with the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Check out these quotes from recent articles on CNN:

Article: Obama’s win unique among presidents

Quote: “The committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons…”

Quote: “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future.”

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Article: Obama: Nobel Peace Prize is ‘call to action’

Quote: “Some analysts have speculated that the prize could give Obama additional clout as he forms a strategy for the war in Afghanistan and attempts to engage Iran and North Korea. Another senior administration official told CNN he hopes the White House can ‘use it for the positive.’”

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My Gripe.

I dig Obama. I voted for Obama. I still like him. I love what he has done for our diplomacy internationally. I believe he would be an amazing candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize depending on what he does over his first term (and possibly a second term?). All the cards are there for him to be the next person to have earned the prize.

However, if you look at the quotes I posted from CNN above, it’s clear to me that this prize was given to him based on what we hope he’ll do, what we hope he can pull off, what we hope our future will be like. His prize is based on hope and hope is not tangible, it’s an idea. In the past, this prize was always awarded to people because of their selfless vision that they executed into tangible accomplishments; visible and on record. If this is the new allowable premise to award something so prestigious then we should start handing these things out like candy to all the every day people that make huge waves in their communities, in other countries, etc. These are the ones that should be considered. Obama doesn’t have that track record (yet).

Even though Obama did not choose this outcome or most likely didn’t even plan for it, the Nobel committee has taken huge risk in setting back Obama’s progress in diplomacy by ‘handing’ it to him, and spurring more controversy, the same kind of controversy that sparked all of our protests against Bush’s krony-riddled administration. It’s carelessness and recklessness by the Nobel committee in my opinion and does Obama’s vision and effort a disservice at this point in time. Other countries that have historically hated us and are now open to at least reconsidering talking to us, could possibly now be thinking, “See! I knew something was up with Obama. Too good to be true!”. Lame.

My Hope.

It’s no surprise that Obama was humble about this and immediately reminded us that it’s not about him almost to the point of questioning it himself. That attitude is a major reason why I voted for him. I hope his vision for global peace and diplomacy is accomplished some day. I hope he makes waves when it comes to nuclear disarmament, bringing tensions and disagreements to a conversational level amongst world leaders to resolve peacefully. I believe that’s what he wants, I believe he can accomplish great things and I believe he should be recognized for it when it happens. My hopes though are just thoughts, untangible. Hopefully one day they are actual memories of things he has actually done and accomplished backed by real data and stories to support it.

I support Obama in his continued efforts but damn I hate the bullshit.

Onward.