AP/President Obama speaks in the Rose Garden about being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
President Barack Obama woke up this morning to find out along with the rest of the world that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize--for accomplishments he hasn't actually achieved yet. It's the story of his history-making life, isn't it? It seems the guy can't get enough praise and accolades, all based on his potential if not for what he has truly achieved.
The head-scratching irony of being in the company of the likes of Nelson Mandela, the 14th Dalai Lama, and Elie Wiesel is not lost on the president. He appeared a bit grim-faced, embarrassed even, with his eyes cast downward to his notes when he made his prompter-less remarks in the Rose Garden this morning. He said he was "surprised and deeply humbled" by the honor. "Let me be clear:" he added. "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations."
While some, as Gawker writes, called for Obama to turn down the prize awarded on spec, the president chose to accept it--"as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century."
The word from the Norwegian Nobel Committee is that Obama deserves the award now because he has "created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."
The committee's gushing continued: "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."
It seems one thing to be elected on hope, but to receive the world's highest peace prize based on its ethereal promise is quite another.
As Nicholas Kristof wrote in his Times blog this morning : "I think he has the right instincts on these issues and expect him to get engaged, but shouldn’t the Nobel Peace Prize have a higher bar than high expectations? Especially when there are so many people who have worked for years and years on the front lines, often in dangerous situations, to make a difference to the most voiceless people of the world?"
But as Obama noted, the prize is often bestowed as a means of creating momentum, and clearly, the keepers of the Nobel Peace Prize want to see some true momentum, not just rhetoric, when it comes to nuclear disarmament and world peace. So if one of the coveted prizes is given out to apply some heavy-handed political pressure to bring about real change, the Norwegian Nobel Committee seems to be saying, so be it.
Do you think it's a little early to give Obama the Nobel Peace Prize, or a shrewd move by the committee in Oslo to let him know the world is watching, and we all want results?
