You Had Me At Hello
There's not much point in criticizing the Nobel committee for giving Barack Obama the Peace Prize, since the damage they inflicted upon themselves is self-evident.
The general reaction has been incredulity and derision. No matter what you think of Obama, he simply hasn't done enough to deserve the Prize. I'll give him credit for his acceptance, which was properly humble.
I don't think it will hurt him too much (and may help if he ever decides to run for President of Europe). But the Nobel committee's politicization of the process has done the impossible--they've made the Peace Prize a bigger joke than the Grammys.
The title of this post comes from Jerry Maguire, but I thought of it after someone sent me another quote from the movie that actually fits better (and no, it's not "You complete me"):
Dorothy: I love him! I love him for the man he wants to be. And I love him for the man he almost is.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:15 PM
4 Comments:
Amid the derision, you get backers like James Fallows, who predictably, and despicably, manages to imply those who disagree are nasty and racist.
http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/10/about_the_nobel_prize_two_year.php
The McNeill-Lehrer newshour has Brzezinski and another CFR guy on right now, both agreeing that Obama deserves the prize. The second guy says that, "Yes, it's possible that Obama may later act against peace. But if a few years from now, he has made great strides towards peace, the prize will look prescient."
Really? If Tom Hanks had been given a Best Actor Oscar in 1984 for "Bachelor Party", would the Academy have looked "prescient" two decades later when Hanks was a superstar?
For what it's worth, if I were inclined to find racism, I'd find it in the patronizing Europeans (including Brzezinski and the Nobel Committee) who think that patting the nice Obama on the back and giving him premature compliments will cause him to work harder for peace than he would have otherwise. That strategy might work with eight-year-olds in Little League. But it would be absurd to suggest that FDR would have altered his policies in October 1933 as a result of awards and compliments. Becuase FDR was an adult.
CNN said after the award was announced, critics started attacking Obama. Seemed to me they were mostly attacking the Prize committee.
Mostly yes, anon. But Rush Limbaugh got in one good line:
“Can you imagine, folks, how big Obama’s head is today? I think it’s getting so big that his ears actually fit.”
I wonder how long he's been saving that one up for.
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