Friday, October 9, 2009

Obama wins surprise Nobel Peace Prize: Republicans call for bombing of Norway


I take it Republicans don't vote for the Nobel Peace Prize. Because if that were the case, you can bet President Barack Obama certainly wouldn't have been named the 2009 recipient and instead whoever contributed the most to their campaigns over the last year would have most likely come away the victor (can you say health insurance company CEO).

But thank god the Nobel Prize committee does not except money from lobbyists, which allows them, if nothing else, to preserve the idea of peace on earth. Which would probably explain why the war mongering, in it for themselves, swine's of the Republican party are usually being lectured by the Nobel Peace Prize committee and not praised. I can just imagine what Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck will have to say about this. We'll probably be talking about a Tea Party rally in front of Noble Prize committee's Norwegian head quarters next week (Rabble Rabble Rabble), maybe even the total annihilation of Norway all together.

But enough about those sick bastards, because while they sulk over our president's monumental win (like they would if he reached world peace, stopped global warming or cured cancer), the rest of us should be proud that we now have a president, who is praised by the Nobel committee, instead of being chastised for unilateralism like his predecessor George W. Bush had been.

The Nobel Prize committee cited President Obama's "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" in declaring him the winner of the acclaimed award. The Committee also attached a "special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons."

"Obama has as President 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. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened," The Nobel Prize committee said in a press release. "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. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

President Obama becomes the third sitting U.S. President to win the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt won the award and President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the prize in 1919. President Jimmy Carter most recently took home the award in 2002, for his mediation in international conflicts.

Obama has not commented on his victory yet, but he does face a major decision in world peace in the upcoming days as he is scheduled to make a decision on General McChrystal's request for 40,000 additional troops in Afghanistan. Nonetheless, the award says a lot about the shift in U.S. foreign policy since Bushy left office. It is now up to Obama to take his vision and rhetoric and turn it into real action, so that future generations can live in a more peaceful world than we find ourselves living in today.

"For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that 'Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges,'" The committee concluded in the press release.

Congratulations Mr. President!

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