Friday, October 9, 2009

Nobel Peace Prize? Really?

I have never been a huge supporter of President Obama nor a huge opponent. I respect him as the president of our country and I look to him as the leader of the future for America, at least for the next four years. What I mean to say is, I am pretty impartial to his politics, although I tend to lean to the critical view of Obama. However, this morning when I heard he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first word that came to my mind was "Why?" Honestly, he was nominated 11 days after he was President. How many changes to international diplomacy could he really have changed in that short amount of time? I'm not against him getting the prestigous award, but this early into the presidency seems a tad silly. Maybe once he got our troops out of Iraq like he said he would or once he really did anything that he said he would, then maybe I would be more likely to say, "Hey, he's president, he's done a lot: he deserves this." He hasn't even had time to implement any of the policies or changes he has spoken about! He's still struggling with his health care policies.

In short, I guess I'm saying I oppose the timing of the award. I know in many peoples' eyes President Obama is a Godsend, but can we say he has done as much as Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Dr. Martin Luther King, the (14th) Dalai Lama, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel, Nelson Mandela, or any of the other outstanding peoples who have done extraordinary things with their lives? Not yet, Oslo, not yet.

1 comment:

Liz said...

Amen! He hasn't done anything yet to merit a nobel peace prize and he definitely hadn't when he was nominated. Who knew the day would come when the Nobel prize was a popularity contest.