Classic Rant #108 (October 12, 2009): Nobel Choice?

I am sure that you heard that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. I don’t know if this was a surprise to him—by all accounts, it was—but it was certainly a surprise to many Americans, and not just to those who don’t like him.

What has he done in his nine months in office to deserve such a prestigious honor?

Well, to be honest about it, it is hard to tell. He and his administration inherited many problems from their predecessors, the Bush administration. He has set out to make our government more efficient, but many of the problems that the previous administration had he has too.

He still has us fighting wars in faraway lands, with little or no end in sight. Unemployment is incredibly high, and many people have rallied against him in his health care initiatives.

Then why did he receive this award?

As far as I can tell, the granting of this award to our President has nothing to do with this being a consolation prize to losing out on the Olympics. It has more to do with the international perception of him as something of a “game changer” than anything else.

He has incredible popularity abroad, because he is perceived as someone who will change his office to be more receptive to global concerns rather than simply U.S. concerns.

He has already taken stands in the Middle East—basically putting his fist down and telling the many sides of that puzzle to get things done—and he has done this very early in his Presidency. I think many around the world like this stance because they feel that the U.S. constantly backs Israel in this process. I believe that there are many in this world who would like to see Israel go away, and they perceive that Obama is pro-Palestinian and pro-Arab based on his reaching out to the Muslim community.

And you can't have a better middle name than Hussein, can you?

He seems to be a “green” President as a positive, meaning that he seems to be pro-environment. I think many have viewed previous administrations as anti-environment, although we have the strictest anti-smoking laws in the world in the U.S. Many outside of the U.S. don't consider smoking an environmental problem, they don't even consider it a problem.

And, they absolutely love his wife.

And, let's be honest about it, they detested George Bush.

That, in a nutshell, is why he received this prize. The perception is greater than the output, at least right now, and with the prize in hand, I believe that those who voted to give it to him — probably a voting board that is made up of pretty much anti-American, anti-Israel left-wingers — want him to continue walking on this path, and they feel this will encourage him to do so.

Otherwise, in my mind, the giving of this prize to our President--while it is a prestigious prize--is pretty much a joke. I mean, he was only in office a few days when he was nominated, so what could he have done in just a few days and what has he done during his term in office?

And has this award had any relevance since Yassar Arafat won the award?

And I repeat, they just adore Obama's wife.