Obama's receiving the Nobel Peace Prize
I've heard and read a lot about this, and I'm really fed up with what I've seen. So I decided, "That's it, I'm writing a blog about it!" and here I am, doing exactly that.
Everywhere you look, you see news reporters and political journalists, representatives and critics alike, all criticizing the fact that he was not only nominated but also received and then accepted the Nobel Peace Prize the other day. They say that it's far too early in his presidential term, having not even been a full year since he came into office. It is also being said that it's a prize that was awarded in expectation of greater things to come from the President, or that it is merely a political move, noting all of these previous Democrat presidents who have received the award while other presidents who have even ended wars were not granted the prize. Some are also saying that it's just a nod in approval to the drastic change in foreign policy since the Bush administration's removal. But most of all, what you hear around the nation from experts and everyday people is that the prize was undeserving because Obama has done nothing. People say, "What has he actually done to deserve it?"
Now, I haven't been as up-to-date on international news myself in the last couple of years. But over the last few months I've taken an extreme interest in the topic and really started reading and watching the news extensively right around when the President was getting ready for that busy week back in mid-September, when he had that international convention in Pittsburgh, and talks about stopping global warming, just after he had met and talked with Russian leaders about foreign policy and stuff, and held peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (yes, I had to look up those names because there is no effing way I could've remembered how to spell them!). From what I gathered in the newspaper articles, and what the news could cover of the international convention and whatnot, and what I felt intuitively from each event, I felt that President Obama is really working to change the atmosphere of the world's nations towards each other from a closed, defensive, single-minded, individualist view to one more of cooperation, openness, peace, and recognition of our togetherness as a planet.
He hasn't done a lot of specific things like fixing our national health care problems, our unemployment problems, or acting immediately on the war in Afghanistan, whether to send more troops or not. But he has done a tremendous amount in implementing a peaceful atmosphere from which to work on those issues, I think. Perhaps he thinks that other countries might take notice to what's going on in Afghanistan and may help out so we don't have to sacrifice more of our men (ok, that was a longshot, nevermind).
Even still, of course there was a lot of mending in not just policy but also relationships and atmosphere from the Bush administration that Obama had to face, despite all of the pressure on him. And even though he has not even been in office a full year, he has gone to all of these talks and done quite well in at least setting the groundwork for real, lasting action with a clear goal in mindset: world peace. I think that the Nobel Peace Prize guys saw this, and awarded him the prize because while every other leader could have stepped up and done this himself, Obama had the balls to actually start making the difference - not just making the difference but doing it peacefully and understandingly, yet firmly.
I think that is very well-deserving of any kind of prize for peace, and the only argument that could be made to support the idea that "it should've come later" is that he's certainly going to do a lot more for world peace and whatever else, and that those too would be deserving of more prizes, but that you can only get one Nobel Peace Prize in a lifetime! (Am I right about that? XD)
So that's what I have to say.
Also, I've noticed that among the people (not the political experts) who are saying, "What has he actually done? He's not doing anything!" not one of them seems to back that statement up with anything substantial. The people who have congratulated him seem to be pretty educated in what's going on worldwide, and they do point out that there are still standing issues that need to be looked at, but that he has done a lot in terms of foreign policy and peace talks and stuff.
So what I have to say to those people is, "Don't start looking a gift horse in the mouth if you have no idea what you're looking for in the first place." Here our president, and our nation, is being awarded for our demonstration of peace in one way or another. Why on Earth would you want to criticize that?
PEACE, guys, PEACE! What's the real issue at hand here?
---
PS - it kinda reminds me of this other thing on the news I was watching about health care around the world. The guy doesn't say that America's way of doing things are wrong, he just says that our priorities are out of line. Other countries have a main goal: "We want to make sure all of our people are healthy and taken good care of." - then they find some way to implement that. The US gets so caught up in all of this other crap that when it comes down to it, we let tons of people die because they can't afford medical insurance. Here we have tons of people who are perfectly capable of helping them out but deny the medical service because the VICTIM cannot pay up?! What sick fucks thought up of that system? America, it's time to get real here. Peace. Health. Safety. Rights. Education. We're back to the basics. What is the real goal behind all of this? I can tell you one thing for sure, it's not money or profit. :P
Everywhere you look, you see news reporters and political journalists, representatives and critics alike, all criticizing the fact that he was not only nominated but also received and then accepted the Nobel Peace Prize the other day. They say that it's far too early in his presidential term, having not even been a full year since he came into office. It is also being said that it's a prize that was awarded in expectation of greater things to come from the President, or that it is merely a political move, noting all of these previous Democrat presidents who have received the award while other presidents who have even ended wars were not granted the prize. Some are also saying that it's just a nod in approval to the drastic change in foreign policy since the Bush administration's removal. But most of all, what you hear around the nation from experts and everyday people is that the prize was undeserving because Obama has done nothing. People say, "What has he actually done to deserve it?"
Now, I haven't been as up-to-date on international news myself in the last couple of years. But over the last few months I've taken an extreme interest in the topic and really started reading and watching the news extensively right around when the President was getting ready for that busy week back in mid-September, when he had that international convention in Pittsburgh, and talks about stopping global warming, just after he had met and talked with Russian leaders about foreign policy and stuff, and held peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (yes, I had to look up those names because there is no effing way I could've remembered how to spell them!). From what I gathered in the newspaper articles, and what the news could cover of the international convention and whatnot, and what I felt intuitively from each event, I felt that President Obama is really working to change the atmosphere of the world's nations towards each other from a closed, defensive, single-minded, individualist view to one more of cooperation, openness, peace, and recognition of our togetherness as a planet.
He hasn't done a lot of specific things like fixing our national health care problems, our unemployment problems, or acting immediately on the war in Afghanistan, whether to send more troops or not. But he has done a tremendous amount in implementing a peaceful atmosphere from which to work on those issues, I think. Perhaps he thinks that other countries might take notice to what's going on in Afghanistan and may help out so we don't have to sacrifice more of our men (ok, that was a longshot, nevermind).
Even still, of course there was a lot of mending in not just policy but also relationships and atmosphere from the Bush administration that Obama had to face, despite all of the pressure on him. And even though he has not even been in office a full year, he has gone to all of these talks and done quite well in at least setting the groundwork for real, lasting action with a clear goal in mindset: world peace. I think that the Nobel Peace Prize guys saw this, and awarded him the prize because while every other leader could have stepped up and done this himself, Obama had the balls to actually start making the difference - not just making the difference but doing it peacefully and understandingly, yet firmly.
I think that is very well-deserving of any kind of prize for peace, and the only argument that could be made to support the idea that "it should've come later" is that he's certainly going to do a lot more for world peace and whatever else, and that those too would be deserving of more prizes, but that you can only get one Nobel Peace Prize in a lifetime! (Am I right about that? XD)
So that's what I have to say.
Also, I've noticed that among the people (not the political experts) who are saying, "What has he actually done? He's not doing anything!" not one of them seems to back that statement up with anything substantial. The people who have congratulated him seem to be pretty educated in what's going on worldwide, and they do point out that there are still standing issues that need to be looked at, but that he has done a lot in terms of foreign policy and peace talks and stuff.
So what I have to say to those people is, "Don't start looking a gift horse in the mouth if you have no idea what you're looking for in the first place." Here our president, and our nation, is being awarded for our demonstration of peace in one way or another. Why on Earth would you want to criticize that?
PEACE, guys, PEACE! What's the real issue at hand here?
---
PS - it kinda reminds me of this other thing on the news I was watching about health care around the world. The guy doesn't say that America's way of doing things are wrong, he just says that our priorities are out of line. Other countries have a main goal: "We want to make sure all of our people are healthy and taken good care of." - then they find some way to implement that. The US gets so caught up in all of this other crap that when it comes down to it, we let tons of people die because they can't afford medical insurance. Here we have tons of people who are perfectly capable of helping them out but deny the medical service because the VICTIM cannot pay up?! What sick fucks thought up of that system? America, it's time to get real here. Peace. Health. Safety. Rights. Education. We're back to the basics. What is the real goal behind all of this? I can tell you one thing for sure, it's not money or profit. :P