Pres. Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

[Nickdfresh]

Obama ‘humbled’ after winning Nobel prize
Committee says president gives world’s people ‘hope for a better future’
BREAKING NEWS
NBC News and news services
updated 7:13 a.m. ET, Fri., Oct . 9, 2009

OSLO, Norway - President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.

The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize and shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline. Obama's name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president.

Speculation had focused on Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a Colombian senator and a Chinese dissident, along with an Afghan woman's rights activist.

The Nobel committee praised Obama's creation of "a new climate in international politics" and said he had returned multilateral diplomacy and institutions like the U.N. to the center of the world stage. The plaudit appeared to be a slap at President George W. Bush from a committee that harshly criticized Obama's predecessor for resorting to largely unilateral military action in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

NBC News reported that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called Obama with the news just before 6 a.m. Aides said the president felt "humbled" by the committee's decision.

'Captured the world's attention'
Rather than recognizing concrete achievement, the 2009 prize appeared intended to support initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the U.S. role in combating climate change.

"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," Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Committee said. "In the past year Obama has been a key person for important initiatives in the U.N. for nuclear disarmament and to set a completely new agenda for the Muslim world and East-West relations."

He added that the committee endorsed "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.'"

President Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906 and President Woodrow Wilson won in 1919.

The committee chairman said after awarding the 2002 prize to former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, for his mediation in international conflicts, that it should be seen as a "kick in the leg" to the Bush administration's hard line in the buildup to the Iraq war.

Five years later, the committee honored Bush's adversary in the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore, for his campaign to raise awareness about global warming.

The Nobel committee received a record 205 nominations for this year's prize though it was not immediately apparent who nominated Obama.

"The exciting and important thing about this prize is that it's given too someone ... who has the power to contribute to peace," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.

Nominators include former laureates; current and former members of the committee and their staff; members of national governments and legislatures; university professors of law, theology, social sciences, history and philosophy; leaders of peace research and foreign affairs institutes; and members of international courts of law.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation welcomed the award on behalf of its founder Nelson Mandela, who shared the 1993 Peace Prize with then-South African President F.W. DeKlerk for their efforts at ending years of apartheid and laying the groundwork for a democratic country.

"We trust that this award will strengthen his commitment, as the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, to continue promoting peace and the eradication of poverty," the foundation said.

In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."

Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded by Swedish institutions, he said the peace prize should be given out by a five-member committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament. Sweden and Norway were united under the same crown at the time of Nobel's death.

The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel's guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change.


The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report.

Obama ‘humbled’ after winning Nobel prize - White House- msnbc.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33237202/ns/politics-white_house?GT1=43001)

[ELVIS]

Incredible...:barf:

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I don't know what this says about politics in America today, but I woke up and saw this news on CNN, and the VERY FIRST thing I thought of was, "Boy are the Republicans gonna shit themselves over this".....

[ZahZoo]

I don't know what to say... boggles the mind...

[binnie]

It's something of an odd choice...........

[ELVIS]

So was algore...

[Seshmeister]

How can people at war win this???

Still not as crazy as the ultimate stupid insanity when they gave it to Kissinger...

[ELVIS]

How can people at war win this???



Good point!

[Panamark]

I thought they reserved that award for people who really
have made a difference.

Hope he has saved the US....

We are fine. (Australia) hope all other countries are
doing well too...
In fact we just raised interest rates today as the future looks
great.

Reading that article, I think the dude who came out with the swine flu
vaccine in 2 months was ripped off...

[ELVIS]

Why wasn't Ronald Reagan nominated for being at least associated with ending the Cold War ??

[lesfunk]

what a bunch of poop

[Kristy]

It's something of an odd choice...........

Yeah, this was a bit surprising.

[letsrock]

For what killing the middle class?

[thome]

Golden Globe.
Emmy...

Academy Award....Nobel Prize...??

Same thing.... isn't it a award for popularity.

Always has been.

Word has it that the democrats are starting a fund right now, to create a Washinton City monument to Oboma, that is three times larger than the Lincoln Memorial.

Because Obama is the first Black President.

Because he is Black.

Don't forget to keep making it a, "Black Thing".

Keep singling out the difference to Unite Us.

Keep attention on Title 7.

[Satan]

Just heard Obama's actual reaction on the radio. Apparently his daughters woke him up with the news.

He said they helped him keep things in perspective. "Daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize. And it's Bo's (the dog) birthday." http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/teufel/d025.gif

[Va Beach VH Fan]

They have radios in Hell ??

[Satan]

They have radios in Hell ??

Of course we do. The reception usually sucks, and most of the programming is torturous, but I'm the boss so I have a better antenna than the damned do. http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/teufel/d010.gif

[Nitro Express]

Yeah. The Nobel Peace Prized used to be legitimate but it's become a joke. Al Gore got it for his green stance. How about someone who risked their life and fortune for peace? The world is full of such. This is just another attempt to sell the head of the United Nations Security Council and US President Barrack Obama to the world. What has he done besides expand Bush's war and Patriot Act? Not exactly peace in my book.

[Nitro Express]

I think these international bankers that control The Federal Reserve, The United Nations, and have full control of the US Executive Branch think we are a bunch of dumb asses. It's obvious.

[Nitro Express]

How can people at war win this???

Still not as crazy as the ultimate stupid insanity when they gave it to Kissinger...

No shit. The biggest visitor to the Bush White House and good buddy of Obama.

[Dr. Love]

what exactly has he done to bring peace to the world that is more noteworthy than anyone else?

[Big Train]

With the way he is running away from actual problems, he is probably in line for the Heisman as well..

[standin]

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[FORD]

October 9th, 2009 2:14 PM
Congratulations President Obama on the Nobel Peace Prize -- Now Please Earn it!

Dear President Obama,

How outstanding that you've been recognized today as a man of peace. Your swift, early pronouncements -- you will close Guantanamo, you will bring the troops home from Iraq, you want a nuclear weapon-free world, you admitted to the Iranians that we overthrew their democratically-elected president in 1953, you made that great speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, you've eliminated that useless term "The War on Terror," you've put an end to torture -- these have all made us and the rest of the world feel a bit more safe considering the disaster of the past eight years. In eight months you have done an about face and taken this country in a much more sane direction.

But...

The irony that you have been awarded this prize on the 2nd day of the ninth year of what is quickly becoming your War in Afghanistan is not lost on anyone. You are truly at a crossroads now. You can listen to the generals and expand the war (only to result in a far-too-predictable defeat) or you can declare Bush's Wars over, and bring all the troops home. Now. That's what a true man of peace would do.

There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do -- capture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH TANKS AND TROOPS. You are pursuing a criminal, not an army. You do not use a stick of dynamite to get rid of a mouse.

The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve -- just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free -- they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else's Humvee.

You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don't, you'll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Your opposition has spent the morning attacking you for bringing such good will to this country. Why do they hate America so much? I get the feeling that if you found the cure for cancer this afternoon they'd be denouncing you for destroying free enterprise because cancer centers would have to close. There are those who say you've done nothing yet to deserve this award. As far as I'm concerned, the very fact that you've offered to walk into the minefield of hate and try to undo the irreparable damage the last president did is not only appreciated by me and millions of others, it is also an act of true bravery. That's why you got the prize. The whole world is depending on the U.S. -- and you -- to literally save this planet. Let's not let them down.

[Nickdfresh]

what exactly has he done to bring peace to the world that is more noteworthy than anyone else?

Simply by not being George Dumbya. Bush, my boy...

But yeah, that's a low bar to hurdle...

[sadaist]

Funny, but the nomination deadline was February 1st. How many days had he been in office when nominated? 10? Must have been a very productive 10 days.


Keep in mind, this assumes his nomination came in at the deadline...and not days, weeks, or even months prior.

[sadaist]

I should get the Nobel Prize for medicine. I WANT a cure for cancer, and I'M GOING to get to work on that. But for now, I will just TALK about how much I want it. As long as I can deliver my message from a well read SPEECH.

[standin]

Funny, but the nomination deadline was February 1st. How many days had he been in office when nominated? 10? Must have been a very productive 10 days.


Keep in mind, this assumes his nomination came in at the deadline...and not days, weeks, or even months prior.

Obama existed before he was elected as POTUS.

[FORD]

I should get the Nobel Prize for medicine. I WANT a cure for cancer, and I'M GOING to get to work on that. But for now, I will just TALK about how much I want it. As long as I can deliver my message from a well read SPEECH.

Sure, as soon as you're actually in a postition to DO something about a cure for cancer.

You really aren't comparing yourself to the President of the United States, are you?

[Big Train]

October 9th, 2009 2:14 PM
Congratulations President Obama on the Nobel Peace Prize -- Now Please Earn it! Yes, please...

Dear President Obama,



There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do -- capture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. Is there ANY evidence that he is doing any of that?

The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve -- just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free -- they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else's Humvee.

Wow, a bleeding heart advocating leaving a people to fight for themselves, when they cannot. Irony..


Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Your opposition has spent the morning attacking you for bringing such good will to this country. Why do they hate America so much? (We hate when people get awards for clearly doing nothing). I get the feeling that if you found the cure for cancer this afternoon they'd be denouncing you for destroying free enterprise because cancer centers would have to close. (No, we would be cheering because he would have actually have accomplished something, anything) There are those who say you've done nothing yet to deserve this award. Yes, Barack Obama himself...

As far as I'm concerned, the very fact that you've offered to walk into the minefield of hate and try to undo the irreparable damage the last president did is not only appreciated by me and millions of others, it is also an act of true bravery (So therefore..Hillary Clinton, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Rudy Guiliani, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul should all share this, as they were equally prepared to do the same) . That's why you got the prize. The whole world is depending on the U.S. -- and you -- to literally save this planet (Cmon, Captain America...the Legion of Doom is winning, we need you now more than ever!! My Carbon emissions alone promoting my new movie is enough to kill Kansas..). Let's not let them down.

So is this blowhard going to write an open letter everytime Barack does(n't) do something, on every issue. Then throw the "moral" cold water on the situation, all while still remaining a huge hypocrite? Probably...keeps the box office up I suppose.

[FORD]

So is this blowhard going to write an open letter everytime Barack does(n't) do something, on every issue. Then throw the "moral" cold water on the situation, all while still remaining a huge hypocrite? Probably...keeps the box office up I suppose.

What's wrong with that?

Shouldn't the President hear from the American people? The people who elected him?

[Guitar Shark]

Simply by not being George Dumbya. Bush, my boy...

But yeah, that's a low bar to hurdle...

This is my reaction as well. According to current reports, Obama won not for his substantive accomplishments, but because he inspired "hope" at the start of his term. This is basically a reaction to the Bush presidency and the horrible effect it had on our reputation among the international community. No way Obama wins this if he hadn't taken over for Bush.

[Big Train]

Nothing wrong with it...just wish he would do it when it wasn't in a movie promotion cycle.

[standin]

Just because Mr. Moore has some work out he should change his writing habits?

[Big Train]

It would be much easier to accept his high minded ideals and "expressions" if

1. He wasn't a huge hypocrite.
2. He spoke up equally as loud when he wasn't out promoting something that kept his name in the news cycle.

[Guitar Shark]

He is huge, I'll give you that much!

[FORD]

Statement on Nobel Peace Prize for President Obama

October 9, 2009

BURLINGTON, October 9 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement after President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize:

“President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the non-Western world and stress diplomacy.

“Americans should be extremely proud that we now have a president who is restoring respect and admiration for our country around the globe. At a time when our planet faces so many serious problems the United States must play a leadership role in bringing the international community together against our common enemies of war, terrorism, poverty, AIDS and global warming.

“The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama is a show of support for his efforts in that direction.”

[FORD]

October 09, 2009
Republicanistan - A country of its own

There are legitimate criticisms of the Nobel Peace Prize and several past winners to whom it was awarded. I have always been critical that past recipients included Yasser Arafat and Henry Kissinger. Others too have noted legitimate issues of past winners, again, Arafat being a prime example of a poor choice.

Having said that, the Nobel Peace Prize in general and through an overall history of good choices, bestows an important honor on its recipient. When that recipient happens to be the leader of a nation - representing his country all over the world - then that honor is also bestowed on the citizens of that nation.

President Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in diplomacy, a concept this nation abandoned years ago for the policy of pre-emptive, endless war. The world has shunned us for our kill, kill, kill policies and we have lost standing. So not only is this win an important accomplishment in mending our image and illustrating to the world that we are a peace-loving nation, it is that much more important that our President won the Nobel Peace Prize while in office for only 9 months and following on the heels of the most violent and unethical administration in US history.

I also think there are legitimate criticisms of not just the Nobel Peace Prize for some of its past recipients, but also as in the choice of President Obama as the latest winner of the award.

The political climate we live in

I for one don't think Obama has gone far enough in ending the many violent and destructive policies of the previous administration. But then again, I also live in this reality and have watched the changes Obama has made being attacked by right-wing extremists as a move toward socialism, communism, fascism, and every "ism" they could muster.

He has been called a democracy hating commie for his condemnation of the military coup in Honduras.

He has been attacked as a terrorist sympathizer and anti-Semite for not bombing Iran on his first day in office.

He has been called a traitor to our allies for his efforts to dismantle the missile defense shield plans in Eastern Europe - idioctically embarked on by the last administration.

He has been attacked as a traitor to our troops for pushing back against the military - industrial - complex and their propaganda outfits demanding an increase of US troops to Afghanistan.

He has been denounced as evil incarnate for daring to attempt the closing of Gitmo and suggesting that the people being held there be brought into US prisons. When the psychotics on the right side screamed we cannot have terra-terra-ists on our soil, in custody, in secure prisons (as though we don't now have terrorists in domestic prisons), he convinced other nations to take the detainees- for which he was also attacked.

In short, Obama has been attacked for efforts of diplomacy and attempts to dismantle the violence of the previous administration. Although IMHO, he has not gone far enough on many of the issues of diplomacy and ending our illegal war in Iraq - his achievements are still remarkable in this political climate and in such a short-time in office.

The Glennbeckistanians deploy their hatriots

So, while I have no problem with legitimate criticism from both the left and the right (as I have said previously, Little Green Footballs continues to earn my respect) of the Nobel Peace Prize in general and of Obama's award in particular, what I do have a serious problem with is those who attack rather than criticize and not on legitimate points, but out of pure hate.

Let me show you some of these Hatriots in action today (as my good friend Shoq has started calling them):


Stop the ACLU (the name of the blog should it explain it all):

Yay! Congrats to Barack Obama! He has been awarded the Nobel Appeasement Prize! He has now joined an exclusive club that holds the ranks of such peace lovers as AlGore(2007), Jimmy Carter (2002) and terrorist Yassar Arafat.

Apparently Al Gore, Jimmy Carter are terrorists like Yassar Arafat? Or are they terrorists simply because they are Democrats? And what of the full list of winners that Obama will be joining? People like the 14th Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, and Andrei Sakharov, to name a few. Does Obama not join them but only Yassar Arafat? As I noted above, you can disagree with some of the past choices, but overall, the winners have been well deserving, remarkable people. And, as I also already noted, you can be critical of Obama's win based on legitimate issues. But to simply attack Obama and somehow call him a terrorist is not acceptable.

Shiksa Malkin is typically shocked (shocked I tell you) because Obama has done NOTHING to deserve the award:

"From community organizer to Illinois state senator (present!) to U.S. Senator for 143 days before moving into the White House…and now, the recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize — not for anything he’s actually done, but for the symbolism of what he might possibly accomplish sometime way off in the future."

And yet she devotes endless hours in attacking what Obama has done? I don't get it. Either he has done nothing, in which case she would sit quietly knitting or he has done something, for which she continuously attacks him. The latter wins.

But my favorite of the day comes from the drug-addicted, Viagra popping, sex-tourist himself, Rush Limbaugh:

"This fully exposes the illusion that is Barack Obama," Limbaugh told POLITICO in an e-mail. "And with this 'award' the elites of the world are urging Obama, THE MAN OF PEACE, to not do the surge in Afghanistan, not take action against Iran and its nuclear program and to basically continue his intentions to emasculate the United States."

Yep, he outed the conspiracy that clever man. The world leaders got together to give Obama the Nobel Peace Prize to somehow magically have Obama "emasculate the United States."

These people clearly have proved that whatever country they live in, it is not the United State of America, because the US is apparently a nation that they hate. From cheering our loss of the Olympic bid (because Chicago deserved to lose for having given rise to Obama); to openly hoping that Obama's domestic and foreign policies fail - and with those failures, our nation fails (but who cares so long as Obama fails); to calling for a military coup to overthrow a democratically elected leader of the United States; to countless acts and words aimed at destroying the country if that means also destroying their number one target, Obama.

Just to be clear, No, Obama is not the country, is not equal to the country, is not the same thing as the country. But, for the right-wing the country is a necessary casualty in their war on Obama.

at-Largely: Republicanistan - A country of its own (http://www.atlargely.com/atlargely/2009/10/republicanistan-a-country-of-its-own.html#more)

[Nickdfresh]

It would be much easier to accept his high minded ideals and "expressions" if

1. He wasn't a huge hypocrite.
2. He spoke up equally as loud when he wasn't out promoting something that kept his name in the news cycle.

What makes him any different than the Fox News demagogues you watch? If Moore had exactly the same style and demeanor, and preached libertarianism instead of progressiveness or liberalism, I think you'd be defending him and maybe even creaming your jeans a little...

[Big Train]

What makes him any different than the Fox News demagogues you watch? If Moore had exactly the same style and demeanor, and preached libertarianism instead of progressiveness or liberalism, I think you'd be defending him and maybe even creaming your jeans a little...

It's no different and I'm not disparging his right to do it. I'm saying it just makes him less believable (as my Fox News People, which I don't watch all that much, but whatever fits whatever point your trying to make at the time, sure...), as his public persona rests entirely on the perception of him as a highminded do gooder, although clearly it's "Do as I say, not as I do".

[standin]

It would be much easier to accept his high minded ideals and "expressions" if

1. He wasn't a huge hypocrite.
2. He spoke up equally as loud when he wasn't out promoting something that kept his name in the news cycle.

Mr. Moore regularly sends out newsletters.
Actually, he is really good (translate- sends a lot) about sending out newsletters.
It just happens to be noticed more times than others.

[Big Train]

OK, I stand corrected, perhaps I didn't notice.

So he is just down to being a huge hypocrite.

[Nitro Express]

With the way he is running away from actual problems, he is probably in line for the Heisman as well..

They should have a Master of Bullshit Award.

[Nitro Express]

I nominate Kim Jong Il to get the Nobel Peace Prize next year.

[letsrock]

Maybe he will have Lexington Steele over with some white bitches to celebrate.

[sadaist]

You really aren't comparing yourself to the President of the United States, are you?


Absolutely not. I've actually accomplished some things over the last 10 months.

[Nickdfresh]

Absolutely not. I've actually accomplished some things over the last 10 months.

But you didn't win a cool motherfucking Nobel Prize for giving speeches on peace while conducting two wars and a relentless hunt for Islamic extremist militants... :)

That's quite an accomplishment actually...

[FORD]

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/SteinE/2009/SteinE20091009_low.jpg
Yeah I know the cartoon thread is back, but this one fits better here....

[Dr. Love]

I honestly do think he should decline the prize.

[sadaist]

But you didn't win a cool motherfucking Nobel Prize for giving speeches on peace while conducting two wars and a relentless hunt for Islamic extremist militants... :)

That's quite an accomplishment actually...

Obama gives great speeches that other people write. Motherfucker can read terrific. And you know what? He already won a prize for his great reading & campaigning skills....it's called the Presidency! Now if this fucking mook doesn't do something with his full power over congress and keeps flailing about, he will go down quicker than Lewenski did on Clinton.

Peace Prize! WTF! He's at war and his general is asking for 40,000 more troops. How the fuck does a PEACE prize winner explain that?

Obama is a motherfucking sham. Dude is nothing more than words to make people feel good until they open the mail or read the news. He's just a face on a machine. Worthless. Write me back when he does something positive that doesn't involve raping my God damn wallet.

[ELVIS]

I don't think Oblahma reads all that well...

[ZahZoo]

Following current events and trends... this seals it!! Kiss will finally make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!!

[FORD]

Following current events and trends... this seals it!! Kiss will finally make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!!

Well, if Obama replaced Rahm Emanuel and Timmy the Keebler Elf with a couple of roadies in makeup, it would actually be an improvement.

[Nickdfresh]

Obama gives great speeches that other people write. Motherfucker can read terrific. And you know what? He already won a prize for his great reading & campaigning skills....it's called the Presidency! Now if this fucking mook doesn't do something with his full power over congress and keeps flailing about, he will go down quicker than Lewenski did on Clinton.

Peace Prize! WTF! He's at war and his general is asking for 40,000 more troops. How the fuck does a PEACE prize winner explain that?

Obama is a motherfucking sham. Dude is nothing more than words to make people feel good until they open the mail or read the news. He's just a face on a machine. Worthless. Write me back when he does something positive that doesn't involve raping my God damn wallet.

And this line: "Obama gives great speeches that other people write. Motherfucker can read terrific." --Could be said about Ronald Reagan...


Um, Obama is no more a "sham" than any other president, and substantially less of one than the past several we had. Please tell me what the idiots you voted for like Bush achieved in their first nine months besides having an airliner flying into our skyscrapers?

[FORD]

October 10th, 2009 6: 01 PM
Get Off Obama's Back ...second thoughts from Michael Moore

Friends,

Last night my wife asked me if I thought I was a little too hard on Obama in my letter yesterday congratulating him on his Nobel Prize. "No, I don't think so," I replied. I thought it was important to remind him he's now conducting the two wars he's inherited. "Yeah," she said, "but to tell him, 'Now earn it!'? Give the guy a break -- this is a great day for him and for all of us."

I went back and re-read what I had written. And I listened for far too long yesterday to the right wing hate machine who did what they could to crap all over Barack's big day. Did I -- and others on the left -- do the same?

We are weary, weary of war. The trillions that will have gone to these two wars have helped to bankrupt us as a nation -- financially and morally. To think of all the good we could have done with all that money! Two months of the War in Iraq would pay for all the wells that need to be dug in the Third World for drinking water! Obama is moving too slow for most of us -- but he needs to know we are with him and we stand beside him as he attempts to turn eight years of sheer madness around. Who could do that in nine months? Superman? Thor? Mitch McConnell?

Instead of waiting to see what the president is going to do, we all need to be pro-active and push the agenda that we want to see enacted. What keeps us from forming the same local groups we put together to get out the vote last November? C'mon! We're the majority now -- the majority by a significant margin! We call the shots -- and we need to tell this wimpy Congress to get busy and do what we say -- or else.

All I ask of those who voted for Obama is to not pile on him too quickly. Yes, make your voice heard (his phone number is 202-456-1414). But don't abandon the best hope we've had in our lifetime for change. And for God's sake, don't head to bummerville if he says or does something we don't like. Do you ever see Republicans behave that way? I mean, the Right had 20 years of Republican presidents and they still couldn't get prayer in the public schools, or outlaw abortion, or initiate a flat tax or put our Social Security into the stock market. They did a lot of damage, no doubt about that, but on the key issues that the Christian Right fought for, they came up nearly empty handed. No wonder they've been driven crazy lately. They'll never have it as good again as they've had it since Reagan took office.

But -- do you ever see them looking all gloomy and defeated? No! They keep on fighting! Every day. Our side? At the first sign of wavering, we just pack up our toys and go home.

So, at least for this weekend, let us celebrate what people elsewhere are celebrating -- that America now has a sane and smart man in the White House, a man who truly wants a world at peace for his two daughters.

Many, for the past couple days (yes, myself included), have grumbled, "What has he done to earn this prize?" How 'bout this:

The simple fact that he was elected was reason enough for him to be the recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

Because on that day the murderous actions of the Bush/Cheney years were totally and thoroughly rebuked. One man -- a man who opposed the War in Iraq from the beginning -- offered to end the insanity. The world has stood by in utter horror for the past eight years as they watched the descendants of Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson light the fuse of our own self-destruction. We flipped off the nations on this planet by abandoning Kyoto and then proceeded to melt eight more years worth of the polar ice caps. We invaded two nations that didn't attack us, failed to find the real terrorists and, in effect, ignited our own wave of terror. People all over the world wondered if we had gone mad.

And if all that wasn't enough, the outgoing Joker presided over the worst global financial collapse since the Great Depression.

So, yeah, at precisely 11: 00pm ET on November 4, 2008, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. And the 66 million people who voted for him won it, too. By the time he took the stage at midnight ET in the Grant Park Historic Hippie Battlefield in downtown Chicago, billions of people around the globe were already breathing a huge sigh of relief. It was as if, in that instant, one man did bring the promise of peace to the world -- and most were ready to go wherever he wanted to go to achieve that end. Never before had the election of one man made every other nation feel like they had won, too. When you've got billions of people ready, willing and able to join a cause like this, well, a prize in Oslo is the least that you deserve.

One other thought. The Peace Prize historically has been given to those who have worked to throw off the yoke of racial discrimination and segregation (Martin Luther King, Jr., Desmond Tutu). I think the Nobel committee, in awarding Obama the prize, was also rewarding the fact that something profound had happened in a nation that was founded on racial genocide, built on racist slavery, and held back for a hundred-plus years by vestiges of hateful bigotry (which can still be found on display at teabagger rallies and daily talk radio). The fact that this one man could cause this seismic historical event to occur -- and to do so with such grace and humility, never succumbing to the bait, but still not backing down (yes, he asked to be sworn in as "Barack Hussein Obama"!) -- is more than reason enough he should be in Oslo to meet the King on December 10. Maybe he could take us along with him. 'Cause I also suspect the Nobel committee was tipping its hat to all of us -- we, the American people, had conquered some of our racism and did the truly unexpected. After seeing searing images of our black fellow citizens left to drown in New Orleans -- and poor whites seeing their own treated no better than the black man they had been raised to hate -- we had all seen enough. It was time for change.

Thank you, Barack Obama, for giving us the opportunity to redeem ourselves. Now for the tasks ahead. We need you to do all that you promised to do. We need it. The world needs it.

My prediction for the future? You become the first *two-time* winner of the Nobel Peace Prize! Yeah!

Fred (that's Norwegian for "Peace"),
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

[Nickdfresh]

He said, "hard on Obama." HuhUHUHuHUhUhuHUHUHuHuHUhUhhuhuhUhUhuh....

[kwame k]

Wow, The Noble Peace Prize has turned into The Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame!

[sadaist]

Please tell me what the idiots you voted for like Bush achieved in their first nine months besides having an airliner flying into our skyscrapers?


I'm not saying he has done less than other Presidents. My point is that he has done nothing to deserve this award. If he follows through on all of his promises to make friends & peace, which is a shitload, fuck, I'd hand it to him myself.

I honestly believe he would rather not have won. Now he's thinking aww fuck, this is really gonna turn the heat on me. As if it weren't already. But what's he to do? Decline?

It's not his fault he won it. Just the politics behind the nominating & awarding process.

[sadaist]

Wow, The Noble Peace Prize has turned into The Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame!


It should have gone to Dave & Ed. Who woulda thought they'd ever complete a successful tour?

[FORD]

If they actually make a new album by next spring, I'll be the first to nominate them.

[Nickdfresh]

I'm not saying he has done less than other Presidents. My point is that he has done nothing to deserve this award. If he follows through on all of his promises to make friends & peace, which is a shitload, fuck, I'd hand it to him myself.

I don't disagree with any of that. He doesn't really deserve the award, certainly not yet. But there seem to be those that want to blame for receiving it as if he nominated himself...

But very clearly, the prize-giver Swedes did this to pressure him on the Israel-Palestinian conflict as well as Iran.

Personally, I think the people that should of gotten the award are the Iranians facing execution from their cunt gov't for the demonstrations over the stolen election...


I honestly believe he would rather not have won. Now he's thinking aww fuck, this is really gonna turn the heat on me. As if it weren't already. But what's he to do? Decline?

It's not his fault he won it. Just the politics behind the nominating & awarding process.

I agree he would rather have not won, or probably would rather have won the award at the end of his term(s)...

[Blackflag]

And this line: "Obama gives great speeches that other people write. Motherfucker can read terrific." --Could be said about Ronald Reagan...


Um, Obama is no more a "sham" than any other president, and substantially less of one than the past several we had. Please tell me what the idiots you voted for like Bush achieved in their first nine months besides having an airliner flying into our skyscrapers?

This is actually an excellent opportunity for you to look up what a strawman argument is. What do you think - is today the day?

[standin]

This is actually an excellent opportunity for you to look up what a strawman argument is. What do you think - is today the day?


This is actually an excellent opportunity for you to research my involvement in death porn of crushing and killing small animals with high heels. What do you think - is today the day?
~._.~

[letsrock]

Absolutely not. I've actually accomplished some things over the last 10 months.

I agree, so they should start passing them out with the food stamps.
What a wonderful Socialist country were becoming.
I'm sure Onigga is so proud.

Did Obama ever have corn rows?
If you post a pic of him with them i'm sure you may win the Peace prize.

Do it.

Obama is about as good as Eric Mangini.
Two fucking idiots.

[Nickdfresh]

This is actually an excellent opportunity for you to look up what a strawman argument is. What do you think - is today the day?

I think you should have used two question marks instead of one as you wrote two interrogative sentences, not one, asshole. :)

And please point out the "strawman argument?" Maybe you can Google that after Googling "hanging sheetrock?"

[Nickdfresh]

Bump for Panamark. :)