this is the sound of my eyes rolling

[jdotmi]

"OMG OBAMA WAS ONLY PRESIDENT FOR 11 DAYS WHEN HE WAS NOMINATED!!! OMGWTFBBBQREPUBLICANWINGS"

Y'all do realize that PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is not a pre-requisite for getting a nomination, right? I mean, I assume people have more than half an active brain cell running in their heads despite over 10 years of working in IT. If you're going to argue against his winning of the award, point out the fact that his actual international politics background isn't quite up to par with the other nominees instead of going immediately for the weakest argument you possibly could.

Was he the best possible choice for the award this year? Clearly not. But the Nobel Peace Prize has something of a history of bizzare choices, so this shouldn't surprise anyone.

Edit to Add: http://gothfather.livejournal.com/417713.html

That link pretty well sums up the interwebz asplosion around this.

Comments

[celtcub.livejournal.com]

I'm just not seeing that he's actually DONE anything to deserve it. There's been lots of talking, but not a lot of actual DOING. Even less so on the Human Rights front.

Not a fan of him OR his getting the award. I think he still getting Kudos based solely on the fact that he's the First (Half) Black President™.

[themaskedbeast.livejournal.com]

I admired Obama's acceptance speech - and he very deftly deflected many of the arguments that could be made against him being even nominated for the award. I also believe that he was very wise to say that his nomination was to provide an impetus to policies that the world hoped would be forwarded, rather than as an acknowledgement of his own personal accomplishments.

Of course, IMO the value and credibility of the award itself was greatly diminished when Bush and Blair were nominated for it, with their (and I quote) "bringing a swift end to the conflict in Iraq."

So yeah... his nomination was as much about what is hoped for as anything else. His girls telling him, "Daddy, you won the Nobel Prize, and we have a 3-day weekend coming up" is a dose of perspective we can all use.

...TheMaskedBeast!

[pandarussian.livejournal.com]

(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6868007.ece) Adolf Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by a member of the Swedish parliament in 1939. (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6868007.ece)