Mickey Kaus is cringing also. And the AP’s Jennifer Loven is stumped, verging on incredulous. Even the Huffington Post is somewhat mortified. In fact, liberals seems more upset on some level than conservatives, because I think the Left takes this award seriously. Conservatives stopped doing that around the time Yasir Arafat got his.
But now the me-is-the-world routine is getting embarrassing for liberals. And they don’t want to be seen encouraging what is already a story line for late-night comics. (The “to do” list on Saturday Night Live will now be amended to include “Win Nobel Prize for Doing Nothing.”)
Rubin is quite correct, I know that when the ignoble committee gave the award to an unrepentant terrorist, Arafat, I personally stopped paying any attention to their seriousness. The media is doing its level best to spin this for Obama, but even NPR by this afternoon was having trouble keeping a straight face on this.
Because this really is a joke and casts the Nobel in a very, very bad light, indeed. This is a meaningless award at this point, given for, now, completely non-accomplishments.
Nice move guys, you actually made the award into less than nothing with this.
There is an interesting locution in the MSM today. In memtioning the widespread negative response, it is common to write that it might damage the prize’s reputation. Oh, no it won’t. For anyone who has been paying attention the last few decades, that reputation would have to work very, very hard to get lower.
It was an effort by the Nobel committee to manipulate the American political process in favor of the Far Left. That was why Carter and Gore got awards as well.
But it was also a dumb move. Any “bounce” in the polls from this move will have dissipated within a few days. And it is in 2010 that the Won will need a real boost to protect him from the growing anger of the public. It would have been smarter to have waited until next year before doing this.
Speaking of next year – don’t be surprised if Wade Rathke (the founder of ACORN) wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Roman Polanski is also a possibility, along with William Ayers, Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Nobel committee’s true love – Osama bin Ladin – will have to continue to wait until the time is right.
I had the shock-of-my-life, twice this morning. First, the announcement. Second, Matt Lauer being incredulous at the announcement.
When one considers the people who lost to Obama, one can only be in shock. The list of people nominated who did not win should shame this empty suit into turning down the award.
Chinese Human Rights Activist Hu Jia – imprisoned for campaigning for human rights in the PRC, not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.
Wei Jingsheng, who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms of China’s communist system. — not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama. (Not to mention the symbolic value of awarding a Chinese dissident on the 20th Anniversary of the Tianenmen Square Massacre.)
Greg Mortenson, founder of the Central Asia Institute has built nearly 80 schools, especially for girls, in remote areas of northern Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past 15 years – not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.
Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, a philosophy professor in Jordan who risks his life by advocating interfaith dialogue between Jews and Muslims, also not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.
Afghan human rights activist Sima Samar. She currently leads the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and serves as the U.N. special envoy to Darfur and is apparently also not as worthy as Barack Hussein Obama.
Via Ace of Spades.
I am curious to see if he will win the prize very year of his term?