Topical Tuesday 09 - Obama's Prize

Last week a spirited debate broke out online about whether or not President Obama deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Facebook status updates were filled with people asking what Obama had done to deserve the award while others defended Obama, suggesting that he has done more than enough in his first nine months as President to warrant the award. Someone on Facebook even challenged all naysayers by saying, “if any one of you deserve it more, please list your qualifications.” A friend made the good point that no one really cared about the Nobel Peace Prize before and whether or not past recipients were worthy, so why should everyone all of a sudden take an interest. As Americans, we took interest because the award was given to our sitting President; and whether you agree with it or not, it’s an historical event, and one that bodes well for America’s reputation in Europe and around the world.

Beyond the partisan schism that surrounds Obama at home, other nations around the world and their leaders like Obama, at least they like him more than George W. Bush. Other nations like Obama and that fact has helped heal America’s reputation around the world. Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize is just another sign of Obama bolstering America’s reputation in the international community. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, a committee selected by the Norwegian parliament, chooses who wins the Nobel Peace Prize. So that means a committee with close ties to a European parliament chose the American President to win a distinguished award. It’s true, he may or may not have deserved it, but I think that’s a win for America’s international reputation.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Five Norwegians pick who wins the award and it’s entirely up to them to select who they want. It’s their prerogative to choose whomever they want, whether that’s Obama for what he has done and will hopefully do or Al Gore for highlighting the issue of global warming. It’s a prestigious award given by a small council that doesn’t really have to answer to anybody but the Norwegian parliament. So, if you’re really that concerned with who wins the Nobel Peace Prize, become a Norwegian citizen and get elected to the parliament so you can choose who sits on the Norwegian Nobel Committee.