Nobel Peace Prize gossip is still buzzing all over the internet after President Barack Obama was one of the most recent recipients. The surprise announcement, and, to many people, the surprise acceptance of the Prize has left people feeling many different emotions around the nation.
Many allude to President Roosevelt’s refusal to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in 1908 until many years after his presidency as a course that President Obama could have taken. However, many others simply say that he will stand up to all of the promises that he’s made, so now is as good a time as any to award his for not so much as what he’s done in his presidency thus far, but what he will do based on his promises.
And then there are those who are furious over the healthcare battle and cannot fathom how a President, who hasn’t even been in office for a full year yet, can walk away with the Nobel Peace Prize when this healthcare debate is getting nowhere fast. It’s a touchy subject all the way around.
When Mr. Obama was nominated for the peace prize in February, he was still five months away from delivering his Cairo speech that called for a new beginning in relations between the US and Muslim world.
It was eight months before his UN speech in New York last month in which he pledged that the US would re-engage with the world after the isolation of the Bush administration.
Mr. Obama has also launched a policy initiative to reduce nuclear weapons, sought to restart the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and declared he was open to renewed diplomacy with North Korea and Iran.
But most commentators said the challenges lay ahead of the President, not behind him, and pointed out he was still fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (The Australian)
There are some rough roads ahead for President Obama in order for him to stand up to all of the massive promises he has made. What seems to irk people even more is that our President was up against the largest number of Nobel Peace Prize nominees in Prize history, including many who have suffered for years standing against tyranny and oppression.
Perhaps it is the impact that this Prize will have on his presidency and his motivation that will make all of the difference. Perhaps the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a man who has such high hopes that the Nobel committee couldn’t help but motivate them.
The Nobel Prize Committee granted the award to President Obama for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” (CNN)
According to a CNN piece by Julian E. Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, President Obama is entering a very crucial time in his presidency when big decisions regarding climate control, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and Iran’s nuclear programs. Is it too soon to award the Nobel Peace Prize to a president based on his words and not actions? While he is an eloquent and motivational speaker, I suppose only time will tell.
