Ross Douthat is ruined by the Times. As pointed out by the Gentlemen, it took courage for Obama to accept the Peace prize; turning it down would have been the cheap, easy political stunt. Rejecting the Nobel would have been a rejection of the world in direct contravention to his own rhetoric. He accepted it on behalf of America; really that should be enough said.
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Otto Kerner 7:22 pm on October 12, 2009 Permalink |
Wait, wait. I love America, but you think it deserves a Nobel Peace Prize?
aziz 7:25 pm on October 12, 2009 Permalink |
you are making the mistake of assuming a Peace Prize is an Award. It isn’t.
Otto Kerner 7:56 pm on October 12, 2009 Permalink |
Well, it’s stated aim is to be an award: as you quoted in your blog post, it’s supposed to go to “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work” for XYZ. As you point, it’s not actually being used for that purpose; no friggin’ kidding it isn’t. That’s what people are upset about. Mr. Obama is still the head of a government that is conducting multiple wars which are illegal under its own laws, and he has made no firm commitment to stop doing either one of them, and he apparently wants to ramp up one of them and maybe, just maybe invade Pakistan as well. And he has obviously done absolutely zero and nothing of any kind to reduce standing armies — and I would be shocked if the idea had ever once crossed his mind — but according to you this is excusable because contemptible thugs and rogues like Yasser Arafat and Henry Kissinger didn’t reduce their standing armies either. So, no, hell no, war isn’t peace, even if you are less bad than your predecessor was, and war doesn’t promote fraternity between nations and it certainly outweighs any peace conferences Mr. Obama may have organised, although I can’t say I really remember there being any of those.
Anyway, discussion of Mr. Obama’s merits as a Nobel laureate are a digression from my original question about America in some sense deserving a Nobel Peace Prize. I take that, since your reply was to point out that it’s not award, this means you agree it was undeserved.
thabet 10:25 pm on October 12, 2009 Permalink |
Let’s not get carried away: it was a prize/award given by a handful of Norwegians. It doesn’t represent what “the world” thinks.
aziz 5:50 am on October 13, 2009 Permalink
actually, it kind fof does, in a way – its a symbol of … dare I say it? hope and change.
thabet 9:41 am on October 13, 2009 Permalink
I disagree entirely.
I don’t mind Obama winning it, and even think it has potential benefits for genuine peace in some places.
But please let’s get over the view this was “the world” speaking. It wasn’t.
shams 8:23 pm on October 12, 2009 Permalink |
lol.
Chunky Reese Witherspoon ruined Douthat.
He was never more than Bill Kristol with more hair and a thesaurus.
Chunky Reese made him terminally sexually unsastified and a mysogynist.