There’s been a ton of coverage about Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
From CNN:
Obama: Nobel Peace Prize is ‘call to action’
“President Obama said Friday that he was “surprised and deeply humbled” by the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award him the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
The committee said it honored Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
Obama said he viewed the decision less as a recognition of his own accomplishments and more as “a call to action.”
The decision appeared to catch most observers by surprise. Nominations for the prize had to be postmarked by February 1, only 12 days after Obama took office. The committee sent out its solicitation for nominations last September, two months before Obama was elected president.
I want to highlight a few points.
First off, I’m all for rewarding people worthy of recognition. But what could any president possibly due in twelve days worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize nomination? Maybe if he had ended the Afghanistan or Iraq war but those wars are, sadly, still ongoing.
Next up, Obama delayed his meeting with the Dalai Lama, Nobel prize winner himself, to placate China.
From the Washington Post:
Obama’s Meeting With the Dalai Lama Is Delayed
“In an attempt to gain favor with China, the United States pressured Tibetan representatives to postpone a meeting between the Dalai Lama and President Obama until after Obama’s summit with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, scheduled for next month, according to diplomats, government officials and other sources familiar with the talks.
For the first time since 1991, the Tibetan spiritual leader will visit Washington this week and not meet with the president. Since 1991, he has been here 10 times. Most times the meetings have been “drop-in” visits at the White House. The last time he was here, in 2007, however, George W. Bush became the first sitting president to meet with him publicly, at a ceremony at the Capitol in which he awarded the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress’s highest civilian award.”
This is particularly noteworthy because even Bush met with the Dalai Lama.
Lastly, I want to highlight Ron Paul’s thoughts on the situation. He makes excellent point after point in this Campaign for Liberty YouTube video:
Posted by Vixen as News at 11:13 AM CDT