So, should Barry-O have accepted?

Well you know your stuff, so I won't try to convince you otherwise. My main idea, in a nutshell, is that Obama doesn't deserve it and he admitted that he doesn't deserve it, so I think the people who are insulting him or getting angry at him should lighten up. Sure, you're able to keep your cool about it, but have you seen the responses on several videos of the current situation or the post on forums?


Oh, and on the issue of the many of people who could have gotten the award, yeah that sucks for sure. It's probably discouraging to work so hard, be so dedicated to a cause... and then see that it's been awarded to Obama. But there's this saying someone once told me, "The reward is the act of the struggle, not what you win." Sure they didn't get an award, but if the tasks they carry out come from the heart and they enjoy those task/take pride in them, should it really matter if they get an award for it? They should know themselves that they've done well.

Still, all that aside, I agree that there are people much more deserving of the award. To give it to him so shortly after his victory is kinda lame and unfair. So if anyone should be taking heat, it's the Committee that made the choice.


And suppose Obama did turn it down, then what would people be saying?

"Obama is an arrogant asshole, he thinks he's too good for an award. He's so cocky. Blah.. blah.. blah.."

Nobody has ever turned down the Nobel Peace Prize. It was a lose, lose situation.

No, it's that he is NOT good ENOUGH for the Nobel Peace Prize. Totally different connotation, iSquall, from that he is TOO good for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I can't see this as a lose lose situation, especially when the Nobel Peace Prize is based on accomplishments. By relevance, FDR would have won the Nobel Peace Prize for collectively unifying the nation, public, private, and governmental, but did he get the prize? No, and neither should Obama. His resume is still thin.

I agree with ISquall. You would have flamed Obama anyway so. In the end is the committee's fault for offering it to him in the first place.

I'm criticizing Obama for not declining the Nobel Peace Prize when by declining the prize would have been admirable in my eyes than accepting by it, because unlike some users, I know what the Nobel Peace Prize is and what it entails. He did not deserve it, and most people would agree with that opinion.

Many people tend to forget that the Nobel Peace Prize (as well as the one for Literature) is these days a purely political award, that has nothing to do with actual merit. As early as 1935 (although, in that case, the motives were most noble), the prize has been routinely abused as a political tool; the 1973, 1978, 1979, 1994, 2001, 2006, 2007 and 2008 nominations alone speak volumes.

In this context, I welcome this ludicrous decision, because it may open some people's eyes as to the actual worth of this award (which is nothing). I'm not counting on it though.

I think we all agree that he didn't deserve it.

I do believe he is worthy of a nomination, but he is nowhere close to deserving the award.

Glad that you agree.

@g-money:
The way I see it, Obama will be criticized for anything and everything that he will ever do (while he is president). I'm almost sure of that. This was no different. Trust me, just because you wouldn't say anything (if he declined it), g-money, doesn't mean others wouldn't have. If there is anything that people seem to love more than their own inflated egos, it's the ability to complain about anything they can.

OBAMA knows he does not deserve the award. He said it. Criticizing him for it is just plain dumb in my eyes because he acknowledged the idea that he doesn't deserve it. So why is it still an issue? Why not just drop it? And since when did people put such huge emphasis on the nobel peace prize?

But hey, as I said a few times already, people love to complain and criticize whenever possible.

Edit: I support the post below, and a main part of it;

Apparently a lot of Europeans disagree with you. Everyone was so fed up with Bush Administration that it was a welcome sight to have anyone else come to power in the United States. So much so that we are willing to bank on Obama's good will enough to give him the Nobel Peace Prize. What does that tell you?

I may be a minority, but it would have been just as much an insult to refuse to accept it, than to humbly decline. Humbless or vanity? Either way it is a lose-lose situation because someone will always complain about it just because it is a great foothold for mudslinging.

Some of you think too highly of the Nobel Peace Prize. It really has turned into nothing more than a political showplace as gibbous stated. It really is just a great device to use in some political fashion, nothing more than that I'm afraid.

And when that happens, it loses all value. The Nobel Peace Prize used to mean something, and I think it still does. If the Nobel Peace Prize Committee was so illegitimate, it's function would have long been ceased and extinct.

Seriously? After Henry Fucking Kissinger got it a Peace prize still means something?
Good one.

Actually, I would have gained respect for Obama if he turned the award down.



You only made my closing point from the first post. Pure politics.



Point taken.

@gibbous: I see your point too. Perhaps it's all politics, this Nobel Peace Prize committee, though I optimistically hope otherwise.

Okay, lets try this... Who else was nominated for the award and how did they lose to Obama if he is such an unworthy candidate?

Nice try but, the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, lists of nominations are held for 50 years, so the official list of the Nobel Peace Prize Nominees for 2009 will not be available until at least 2059.

How about we not wait 50 years and you come up with a reason as to why he deserved the award from the date of August 4, 196 to October 5, 2009. All I know is that he flew around the world apologizing for his country not being like them. Increased the National debt, constantly blames he predecessor for every problem that he faces instead of a manning up and just fixing the problem without a bunch of partisan whining. Not to mention being the commander in Chief of two wars. Not exactly PEACE prize material if you ask me but, Gibbous has already proven that the award actually means nothing.

Empty suit winning an empty award with a bunch of empty minds backing him up.

You do know he's receiving flak from both the right and left right? Hold the, "Hate right wing conservatives" propaganda please.



You've never seen any other acceptance speeches? A popular phrase said in acceptance speech is, "I don't deserve this prize/honor/etc."

If he really believed he didn't deserve it, he would have turned it down. We all know actions speak louder than words and most of us know, Obama has proven to have a bark that's louder than his bite.



You're only looking at it from a pessimistic standpoint. In my opinion, if he turned down the Nobel Peace Prize, he would have received a lot of respect even from those who don't look at Obama in a positive way.



We aren't discussing the nobility of the Nobel Peace Prize. We're discussing the issue of Obama's dignity as a good president.

He's hardly getting the "flak" form the Left as the Right, and most of those Democrats who do are the remaining members of the Conservative Coalition. Besides propaganda is the name of the game when talking about anything politically oriented, if you don't like it then ignore it or counter it.



You make it sound like it's only because it is Obama. Any president who is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize should accept it. I may be the minority, but I stand firm with the believe that it is a greater insult to not accept it than to humbly accept.

I guess the amount of flak from the left really can't be measured by you and I since both of us are too biased to make this decision. But as for propaganda, I know it's the name of the game. I just told you that your opinion/propaganda didn't really belong since people generally agree on both sides that he's not deserving of the NPP.



How can you derive that from my statement? Now you're just trying to ostracize me by making me out to be the "bad guy". All I said on the issue was that Obama did not do the right thing on accepting the NPP regardless of it being a political tool. I would have said the same for any president I did not consider to be eligible, and Obama clearly isn't and I haven't seen you say otherwise. You only bring up the fact that any president should have accepted it, honorable or not.

Also, how can one humbly accept a prize they're not worthy of receiving? There is nothing humble or honorable about it.

Who is to say he didn't deserve it? Last time I checked the opinions of a handful of citizens doesn't really add up to a lot. I don't know where you get your articles, but there are just as many people who are either indifferent, or think he is deserving, as those who think he shouldn't have accepted it.

Personally I don't really care whether he deserved it or not. It's a vein prize that doesn't mean a tenth of what it used to. It's just a stupid object for a stupid title that means nothing nowadays.