The Nobel Peace Prize
Tony Branco’s excellent political cartoon about Obama’s Trophy Wall shows political figures “he” has killed, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded in 2009. With that cartoon in mind, I thought I would examine the Nobel Peace Prize, as it has sometimes and sometimes not become a joke.
The Nobel Prize for Peace was established by Alfred Nobel and first given in 1901. According to Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who “…shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” Nobel, said, “The goal was to create a prize for peace that would be given by men and women of action who were active in political life and international affairs — to make a political prize that would have some impact.”
Not A Joke
The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize went to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for political reforms and the end of communist one-party rule in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). He is currently incarcerated as a political prisoner in the PRC. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, for “his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.”
The 2008 Nobel Peace Prize went to Martti Ahtisaari, the tenth President of Finland. He was awarded the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize “for his efforts on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts”.
The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize went to Mohammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank. He is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank, an institution that provides microcredit (small loans to poor people possessing no collateral) to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency.
A Joke
The Nobel Peace Prize 2009 was awarded to Barack H. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised the president’s cooperative approach to global issues, a clear rebuke of the Bush administration’s aversion to international organizations and treaties.
Let’s see. This is the same Obama who had bin Laden, al-Awlaki, and Gaddfai killed, and has the U.S. in five wars? He was inaugurated in January, 2009, and received the prize in October, 2009. He was awarded the prize with no track record at all.
The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 was awarded jointly to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr. “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”
This is the same Al Gore who flies in a private jet, whose has a big carbon footprint, whose personal home uses as much electricity monthly as an average home does annually, and who grew rich hawking the global warming hoax.
This is the same Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) whose e-mails show the whole organization to be a hoax.
So the question is, Do Obama and Gore belong in the same league as the 2006, 2008, an 2010 prize winners. I personally think not. I will leave the 2011 selections to your interpretation.
But that’s just my opinion.
