The ONE wins one...

[Buzz Killington]

I truly have no words for this...

President Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize
By The Associated Press
October 09, 2009, 6:26AM

OSLO (AP) -- President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his nascent initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and replace unilateral American action with international diplomacy and cooperation.

Nobel observers were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in the Obama presidency, which began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama woke up to the news a little before 6 a.m. EDT. The White House had no immediate comment on the announcement, which took the administration by surprise.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama's calls for peace and cooperation but recognized initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the U.S. role in combating climate change.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," said Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Committee.

Still, the U.S. remains at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Congress has yet to pass a law reducing carbon emissions and there has been little significant reduction in global nuclear stockpiles since Obama took office.

"So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far. He is still at an early stage. He is only beginning to act," said former Polish President Lech Walesa, a 1983 Nobel Peace laureate.

"This is probably an encouragement for him to act. Let's see if he perseveres. Let's give him time to act," Walesa said.

The award appeared to be a slap at President George W. Bush from a committee that harshly criticized Obama's predecessor for his largely unilateral military action in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. The Nobel committee praised Obama's creation of "a new climate in international politics" and said he had returned multilateral diplomacy and institutions like the U.N. to the center of the world stage.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, who won the prize in 1984, said Obama's award shows great things are expected from him in coming years.

"It's an award coming near the beginning of the first term of office of a relatively young president that anticipates an even greater contribution towards making our world a safer place for all," Tutu said. "It is an award that speaks to the promise of President Obama's message of hope."

Until seconds before the award, speculation had focused on a wide variety of candidates besides Obama: Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a Colombian senator, a Chinese dissident and an Afghan woman's rights activist, among others. The Nobel committee received a record 205 nominations for this year's prize, though it was not immediately apparent who nominated Obama.

"The exciting and important thing about this prize is that it's given to someone ... who has the power to contribute to peace," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.

Obama is the third sitting U.S. president to win the award: President Theodore Roosevelt won in 1906 and President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the prize in 1919.

The Nobel committee chairman said after awarding the 2002 prize to former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, for his mediation in international conflicts, that it should be seen as a "kick in the leg" to the Bush administration's hard line in the buildup to the Iraq war.

Five years later, the committee honored Bush's adversary in the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore, for his campaign to raise awareness about global warming.

Obama was to meet with his top advisers on the Afghan war on Friday to consider a request by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to send as many as 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan as the U.S war there enters its ninth year.

Obama ordered 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan earlier this year and has continued the use of unmanned drones for attacks on militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a strategy devised by the Bush administration. The attacks often kill or injure civilians living in the area.

In July talks in Moscow, Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed that their negotiators would work out a new limit on delivery vehicles for nuclear warheads of between 500 and 1,100. They also agreed that warhead limits would be reduced from the current range of 1,700-2,200 to as low as 1,500. The United States now as about 2,200 such warheads, compared to about 2,800 for the Russians.

But there has been no word on whether either side has started to act on the reductions.

Former Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said Obama has already provided outstanding leadership in the effort to prevent nuclear proliferation.

"In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself," ElBaradei said. "He has shown an unshakeable commitment to diplomacy, mutual respect and dialogue as the best means of resolving conflicts."

Obama also has attempted to restart stalled talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, but just a day after Obama hosted the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in New York, Israeli officials boasted that they had fended off U.S. pressure to halt settlement construction. Moderate Palestinians said they felt undermined by Obama's failure to back up his demand for a freeze.

Nominators for the prize include former laureates; current and former members of the committee and their staff; members of national governments and legislatures; university professors of law, theology, social sciences, history and philosophy; leaders of peace research and foreign affairs institutes; and members of international courts of law.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation welcomed the award on behalf of its founder Nelson Mandela, who shared the 1993 Peace Prize with then-South African President F.W. DeKlerk for their efforts at ending years of apartheid and laying the groundwork for a democratic country.

"We trust that this award will strengthen his commitment, as the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, to continue promoting peace and the eradication of poverty," the foundation said.

In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."

Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded by Swedish institutions, he said the peace prize should be given out by a five-member committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament. Sweden and Norway were united under the same crown at the time of Nobel's death.

The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel's guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change.

Third sitting president to win prize

President Barack Obama is not the first sitting U.S. president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize -- Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt were the first two, and he joins a long list of Americans whose efforts have drawn the attention of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

U.S. winners of the Nobel Peace Prize include:

1906, Theodore Roosevelt

1912, Elihu Root

1919, Woodrow Wilson

1925, Charles G. Dawes

1929, Frank B. Kellogg

1931, Jane Addams

1931, Nicholas Murray Butler

1945, Cordell Hull

1946, Emily Greene Balch

1946, John R. Mott

1950, Ralph Bunche

1953, George C. Marshall

1962, Linus Pauling

1964, Martin Luther King Jr.

1970, Norman Borlaug

1973, Henry Kissinger

1986, Elie Wiesel

1997, Jody Williams

2002, Jimmy Carter

2007, Al Gore

2009, Barack Obama

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/10/president_obama_wins_nobel_pea.html

[Tarheel]

 


This prize has been a joke ever since it was 'awarded' to the terrorist, murderer Yassir Arafat.  I can only respond with laughter.


Oh, by the way, Bill Clinton still hasn't gotten the Prize...even funnier.

[Tiger Wench]

I read three different atricles about this farce of a prize, and EVERY ONE made comment about how this is just another slap at George Bush...  Like he gives a RAT'S ASS...

GOOD GRIEF!!  They totally need to get over him!!  How long will they hate him? 

[Tarheel]

I read three different atricles about this farce of a prize, and EVERY ONE made comment about how this is just another slap at George Bush...  Like he gives a RAT'S ASS...

GOOD GRIEF!!  They totally need to get over him!!  How long will they hate him? 

Where's that "It's all Bush's Fault!" smiley?


We'll be hearing the hate for him for years...remember there was no love shown for Reagan until his funeral.

[Tarheel]

The DNC itself has "no boundaries and no shame" bringing up the Taliban and Hamas as comparative to the GOP response to The ONE!  Especially after yesterday when the White House said that they no longer consider the Taliban as the enemy...not to mention Hamas actually releasing a statement prior to the US election last year 'endorsing' The ONE as a candidate!

Here's an excerpt from a commentary in The Politico this morning, all emphasis is my own:

October 09, 2009

DNC official: GOP siding with terrorists

A top Democratic National Committee official reacted furiously to a statement from Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele mocking -- and describing as "unfortunate" -- President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

   "The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists - the Taliban and Hamas this morning - in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize," DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse told POLITICO. "Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize - an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride - unless of course you are the Republican Party.

   "The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame...Woodhouse said.
...

Full comments:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1009/DNC_official_GOP_siding_with_terrorists.html#comments

*Edit:

Thought that I'd add this:

B. Hussein Obama!

Big surprise there.

Here's the rest of the article:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61631

And this:

Hamas terrorists make 2008 U.S. presidential pick
Cite need for change, excuse opposition to Carter meeting
Posted: April 14, 2008
10:09 pm Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – On the eve of a planned meeting with former President Jimmy Carter, the isolated Hamas terrorist organization has expressed "hope" Sen. Barack Obama will win the presidential elections and "change" America's foreign policy.

"We like Mr. Obama, and we hope that he will win the elections," Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas' top political adviser in the Gaza Strip, said in an exclusive interview with WND and with the John Batchelor Show on WABC Radio in New York.
...

Article:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61631

[AUTiger1]

This prize has been a joke ever since it was 'awarded' to the terrorist, murderer Yassir Arafat.  I can only respond with laughter.


Oh, by the way, Bill Clinton still hasn't gotten the Prize...even funnier.

I was about to say, I have no idea what the douchebag did to deserve it, but then thinking back on the past winners, Arafat, Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela....etc....etc....etc... I remembered what a farce the award had become and thought "hmm".  Fittingly though, it is one more thing he and Jimmah have in common. 

As far as the DNC comments, I expect nothing less from the spin machine.  The GOP is siding with terrorist?  "Sure thing media, you print it, I will believe it."  What a fucking joke.

You know Al Gore winning it caused fits of rage from Bill Clinton, I bet this really burns his ass up.

[Tarheel]

I was about to say, I have no idea what the douchebag did to deserve it, but then thinking back on the past winners, Arafat, Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela....etc....etc....etc... I remembered what a farce the award had become and thought "hmm".  Fittingly though, it is one more thing he and Jimmah have in common. 

As far as the DNC comments, I expect nothing less from the spin machine.  The GOP is siding with terrorist?  "Sure thing media, you print it, I will believe it."  What a phuking joke.

You know Al Gore winning it caused fits of rage from Bill Clinton, I bet this really burns his ass up.

Absolutely!  The MSM is saying this is a slap in the face to Pres. Bush...that may be true but it's this ( ) to Bubba Clinton!  You won't hear any of the media clowns say that though.

[jadennis]

Giving it to him at all is stupid, but the fact that the selection was made less than two weeks into his presidency is even more ludicrous.  

I don't like Jimmy Carter, but if someone somewhere gave him a humanitarian award of some sort, I would say, "okay, I can see that".  But Obama?  Seriously?  For what?  Talking to Russia about reducing the number of warheads we have?  Congratulations, welcome to the 1990s when that talk started.

It just scares me to know there are people that dumb outside of Tuscaloosa and in position to award a prize of this magnitude.  I mean, who runs this thing...Rosie, Leno, and CNN?

   

[AUTiger1]

Absolutely!  The MSM is saying this is a slap in the face to Pres. Bush...that may be true but it's this ( ) to Bubba Clinton!  You won't hear any of the media clowns say that though.

Wench is right, they really do need to get over him.  She asked the question, how long are they going to hate the guy.  How long are they going to allow that hate to blame him on everything that the current admin and the current congress are fucking up?  I imagine it will go on as long as it will work.  I just hope that people are seeing the light and that the buyers remorse will show up next year at the polls.

[AUTailgatingRules]

Obama can't even bring peace to the streets of Chicago, how do they think he can do it all over the world?

[AUChizad]

Ok, first let me piss you people off, followed by a statement I know you'll agree with.

Republicans are the new anti-Americans. They picked up where Democrats left off in 2008. The hippies that would rather see America be attacked, "blame America first", and cheer for Hugo Chavez pissed me off to no end in those days. Now you have Republicans hoping the economy tanks, jobless rates increase, etc.

You have Republicans cheering that America lost the Olympics (this disgusted me as much as hearing a rant from Janeane Garofalo about how America's the bad guy):

http://mediamatters.org/research/200910020025



And now you have this. Americans disgusted that the American President won the Nobel Peace Prize. Other countries seeing that is a good thing for this country, no matter how you slice it. I know, I know. "FUCK those hippie-assed other countries, we don't need'em!" Well, I have nothing to say to that besides that's simply ignorant.

Now for the part you'll like. The guy fighting two offensive (as opposed to defensive) wars in other countries and is considering sending more troops into one of them just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Bush was Satan incarnate because of basically this same strategy. Is he invading these countries and increasing troops in a more "peaceful" way? Afghanistan has seen its bloodiest year to date under his watch.

And this missile defense program that justified the award? How has our relationship with Russia changed? Have they stopped assisting Iran in the development of its Nuclear program? Have they stopped selling arms to radicals in Darfur? Have the stopped supplying weapons to Hugo Chavez?

[AUTailgatingRules]

I did not root for America not to get the olympics.  I was however amused at the naive attempt of Obama to go stump for the games.  Being the FIRST pres to ever try this stunt, his handlers should have at least done a little prep work to make sure that we had the votes before allowing him to make such a fool of himself. 

As for the nobel prize, I believe the nobel committee is trying to tie Obama's hands in many ways.  This will make any decision on offensive action against Iran much harder, troop escalation in afghanistan much harder, will hasten an early exit in Iraq, will force the closure of Gitmo with no real plan of what to do witht he terrorists, etc....  America must maintain it's place as the strongest most feared superpower and with Obama's policies and him now wanting to live up to being a "nobel peace prize" winner will make this an imposibility.

I will never root against America, I will continue to root against Obama.  He is destroying this great country from the inside by destroying our economy, weakening our defenses, and methodically reducing our freedoms.

[jadennis]

And now you have this. Americans disgusted that the American President won the Nobel Peace Prize. Other countries seeing that is a good thing for this country, no matter how you slice it. I know, I know. "phuk those hippie-assed other countries, we don't need'em!" Well, I have nothing to say to that besides that's simply ignorant.

I don't know if I see it like that.  My guess is most of the "common" people in other countries are asking the same thing I am...why?  What has he done to earn this? 

He talked (during his campaign) about diplomacy and ending unilateral talks with countries like North Korea and getting out of Iraq.  Good for him, he talked about a few things. 

But what on earth has he done?  He could have said absolutely nothing and polls would reflect that the rest of the world likes him more than Bush.  It's not because he's done anything, it's because he's simply not Bush.  He's like the back up QB everyone loves because the starting QB sucks.  It doesn't matter if the back up sucks worse, people still want him.

I wasn't happy when we didn't get the Olympics.  Having the games here is always a great thing.  However, anyone getting the Nobel Prize for basically doing nothing or for what he may do in the future is ridiculous. 

The fact that it's Obama just makes it worse because the US media will just have another reason to wet themselves over him.

[AUChizad]

I don't know if I see it like that.  My guess is most of the "common" people in other countries are asking the same thing I am...why?  What has he done to earn this? 

He talked (during his campaign) about diplomacy and ending unilateral talks with countries like North Korea and getting out of Iraq.  Good for him, he talked about a few things. 

But what on earth has he done?  He could have said absolutely nothing and polls would reflect that the rest of the world likes him more than Bush.  It's not because he's done anything, it's because he's simply not Bush.  He's like the back up QB everyone loves because the starting QB sucks.  It doesn't matter if the back up sucks worse, people still want him.

I wasn't happy when we didn't get the Olympics.  Having the games here is always a great thing.  However, anyone getting the Nobel Prize for basically doing nothing or for what he may do in the future is ridiculous. 

The fact that it's Obama just makes it worse because the US media will just have another reason to wet themselves over him.

Completely agree.

[wreckingball]

Who cares? It's not like he won the Heisman.

[dallaswareagle]

Who cares? It's not like he won the Heisman.

Season is not over with yet.

[Kaos]

You have Republicans cheering that America lost the Olympics (this disgusted me as much as hearing a rant from Janeane Garofalo about how America's the bad guy):

I am one who cheered my ass off when Chicago was denied the Olympics.  It's not about Republicanism or Democratism.  It's about graft, greed and avarice in the sewers of Chicago. 

[Tiger Wench]

I am one who cheered my ass off when Chicago was denied the Olympics.  It's not about Republicanism or Democratism.  It's about graft, greed and avarice in the sewers of Chicago. 

AB-SO-FUCKING-LUTELY!!!!!!!!!!!!

They don't have money for basic city services, their housing projects are equivalent to a Fifth World Country, yet they drop how many millions trying to get an ATHLETIC EVENT in their city?  Can't you just imagine the news when some international athlete is mugged at gunpoint during the marathon?

Not that Rio is much better, but next to Detroit, Chicago is the absolute worst imaginable place to host an Olympics in the US.

[wreckingball]

Season is not over with yet.

I wouldn't be surprised. I'd write him in if I got to vote for it.

[Tarheel]

Ok, first let me piss you people off, followed by a statement I know you'll agree with.

Republicans are the new anti-Americans. They picked up where Democrats left off in 2008. The hippies that would rather see America be attacked, "blame America first", and cheer for Hugo Chavez pissed me off to no end in those days. Now you have Republicans hoping the economy tanks, jobless rates increase, etc.

You have Republicans cheering that America lost the Olympics (this disgusted me as much as hearing a rant from Janeane Garofalo about how America's the bad guy):
...

And now you have this. Americans disgusted that the American President won the Nobel Peace Prize. Other countries seeing that is a good thing for this country, no matter how you slice it. I know, I know. "phuk those hippie-assed other countries, we don't need'em!" Well, I have nothing to say to that besides that's simply ignorant.

Now for the part you'll like. The guy fighting two offensive (as opposed to defensive) wars in other countries and is considering sending more troops into one of them just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Bush was Satan incarnate because of basically this same strategy. Is he invading these countries and increasing troops in a more "peaceful" way? Afghanistan has seen its bloodiest year to date under his watch.

And this missile defense program that justified the award? How has our relationship with Russia changed? Have they stopped assisting Iran in the development of its Nuclear program? Have they stopped selling arms to radicals in Darfur? Have the stopped supplying weapons to Hugo Chavez?

Well, Chizad, you didn't piss me off.  It's great to see you posting in this Forum again (lately the same could be said of me though).

I should have said that what I thought RNC Chairman Michael Steele said about 'Chairman Maobama' getting the Nobel Peace Prize was spiteful, malicious, and just a tad snarky.  It would have been fine to say that had he preceded it with something less begrudging towards The ONE personally.  I really do prefer to see the Republicans not sink to the level of Democrats socialists but, hell, they spent like Dems the last few years (and paid the price for it too) leading up to 2008, I guess they think they might as well go the full monty now.

I do agree with Kaos in his comments about the Olympics.  And I think that the corrupt Daleys probably promised the Moon to the Olympic Committee (and The ONE)...speculation, of course, but they've been notorious for that method of operation for years.  I guess Rio gave the committee more.  Someone said this was probably the first rigged election that the Daleys actually lost!

As to the other aspects of what you say the Republicans are hoping for (a tanking economy and higher jobless rates); well, they probably are to be honest with you...as long as it hurts the Dems.  And, like Rush said, I too hope that The ONE's socialist agenda fails before it even gets out of Congress.  It's all politics...and some things never change despite the hope.

At least the checks and balances process hasn't completely failed otherwise we'd have all of The ONE's socialist dream agenda in place already.

Lastly, I'm not disgusted that The ONE was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  I think it's laughable.  Tell me what he's done to deserve it?  I think that's what the world is asking based on what I'm reading in the news today.  The prize is a joke and has been since it was awarded to Yassir Arafat.  It's a favorite leftist award, awarded by leftists, to leftists and has been for 20 years or more.

The other thing about the Nobel Peace Prize that really makes me laugh this year is that Bill Clinton, the man who has actively lobbied for it since he was first elected president, has NOT gotten it...again...and neither did Hillary.

I can see it now...the next meeting on Afghanistan in the White House Situation Room...Chairman Maobama asks for ideas for what the plan is this time; Hillary turns to him and says "I don't know 'Mr. Nobel Laureate'; why don't you phuking tell us!?"  

I need to refer to Hillary though every time I disagree with the Dems and The ONE because I agree with her words here: