Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize • Hacker News Board

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#151

Post by RK » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:18 PM UTC

mahmud wrote: post #139

gaius wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worth noting that ol' Dubya was the only POTUS willing to appear publicly with the Dalai Lama, at the risk of offending China. Clinton didn't, tho' he did meet him, and Obama has refused to even meet him (see link on my other comment).

Dalai Lama, the slave driver .. Google Tibetan history and see what sorts of "religious order" he wants to implement in Tibet. Chinese are an occupying force there, sure, but the Dalai Lama, if he was no the leader of Tibet, would absolutely deserve a coup and summary hanging. Earlier visitors to Tibet commented on the theocratic despotism. In 1895, an Englishman, Dr. A. L. Waddell, wrote that the populace was under…

This is the same reason I boycott humans in general, at least ones that are the offspring of other humans.

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#152

Post by boredguy8 » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:18 PM UTC

masomenos wrote: post #148

boredguy8 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"By tainting the Nobel Peace Prize the others get devalued as well, it is one institution." That's just a part/whole fallacy. The badness of what some priests did to boys doesn't devalue what Mother Theresa did by virtue of them both being Catholic.

Pet peeve of mine: Teresa was not necessarily the greatest person to walk the earth. From her Wikipedia entry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa ): She has been praised by many individuals, governments and organizations; however, she has also faced a diverse range of criticism. These include objections by various individuals and groups, including Christopher Hitchens, Michael Parenti, Aroup Chatterjee, Vish…

Nobody's perfect, and of people well-known in the West, she's at the top of the list. Those flaws certainly don't outweigh the good, and the flaws certainly aren't on the level of child molestation. So absent an alternative that avoids having to take ten minutes to explain who I'm talking about, I'll continue to use that ol' nun.

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#153

Post by CWuestefeld » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:21 PM UTC

tomjen2 wrote: post #8

He didn't deserve that - he haven't even closed gitmo yet.

Don't think of things in terms of our current timeframe. What he has done in the last 8 months don't count toward this. The nominations for the prize were due roughly two weeks after Pres. Obama assumed office.

At that point in time, there was virtually nothing that he could claim to have accomplished, no matter how trivial.

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#154

Post by sandrogerbini » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:23 PM UTC

justlearning wrote: post #116

When I read the title, I thought it was a link bait, until I clicked. may be, the Nobel Prize association is under new 'management'? I thought the Nobel prize was given to accomplishments rather than ideas. I really like Obama, but isn't it bit too early?

>> "isn't this a bit too early" I tend to agree. I really hope (for everyone's sake) that this does not lead to complacency.

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#155

Post by chasingsparks » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:24 PM UTC

tsally wrote: post #9

Gandhi died before he was awarded the Peace Prize, even though he was nominated five times. Obama gets it less than a year into his Presidency? I like Obama, but that's just wrong.

Greg Mankiw's satirical post on the win: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-year-grad-stude...

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#156

Post by tybris » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:25 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #28

tsally wrote: post #9

Gandhi died before he was awarded the Peace Prize, even though he was nominated five times. Obama gets it less than a year into his Presidency? I like Obama, but that's just wrong.

Yep. It should be a prize for achievement, not for intentions. The Nobel Prize has just devalued considerably.

They gave it to Arafat, Kissinger and quite a few other warmongers, so it didn't have that much value to lose.

Although it's a tad bit early and it would have been nicer as a reward for peace-making achievements, he also embodies the world's achievements in the struggle against racism and governance of old white men.

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#157

Post by viggity » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:28 PM UTC

jakkals wrote: post #103

olefoo wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is correct, we have not closed the prison camp at Guantanamo, nor have we ceased extraordinary renditions, nor apparently have we ceased to commit torture as a matter of policy. While the Nobel Peace Prize is by it's very nature a political tool intended to promote the political goal it is named for; in this case it feels rather premature. It does seem like an award that was directed more against his predecessor…

"The only other US president to receive the honor was Jimmy Carter and he received it for his work after he was president" Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel Price in 1919 (while he was in office). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson

The fact that they gave it to Wilson proves that the whole thing has been a farce since it started.

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#158

Post by electromagnetic » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:29 PM UTC

bitdiddle wrote: post #101

AndrewDucker wrote: post #24

So, basically he gets an award for not being George Bush?

Obama has been noticeably quiet about the mess he inherited. From what I can see he's doing his damnest to raise the level of discourse, no small feat given the politics of his opponents. No, he's not George Bush, notice also he's not Bill Clinton, nor Ronald Reagan or Jimmy Carter.

He could have been a dead fish and still won the peace prize, he's done fuck all he's barely established office.

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#159

Post by RK » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:31 PM UTC

I was just in Europe for the past few weeks and many people asked me about Obama. It seems that in Europe they are still in the honeymoon phase, whereas in the US it's moved on to the fighting through policy phase. None of the Obama supporters I know in the US still have that post election glow because the debates over health care and such are raging so hard. Europe isn't really touched by that so the honeymoon seems to be lasting longer.

I was very surprised that he got this award right now, but knowing how many of the Europeans seem to still feel, I was less surprised.

Re: Barack Obama gets Nobel's Peace Prize

#160

Post by viggity » Fri, Oct 09, 2009, 2:34 PM UTC

mcd wrote: post #149

bilbo0s wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MLK gets imprisoned, shot at, fire bombed and beaten. Encourages millions to stand with him at non violent civil disobedience actions. Millions do so DESPITE the fact that they will be imprisoned and beaten. Nelson Mandela . . . yeah . . . ditto. Oh, did I mention 27 years in a notorious prison for 'enemies of the state'. Gorbachev. OK, when was the last time American school children practiced what to do in case of n…

Just a few comments (this whole thread is contrary to YCNews policies). > Nelson Mandela . . . yeah . . . ditto. Oh, did I mention 27 years in a notorious prison for 'enemies of the state'. Nelson Mandela was convicted of trying to overthrow the state by armed means and sabotage. It was not due to non-violent protests and even if the cause was right, armed insurrection is never right. And if he succeeded in overthrow…

Armed insurrection is never warranted? So the Polish resistance during WWII wasn't "right", was George Washington wrong for rebelling against Britain?

"The tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots." - Thomas Jefferson