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Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

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Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

#51

Post by phaus »

cortun wrote: post #40
zombio wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand the nobel peace prize, or specifically why Obama was awarded it. I understand being the first black president of the United States is a big deal, but did he personally do anything to promote peace? Or does being black in the white house somehow lower racism, hence promoting world peace?

He was awarded the prize in the hope of influencing him to actually promote peace in the future. The idea was that accepting the peace prize would have led Obama to see himself as a Nobel peace prize winner, and thus as someone promoting peace, and that he thus would subconsciously actually try to promote peace to avoid the cognitive dissonance. It didn't work as well as it could, but maybe it worked to some extent.

No. It actually didn't work at all. The war in Iraq ended for Americans, but it's still a hell hole for the people who live there. Afghanistan will be the same.

He has brought international relations to a new low.

Quite a bit of it isn't directly his fault, but he has done little to improve the situation.

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

#52

Post by tokipin »

FedRegister wrote: post #46
tokipin wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

besides ending the Iraq war, he's done a lot of stuff that is somewhat subtle. off the top of my head: a concerted and sustained nuclear arms reduction effort[1], and the specific way he handled the Libya situation[2]. still it remains that Obama is fundamentally pragmatic, for better or worse in any given issue. [1] good report here: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/46790266#46790266 [2] http://www.rollingst…

He still murders people with flying robots. That's not very peaceful.

Obama's calculus there probably involves the fact that drones can accomplish things without putting our soldiers at risk. not that i'm taking sides here. i don't like drones either.

here is a recent speech the president gave regarding drones and "the war on terror" in general: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEnUbwXAof0

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

#54

Post by jmspring »

Archio wrote: post #30
jmspring wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obama was awarded the Peace Prize prematurely. I've yet to see something he's done to deserve it, despite voting for him the first time.

That may be so, but let's keep in mind that there is no reason to criticize the President for being undeserving of the prize. It's not like he awarded it to himself.

Many who voted for him bought into the rhetoric of change and even some "hope". He has brought things in Iraq to a close, a plus. However, domestically, he has been Bush++ and even amplified the crackdown on whistleblowers. Eric Holder, in some ways, makes John Ashcroft look quaint.

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

#55

Post by FedRegister »

phaus wrote: post #49
FedRegister wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He still murders people with flying robots. That's not very peaceful.

You're not representing him fairly, those aren't robots, there are trained killers on the other end of the drones.

A robot with an operator is still a robot.

Re: Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

#56

Post by phaus »

FedRegister wrote: post #55
phaus wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not representing him fairly, those aren't robots, there are trained killers on the other end of the drones.

A robot with an operator is still a robot.

The drones with missiles on them are almost entirely controlled by the human. It's just a plane that's flown from the ground. We don't call planes robots, even when they are on autopilot.
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