The carefully made and deliberate choices of the Nobel Peace Prize committee point to a clear
amBUSH. Consider these recipients: Jimmy Carter in 2002, Al Gore in 2007 and Obama 2009: US politicians all battened around the Bush years. It is as if the Bush men didn't even exist. Hmmm....doesn't that have a musty odor that stinks a little like
political agenda?
The connections may have more to do with security than peace and the particular worldview of the Peace Prize Committee itself (which I'm not going to expound on here).
Ok...but besides all that political stuff, let's talk about another issue. That of being rewarded for a plan and not an act. The nomination deadline for the award was Feb 1: a mere TWO weeks after the inauguration of Pres. Obama. So the award is not based on anything Obama has actually done. The Committee openly acknowledges this, endorsing the decision by rewarding Obama's "
vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons." (What was I just saying about security??)
As Winnie-the-Pooh so cutely says, "Oh bother." I suppose it is awfully old fashioned of me to think Awards should REward actual accomplishments, credible actions, or a lifetime body of work representing a deep commitment and loyalty to the work of peace. Think about the meaning of the word RE-ward. You DO something and are paid first via an internal satisfaction from doing the very act, and then you are
RE-warded, or given
again a gift of thanks, sometimes through a more publicized award.
Re-warded....awarded a second time. Implies that there must be something great in the first place.
To his credit, President Obama has a sense of the hastiness for this honor. Seeking to quell some of the naysayers and justify the decision, Obama stated in a r
ecent press conference:
"I know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honour specific achievements."
He continued,
"It's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st Century."
"[
This award may] give momentum to a set of causes." What a great phrase! I really hope that bears true. Mostly, it seems that hope is often puffed up in the emotional mind and seems grander and greater than reality, and that faith breeds rose-colored ideals in the power of politicians to solve the world's problems.
At the very core of it, this award simply supports the notion that power lies in smooth and titillating words. The ability to communicate the dream of building a bridge to the future and designing a roadmap to get there is as important as the drive itself. Vision is as important as actions.
If this is the case, Miss America and other beauty pageant contestants should have it made in the shade. (Who knows? Maybe Miss Teen North Carolina and her
vision of
MAPS FOR ALL is really on to something).
