your ignorance is astounding.

10/9/2009 10:52:31 AM

and your incredulousness is incredible!

10/9/2009 10:55:40 AM

The schnozberries taste like schnozberries!

10/9/2009 10:56:13 AM

hahaha

10/9/2009 10:57:44 AM

Wlfpk4Life, you're even more dismissable than I remember.

10/9/2009 11:00:49 AM

I like that he was so shocked - probably didn't think he deserved it either

10/9/2009 11:04:55 AM

His acceptance speech is on CSPAN and WRAL btw.

10/9/2009 11:17:47 AM

once again, putting the cart in front of the horse when it comes to Obama

10/9/2009 11:19:44 AM

Obama deserves more than a Nobel Peace Prize.

This is a slap in the face as far as I'm concerned. When are they gonna offer him his own talk show? He should have a reality TV show to pick his advisers and secretaries as well.

Give the man what he wants people. LOTS OF ATTENTION.

10/9/2009 11:22:09 AM

and so it begins:

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/09/erickson-nobel/

Quote :

"I did not realize the Nobel Committee had affirmative action quotas it had to meet"

10/9/2009 11:44:31 AM

Quote :

"...Your sarcasm would be a little more amusing if Nobel prizes were even awarded posthumously."

They were.

10/9/2009 12:03:19 PM

has Rush had an orgasm on his show yet?

10/9/2009 12:21:58 PM

Warning, thread derail:

Quote :

" If I were Obama, I wouldn't accept the award until we end these 2 wars, before they become the longest wars in American history "

That graph is nice and all, but funny how it doesn't show the years upon years we spent in many of these places / regions after the war. Say, Germany, the South, the Phillipines, Kosovo...

Sucessful conter-insurgencies require an extensive amount of time and involvment. Look at the British - they've had some of the most sucessful and disasterous counter-insurgencies, all based on the time and cultural effort put into them.

10/9/2009 12:46:37 PM

^ Well, if someone else is going to bring it up, I'm going to re-post my original commment on that graph:

agentlion,

I think trying to say that Afganistan is one of the longest wars in our history is 1) not very useful and 2) very difficult to do because wars for the past 60 years have not had clear beginning and endings.

For example, the graph only attributes 45 months to World War II, which is 3.75 years. That probably does account for the time between when we declared War on Japan and the time it took to remove the Empire of Japan from power. If that's how we want to define the war thats fine.

But doesn't that mean the Afganistan War ended 3 years ago when the Taliban were removed from power? No doubt they are now leading a powerful insurgency, but if we include the insurgency in our definition things start getting murky. The last Japanese soilder did not surrender until the 1970s. Should we say the war lasted that long? If not, how many soilder have to be left fighting until we call the war a victory?

The whole thing is very subjective and not a very good way to discuss the meaning or consequences of our presense in Afganistan.

10/9/2009 12:50:06 PM

it's pretty

10/9/2009 12:53:18 PM

Quote :

"...Your sarcasm would be a little more amusing if Nobel prizes were even awarded posthumously. "

Not weighing in on the statement that sparked this response but, up until today, they weren't awarded to people who hadn't done anything yet either, so there's always a first for everything.

10/9/2009 1:03:37 PM

Of course Obama has done something. He's made us all have HOPE. He's made us all BELIEVE!!!

10/9/2009 1:04:30 PM

Quote :

"The deadline for Peace Prize nomination candidates was just weeks after Obamas' inauguration. February 1st was the deadline."

Essentially, they covered his body of Presidential work from 20 Jan 2009 - 1 Feb 2009. A whopping 13 days.

Quote :

"The ONLY thing I can come up with is the fact that we've been sitting down and talking to Iran instead of just outright bombing them."

When did we last bomb Iran?

Quote :

"In other words, you can't blame Obama, he's just as surprised as we all are."

I'm not mad at Obama. I can find copious reasons to dislike him, this isn't one of them.

Quote :

"now please commit forty thousand troops to Afghanistan"

I'm wondering if he won't use this as some sort of political cover / capital to increase the troop strength there. He needed a political boost and this will provide it. I don't expect 40k, but I could see an increase.

Quote :

"this was nothing but a giant "eff you" to George Bush."

10/9/2009 1:07:01 PM

I voted for obama. I'm excited about how things may go in the next 3/7 years of his administration.

but for anyone to seriously argue that he deserves this award is living in fucking lala land

it makes no sense

even obama understands this... it only because it would probably be weird if he refused it that he does not

10/9/2009 1:22:09 PM

One of my reasons for voting obama was because the rest of the world would give him praise for just existing. While this is pretty retarded and there are probably other people who actually deserve the reward, its a free bump in the world opinion meter.

10/9/2009 1:26:51 PM

Or possibly a backlash from foreign nationals who should have won the award.

10/9/2009 1:29:22 PM

slashdot has some really interesting comments/points about all this

10/9/2009 2:44:20 PM

Quote :

"its a free bump in the world opinion meter"

Exactly. So enjoy it. Unless you just hate Obama, in which case continue to make yourself all frothy. (Not directed at who I quoted, just in general.)

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 2:58 PM. Reason : .]

10/9/2009 2:57:44 PM

I'd instead expect the international sentiment to be "Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize? What did he do to earn it? Whats that? He promised to do some things? Well here's another case of the USA getting their way without earning it. Man fuck the USA, I hate them even more"

10/9/2009 3:10:34 PM

i think its more along the lines of "OH MAN I LOVE OBAMA ISN"T HE GREAT??? What did you say? We just gave him the nobel peace prize?!?!?! WOW HES EVEN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT!!!"

10/9/2009 3:17:19 PM

Apparently affirmative action applies to Nobel Peace prizes as well.

I mean, really?? Would he have won this if he was white??

10/9/2009 4:13:07 PM

And "not Bush?" Yes.

10/9/2009 4:22:43 PM

How come Clinton didn't win one? He was a white, non-Bush President for EIGHT YEARS (as opposed to less than a month)

10/9/2009 4:24:46 PM

but dude! FIRST BLACK PREZ!

that alone should be worth at least 3 awards!

10/9/2009 4:25:50 PM

Obama's Nobel: The Last Thing He Needs
Friday, Oct. 09, 2009

Quote :

"The last thing Barack Obama needed at this moment in his presidency and our politics is a prize for a promise."

Quote :

"By now there are surely more callouses on his lips than his hands."

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1929395,00.html

LOL!

10/9/2009 4:30:40 PM

Quote :

"How come Clinton didn't win one? He was a white, non-Bush President for EIGHT YEARS (as opposed to less than a month)"

Because those jerks working on Quantum Field Theory may blather on about time reversal for particle dynamics, but the fact remains that we live in a world governed by causality and uni-directional time.

Therefore, any nomination for the Peace Prize for being "Not Bush" is necessarily after Bush's term.

(I'd like my Physics Nobel now, please.)

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 5:34 PM. Reason : .]

10/9/2009 5:05:40 PM

Quote :

" for anyone to seriously argue that he deserves this award is living in fucking lala land"

Seems like most people feel this way, so I'm sure at least one of you can come up with the criteria/ set of rules that they use to choose their candidate. Otherwise, you don't even know why you disapprove. You just disapprove for the hell of it.

10/9/2009 5:16:38 PM

I'll let one of the many Obama supporters explain why they don't think he deserves it, so you won't just think its people who aren't his biggest fans who wonder wtf he did to deserve this award

For me though, I mentioned (i think in the CC thread) that the guy who won in 2008 had spent over 3 decades working on multiple continents to stop violent conflicts...30+ years, multiple continents...THAT seems deserved of the Nobel Peace Prize...not just making some campaign promises to do great things...which he still may do...he just hasn't done them yet

Hence the award is given to Obama based on what he should/will/might do, not what he has actually done

10/9/2009 5:26:23 PM

fortunately for obama, the criteria for the peace prize rides solely on the effort being put forth, not on actual tangible results.

10/9/2009 5:45:17 PM

Quote :

"so I'm sure at least one of you can come up with the criteria/ set of rules that they use to choose their candidate."

I'll run with the very simple criteria that he should be selected unless someone else who was nominated had dedicated a larger part of their life to the cause of human peace and liberty. Perhaps someone who had suffered greatly for this cause. Maybe a guy like, Wei Jingsheng, who as a Chinese dissident spent nearly two decades in a Chinese prison for speaking out against an oppressive communist regime.


The Nobel Peace Prize, being a global award, should extend to someone who has dedicated their life's work to the concept of world peace. President Obama had been acting on the world stage for less than two weeks (less than two years if you count the campaign and his trips abroad during the campaign). At 48 that would be 1/24 of his life, or 4.2%.


^Not even, the relative effort he has put forth has been minimal compared to most of the other recipients or nominees.

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 5:46 PM. Reason : ^]

10/9/2009 5:45:58 PM

^^less than a month's worth of efforts (ie, how long he was President before the nominations were final)? or do they also include his passionate speeches during his campaigning to amass his great "effort"?

10/9/2009 5:47:58 PM

Quote :

"According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize should 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.""

^^also, the swedes don't hand out the Peace Prize.

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 5:48 PM. Reason : .]

10/9/2009 5:48:04 PM

I really thought the majority of Obama supporters would also be like "wtf, really?" and not as defensive of him winning this award as people like jwb and terp are coming across...its ok...even Obama doesn't really think he deserves it

10/9/2009 5:52:22 PM

are you fucking retarded?

Quote :

"fortunately for obama, the criteria for the peace prize rides solely on the effort being put forth, not on actual tangible results."

how does that come across as being defensive? you honestly can't infer from that that i don't think he's done enough to merit the award??

holy christ, dude.

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 5:54 PM. Reason : .]

10/9/2009 5:53:57 PM

-Slate

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 5:59 PM. Reason : i thought it was all one image]

10/9/2009 5:56:06 PM

^^well as usual, you never directly give your opinion, so like i said, thats how you "are coming across"...it would be quite easy for you to say you think he deserves it or not

if you once gave a definitive answer, you might not get your panties in a wad and resort to anger and name-calling...jk you'd do that regardless

10/9/2009 6:00:13 PM

My mistake, I thought you'd be able to conjure up some type of deductive reasoning skills and correctly interpret my original post. Anywho, just for you, sir:

Personally, I don't think Obama should have been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

10/9/2009 6:03:45 PM

Science: further research in cancer/aging/stem cells or create fiber optics to run communication

Peace: say you will try and do stuff that makes people have warm fuzzies

10/9/2009 6:03:57 PM

^^thanks for clearing that up...what was i supposed to think when i'm directly responding to terpball's post of why i think he doesn't deserve to win the award, and you directly reply to my response by contradicting it

I deduced that you were splitting hairs rather than admitting that he didn't deserve it...based on your post history and support of all things Obama, it was the only logical deduction

10/9/2009 6:05:10 PM

i wasn't necessarily responding to your post.

and these two statements are not contradictory...

Quote :

"Hence the award is given to Obama based on what he should/will/might do, not what he has actually done"

Quote :

"fortunately for obama, the criteria for the peace prize rides solely on the effort being put forth, not on actual tangible results."

it appears to me that we.....AGREE gasp

[Edited on October 9, 2009 at 6:20 PM. Reason : .]

10/9/2009 6:14:04 PM

Quote :

"Future hooksaw threads: Oslo is gangland Nobel's radical roots"

Ahh...Boone, what a pathetic attempt to be witty and sarcastic at the same time, as opposed to adding some real content to the discussion.

Any original thoughts, my Flavor-Aid-drinking colleague?

10/9/2009 6:58:02 PM

This was clearly done in an effort to try an push Obama towards a certain direction, a fact Obama apparently recognized in his statement…

Quote :

"This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace. But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone. This award -- and the call to action that comes with it -- does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better. So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come. Thank you, President Barack Obama "

It’s pretty strange choice, but strange picks aren’t a new thing for the Nobel committee. It is fun to watch the heads explode on the right over this though, and i’m curious to know the affect this’ll have on Obama’s policies.

10/9/2009 7:13:15 PM

Don't forget this very important aspect of the story:

Obama was nominated for Nobel after only 12 days in office

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_nobel_analysis_1

10/9/2009 7:31:15 PM

why do you guys even care? I know I never post in here and most will just dismiss this as a stir the pot comment, but seriously, what does it matter that he won? Does it just boil down to the fact that politics among the common american has been polarized by 24 hour media into either loving or hating the president, with no room in between?

Maybe I am just a little riled up because I called out someone today at the Maryland DMV who had a booth outside with a picture of obama with a hitler mustache and another sign saying pull the "plug on wall st. not grandma". I confronted the guy about the signs and he couldnt give any substantial evidence on how obama was the same a a person who exterminated millions of people or where the medical plan said anything about killing old people. It was just some asshole trying to use scare tactics. That shit is just irresponsible, I dont care what party your are supporting.

Go ahead and rip me a new one, I dont care. I just dont know why people are so riled up by him getting this award.

10/9/2009 8:35:41 PM

I don't particularly keep up with the Nobel Peace Prize, but the perception of it that I've always had is that it should go to someone who has done a lot of things in the name of peace...I don't think Obama has really done that much for peace...yet

Of course I didn't think he had done enough politically to get elected, so what do I know

10/9/2009 8:50:18 PM