Obama's Nobel Peace Prize: Bookerista Perspectives

Bookeristas continue to comment on Friday's surprise news:

Hassan Nurullah: "Noblesse Oblige"

The conservative Republican blogger in Detroit, Mich. opines about the international honor: "Did you know that Mahatma Gandhi was nominated 12 times between 1937 and 1948 for the Nobel Peace Prize and never won. Let me repeat that, Mahatma Gandhi, 'the strongest symbol of non-violence in the 20th century' (as stated on the Nobel website) never won the Nobel Peace Prize! [I]n the interval, we have seen many worthy recipients of the Norwegian’s prestigious award, Dr. Martin Luther King, jr., Ralph Bunche, Henry Kissinger, Mother Theresa, Lech Walesa, Desmond TuTu, and Nelson Mandela to name a few of the more illustrious names. Then you have those who have won that fall under the 'Not really?' category. Mikhail Gorbachev and Yasser Arafat yes; Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher not as such, no. Then you have the, 'we get it Norway is liberal and drinks the kool-aid' winners like Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan. Followed by the 'good googly moogly' Al Gore?' Really? Some of these folks I freely confess would not have gotten my vote if my name just happened to be Thor and I had a vote to cast. But be that as it may, they all have the virtue of having done something to at least be considered. Whether that something was or was not worthy of a win is a debate that can be had at your leisure elsewhere."

He continues his commentary about the Nobel Peace Prize: "The comic nomination and subsequent awarding of the hitherto esteemed Nobel Peace Prize to our President Barack Obama; has plunged the Nobel committee and it[s] again, once relevant award, headlong into the always unfortunate and truly sad 'jumped the shark' territory. A land incidentally not far from the Isle of Misfit Toys. The nomination deadline for the Nobel Prize is February first, Mr. Obama’s Inauguration was January 20th. As the names of the nominators are sealed for some fifty years after the prize has been awarded, we will not know for some time who thought Obama should be up for the award after less than two weeks in the office of President of the United States. I will not belabor the innate silliness of the President having won the award, let us instead consider the concept of humility and humility’s close fellow, obligation."

Mr. Nurullah focuses on figures in the Bible who got adulation, but rejected it: "St. John the Baptist, Peter the Rock, Paul who God used to write a huge portion of the Bible and the Apostle Barnabas all share a couple of things in common. 1. they actually did something seemingly worthy of worship; at least to those who were to that point ignorant of the ways of God. And 2. they all humbly deflected man’s mistaken glorification of them, to the One who was truly worthy. This is what Christians do. Most of us have seen the Gamaliel Foundation video as they beseech Obama to hear their prayers and deliver them, we have seen Ashton and Demi pledge to serve Obama, not the country, but Obama. We have seen Far[r]akhan call President Obama the messiah... As a Christian, wouldn’t you feel an obligation to make a clear and loud statement denouncing this sort of madcap behavior? Instead we see a proliferation of this sort of thing."

Jim Collier: "Peace Man"

The moderate blogger in California argues that Norwegians used the prize to vote for change, as Americans did in November 2008: "By now much has been said about the Norwegians awarding the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama. He is the first to say that he has not earned the award, and I would agree. So what were those crazy Norwegians thinking? Succinctly, they were saying to the US citizenry that their Norwegian fears matter. And not just Norway, but the rest of the world too. The people way up north, where it is dark half the time, have not forgotten the fear forced upon them in eight years of free world with George Bush, and 'Dr. Evil' Dick Ch[e]ney, at the helm. We forget in America, with the promise of each new vote, how helpless the rest of the world must feel with no lever in front of them, but only a video monitor with a volume adjustment. Perhaps the Nobel Committee is saying, whether we care to hear or not, that before we ever get to a new destination, we must turn the ship. This course change is what the world is desperate for right now. We need to talk to the Muslims, badly wanting peace, and ready to fight at the same time. We must disarm our weapons to a level that matches our ability to control them. We must care about polluting humanity into extinction. And this is just for starters."

More: "I frankly don’t know how much of what the world cares about will get accomplished under Obama. He puts on his pants one leg at a time, and mistakes are inevitable. But we should consider that the Norwegians did not get to vote for change last November, even though they, and much of world, were just as desperate for it as Americans. And while they have made his job a bit more difficult in their premature recognition, it is unfair to deny them, with yesterday’s fears in hand, their right to be heard, today. Tomorrow is promised to no one."

Carol M. Swain: "Un-American Traits Rewarded"

Asserts the law and political science professor at Vanderbilt University and moderate-conservative: "Everything that we know about President Obama causes one to marvel at his extraordinary good fortune. The odds against his election were enormous. No other president has been surrounded by a shroud of secrecy that includes sealed birth, educational and travel records. These sealed records have made it difficult for him to garner the military respect needed for a successful commander-in-chief. President Obama was awarded a peace prize on a resume that even he admits is thin. His prize comes at a time when Gallup polls show his job approval ratings as slightly below average and his handling of foreign affairs at 53 percent. The U.S. is engaged in two wars, and the crisis in the Middle East is escalating. What, if anything, does his prize mean for America? Since his election, favorable opinions of the U.S. have risen. But at home, some see cause for alarm."

Professor Swain continues her commentary: "A great fear is that the prize was given to influence future presidential behavior. That it could serve to curtail military options. Already some people fret about weakening national sovereignty, reductions in domestic freedoms through increased surveillance of citizens, and a thumbing of the nose at traditional American values. The peace prize has gone to a president who engaged in what some called an international apology tour for past U.S. behavior. Under his watch, U.S. military officers ordered the burning of Bibles in Afghanistan, and he told a Muslim audience in Turkey that the United States is no longer a Christian nation. In words and deeds, some see a rejection of American exceptionalism. A cosmopolitan man, who has worn an American flag pin with great unease, has been awarded a Nobel Prize. Where he takes America, God knows."

Clarence Page: "Now Earn It"

The moderate-liberal columnist argues that President Obama can earn his honor, by being on the frontline against violence....starting with his hometown of Chicago: "Barely nine months into his presidency, it obviously is early for Obama to be lauded for great achievements. Yet, the Norwegian Nobel Committee seems to be saying, why wait? They're giving Obama a big 'E' for his efforts. According to the declaration, the committee decided that the Nobel Prize for Peace for 2009 should be awarded to Obama 'for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.' The committee 'attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.' Fine. I would like to attach as much importance to his vision and work for cities without kids killing each other for sport in senseless turf battles, if only I knew what his vision was."

Mr. Page continues his commentary: "He still appears to be searching. A week before the Nobel was announced, Obama was compelled to action by the videotaped fatal beating of Derrion Albert, 16, by a mob of teens on Chicago's South Side. He dispatched two Cabinet officers to address a youth violence problem that already has been exhaustively studied. He sent Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to meet with officials in Chicago. The problem is hardly new to Duncan. He was CEO of Chicago Public Schools before Obama brought him to Washington. Duncan openly lamented in an April interview that, despite many achievements of which he was proud during his seven-year tenure as schools chief, he was a 'total failure' at curbing violence. At least he's honest. Yet, everybody seems to think they have the answer to youth violence. Just ask them. If I had a dollar for every reader who has written to me, often in capital letters, that 'IT'S THE PARENTS, STUPID,' the windfall could pay my son's college tuition. They're right, of course. Broken families lead to broken lives for kids. But what's the prescription? For the black kids who disproportionately are victims and perpetrators of juvenile violence, for example, it is easy to blame black social problems on the absence of black fathers. It's hard to argue with a black out-of-wedlock birth rate of almost 70 percent. But where are we going to find young marriageable men to marry those unwed mothers? How do we break the cycle of family dysfunction before yet another generation of kids is lost?"

More: "Chicago's school system has began a two-year program with $30 million to employ mentors, part-time student workers and security guards Kids need more than cops. They need good mentors and role models. They need something better to do after school than the mobbin' that leads to gang fights. They need people with whom they can report early warnings of violence before it happens, without feeling stigmatized as 'snitches.' We know these things from programs that have worked to measurably reduce violence in schools and neighborhoods around the country. So, congratulations on your prize, Mr. President. I hope you can earn it now, not just overseas but here at home. We've diagnosed the youth violence virus for decades. It's time to give more attention to prescriptions that work to stop it."