Copenhagen's slap in the face has morphed into Oslo's pat on the back for America. The Nobel committee in Norway has awarded its most esteemed tribute, the Nobel Peace Prize, to fledgling U.S. President Barack Obama. This, just days after Denmark scoffed at the President's appeal to host the Olympics in Chicago, demonstrates Europe's continuing bipolar actions in its relationship with the U.S.
Most people, including those that live in the White House, are stunned with this decision and its premature awarding for visions, rather than actions, done to facilitate the Peace Process.
This decision may say more about the rest of the world rather than the U.S. Europe appreciates how President Obama has opened up international communications and revived old-fashioned diplomacy with his views of tolerance, open discussion and compromise -all that needs to be done if the world would achieve peace.
In the U.S. that is not the way its been done, at least not for the past eight years. This was glaringly evident this morning as former Ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton whined on NPR about how he was nominated but never won even though he did so much more under George W. Bush. His claim to the prize was that he gathered 26 allies to help the U.S.' invasion with Iraq to smoke out the WMDs that were never there.
So, if Americans see starting a war as a prerequisite for achieving a Peace Prize, perhaps we should heed Norway's decision.
Obama may not have done much, however, his first call as President was to Palestinian President Manmoud Abba and said he will pick up the phone if Iran shows up on his Caller ID. He addressed the Muslim community directly in Cairo, placating their anger toward the last leader who promised a 'crusade'. These are key communication procedures that are imperative to gather the people of those nations toward peace.
Obama has also stated that he wants to work toward a nuclear weapon-free world and concentrate on containing global warming, instead of denying its existence. This may sound small, but in contrast to the last guy, it means a lot to the Europeans (and 80% of Americans).
But whatever your views on whether he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, I believe President Obama does deserve some kind of award for his accomplishments so far.
Who else had the courage to proclaim publicly what we were all thinking?- Kanye West is a Jack-ass.
The president was also brave enough to share a beer with a racist cop and hysterical black man who forgot his keys and had the PR savvy to make it a headline on Fox News, who thought it was an actual summit.
And we should thank him for his biggest achievement to date: Not Being George W. Bush. For that, he deserves all awards in my book.
