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Friday, October 09, 2009
Does Obama’s Nobel Win
Overshadow Others’ Work?
First and foremost, congratulations to President Obama for winning the praiseworthy Nobel Peace Prize. It is certainly a great honor.
But is it a little too early to give the president such an award before we see if his endeavors are successful?
“… shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline,” according to the Associated Press.
It almost seems as if Obama was nominated and won in the same way that a high school cheerleader becomes Prom Queen — by popularity alone.
But this surprise win overshadows many other people’s efforts to improving the world. For example, former President Bush’s efforts of maintaining the peace throughout the world by combating the terrorists has resulted in foiling many deadly plans for attacks on innocents here and overseas.
Did Bush have the same level of charisma as Obama? Of course not. Obama is very charismatic.
However, Bush did accomplish many things and many of his programs to combat terrorism were adopted by Obama. Whether Bush deserves the Nobel Peace Prize is not the point. The point is that he put plans in motion to help the world and we have seen those results.
In fact, there are other people who are more deserving of the award besides Bush or Obama. Some would even say that it was insulting not to give the prize to Nobel Peace nominee Simi Samar, an Afghan woman’s rights activist, or to fellow nominee Chinese dissident Hu Jia, who was given a three-year jail sentence for speaking out against China’s harsh government.
Granted, Obama never asked for this admirable award but it does seem a bit too early in his presidency to present it to him until we see if his efforts succeed.
We will see a great many things from President Obama and once he accomplishes his achievements, only then should he be given the award, not before.
After all, awards are not given out to those who have potential but to those who have made great accomplishments.
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