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From CNN:
In winning the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama joins an elite group of U.S. presidents. He is the fourth to win the prize, the third to win it while in office and the first to receive it during his first year in office.
Unlike his predecessors, Obama was selected not for substantive accomplishments, but for his "vision" and inspiring "hope" at the beginning of his presidency.
BlogHer Contributing Editor Nordette writes, "Feels like an honor, possibly premature, and a lot of pressure to me. Look for more fundamentalist religious conservatives to say this is more evidence that Obama is the anti-Christ, a figure who is supposed to bring about a false peace."
The President also expressed surprise at his win:
Feministe writes,
"We absolutely should push Obama to do better — and he has a lot to improve — but the attacks on him for being awarded such a prestigious prize are disturbing. We have a sitting president who won a Nobel Peace Prize. That was unthinkable a year ago. I realize that a lot of people on the right are sore losers, but this is getting ridiculous. The Nobel conversations are already sounding like the flipside of the conservative reaction when Chicago didn’t get the Olympics — there, conservatives were giddy that America had lost something just because Obama wanted it; here, conservatives are devastated that an American leader won something, just because Obama is that leader."
While Jack & Jill Politics contends Obama should have turned it down-
"The Nobel selection committee appears to have so internalized that message that they’ve given the world’s most prestigious honor to a 9-month president whose promises are yet unfulfilled. I’m sure the Nobel committee is very, very smart, but it all made me wonder if they’re so eager to reward the first black president of the U.S. that they wanted to get it done now, just in case he turns out to be a warmonger robbing them of their chance to meet the coolest kid on the block.
The people who elected him hoping for change need to think critically and seriously about what this means for holding him accountable to the vision he put out during the campaign. Maybe Obama will make peace, maybe he won’t. There’s no way to know at this early stage, though the Administration’s flirtations with escalation in Afghanistan and Pakistan raise real questions. If, as the President said in his acceptance speech, this is a 'spurring' prize to encourage him to follow through on climate change and other agendas, we should make sure that it doesn’t provide more cover than motivation."
Althouse thinks this isn't about the Nobel at all-
"The question is why didn't he get the Olympics.
The story of Barack Obama is the story of winning things when he hasn't yet done enough to deserve them. He is, quite simply, Barack Obama. We understand that. Why didn't the IOC understand? You could see it in that smile on his face, when he concluded his little speech in Copenhagen, that he bore the sublime knowledge he would acquire the Olympics for Chicago. Because he is Barack Obama, the man to whom grand prizes are given."
While Firedoglake muses, "I can almost hear the screaming from Dick Cheney and the neocons as they get the news."
The White House announced the President will be giving the $1.4 million dollars that comes with the prize to charity.
