Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

As a surprised President Obama stood in front of reporters in the Rose Garden, his reluctance was evident in his words and his body language. The President had just learned he had been awarded one of the most prestigious awards in the world, and his response was muted and guarded.

“To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the trans-formative 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.” – Barack Obama

With the blogosphere ignited with incendiary disbelief on one side, and calls to canonize Obama on the other, it is understandable why the President seemed less than enthusiastic. With unemployment numbers rising, jobs still being lost hundreds of thousands at a time, a hostile health care debate, polling numbers slipping, and talk of a Democratic slaughter in 2010, the Nobel Prize at this point is a distraction to domestic affairs. One which has already added fodder for his opponents.

For Obama and the American people the punch line is be careful what you wish for. One of the focuses of the Obama Presidential Campaign was to restore dignity and respect to America in the eyes of the world. The international community is following our historic President’s actions, and they are obviously impressed.

What appears to be missing from much of the commentary about Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, is that he received it by doing exactly what he promised the American people he would do as President. He won over the international community. While Obama struggles to pass health care reform, with a long list campaign promises still left to be checked off, this campaign promise has been held without much attention of the American people.

For those in utter disbelief and filled with contempt, i.e. the republicans, they should get ready to see many more awards in Obama’s future. He already beat out Bill Clinton for a Grammy, and I’m not sure how it’s going to happen, but rest assured the fine people at the ESPY’s are surely working on a new category, so they can bestow honors on Obama.

In 2008 our country clamored for a president who could create a more substantial debate on nuclear arms than how to pronounce the word nuclear. The nation has been rewarded with a President, whom the international community has become enamored with. Gone are the days of arrogance and ego, here are the days of humility and logic.

“And that’s why this award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity; for the young woman who marches silently in the streets on behalf of her right to be heard, even in the face of beatings and bullets; for the leader imprisoned in her own home because she refuses to abandon her commitment to democracy; for the soldier who sacrificed through tour after tour of duty on behalf of someone half a world away; and for all those men and women across the world who sacrifice their safety and their freedom and sometime their lives for the cause of peace.

That has always been the cause of America. That’s why the world has always looked to America. And that’s why I believe America will continue to lead. Thank you very much.” – Barack Obama