Obama Wins The Nobel Peace Prize… Um… OKaaay

First off… let me assure you that this is not a politically charged rant.  406 is essentially a politics free zone and I intend on keeping it that way.  Whether I’m left, right, black or white is pretty irrelevant.  When it comes to your politics you’ve got your opinion and I’ve got mine.  Nothing I say will change that.

That said… President Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize this morning.  All politics aside, I’ve got to say… what… the… FUCK???  First off, I was under the impression that this award was given to an individual who made great strides towards peace either through action or mediation.  Can someone please tell me exactly what Obama has done to deserve this award?  Don’t get me wrong, he’s doing some good things in terms of turning the world’s view of us “dirty Americans” from a diplomatic standpoint.  But I have yet to see any troops return from Iraq, I have yet to see us “win” in Afghanistan and don’t even get me started on North Korea.  Yes he certainly made quite a bit of headway with the Iranian nuclear program.  I’ll definitely give him that with one big caveat… it wasn’t done in time!

The nominations for the 2009 award were due on February 1st, 2009.  For those keeping track that’s less then two weeks after President Obama took office.  All I’ll say is that was a HELL of a two weeks in order to get this award.  This USA Today article says the following:

“Rather than recognizing concrete achievement, the 2009 prize appeared intended to support initiatives that have yet to bear fruit: reducing the world stock of nuclear arms, easing American conflicts with Muslim nations and strengthening the U.S. role in combating climate change.”

With that being said, I’d like to announce my nomination for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.  Later in 2010 I intend on being really nice for an entire week.  Not sure that it’ll happen, but I’ve got the best intentions.