sexta-feira, outubro 9

Barack Obama


victor

This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative 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.

But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

That is why I've said that I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations and all peoples to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges won't all be met during my presidency, or even my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone.

This award - and the call to action that comes with it - does not belong simply to me or my administration; it belongs to all people around the world who have fought for justice and for peace. And most of all, it belongs to you, the men and women of America, who have dared to hope and have worked so hard to make our world a little better.

So today we humbly recommit to the important work that we've begun together. I'm grateful that you've stood with me thus far, and I'm honored to continue our vital work in the years to come.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

What Does a Nobel Do for U.S. Leaders?
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President Obama’s Nobel Reaction
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4 Comments:

Blogger xavier said...

Obama's Nobel Prize

I had a good time making fun of Barack Obama's Nobel prize this morning. It is undeserved. It is a bit ridiculous. But it's a laugh in the way that finding a $900 antique chair in the attic is a laugh, or getting paid $120,000 to be a celebrity dog walker is a laugh. It's an absurdity worth celebrating. It's an absurdity that can help you.

During the campaign, one of the arguments for Obama's candidacy was that his election would give us a costless shot of international goodwill. That the symbolism of his election would aid America's international standing without forcing any substantive policy concessions. At the time, that was a very big deal: Leaders were winning elections in other countries in no small part by tying incumbents to George W. Bush. That made it a lot harder for our allies to loudly support our initiatives. Fixing that was not going to be easy. Candidates and countries pay a lot of money to better their public image. Obama, some said, could do some of it on the cheap. Andrew Sullivan made the argument well:

Consider this hypothetical. It’s November 2008. A young Pakistani Muslim is watching television and sees that this man — Barack Hussein Obama — is the new face of America. In one simple image, America’s soft power has been ratcheted up not a notch, but a logarithm. A brown-skinned man whose father was an African, who grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii, who attended a majority-Muslim school as a boy, is now the alleged enemy. If you wanted the crudest but most effective weapon against the demonization of America that fuels Islamist ideology, Obama’s face gets close. It proves them wrong about what America is in ways no words can.
The Nobel Committee said, in essence, thank you for proving us wrong. The prize was about what Obama meant to other countries, or at least to the Nobel Committee. Not what he currently means to America.

America has already gotten used to Obama. It's common to talk about the "overexposure" of the first African American president in history. It's ordinary to see him hedging on important political priorities, and failing to please his most ardent supporters. It's normal to see him called communist by his enemies and spineless by his friends. America, to its credit, has adjusted to its first black president with ease and swiftness.

But the rest of the world hasn't necessarily done the same. This prize, which came as Obama contemplates a troop build-up in Afghanistan and hectors the international community on financial regulation and global warming, suggests that there is some reservoir of relief and amazement for America's young president. The international gushing may seem absurd to us, as the schoolyard lionization of an older brother often seems funny to a sibling, but it can be used to our advantage. Leaders in allied countries no longer run against America, and now the Nobel Committee is attempting to welcome America back as the leader of the free world. And it didn't cost us anything. Would that life told more jokes like that one.

erza klein 09.10.09

12:12 da manhã  
Blogger tambemquero said...

Health Care and the Nobel Peace Prize

President Obama this morning: “I will accept this award as a call to action, a call to all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st Century.”

I was in a private meeting last week where I heard a longtime and influential Washington insider describe her view of the Obama health care effort. Her point was that the White House has approached the effort more from an ego perspective than a solid policy effort. That this is more about scoring a “W” over health care and therefore making a mark on history than it is actually being prepared to really reform the system.

Looking at the Baucus bill, and its hodgepodge of policy decisions aimed at getting Senate votes far more than working to make health care affordable and “bending the cost curve,” I can see that logic.

The President had an enormous opportunity to show real humility this morning by doing what about 80% of the country, and probably the world judging from today’s press reports, very much would have wanted him to do—say this is nuts and that he will pass until the day he can hopefully demonstrate real accomplishments that merit the award.

I really hope President Obama does win the Nobel Peace Prize—in 2017 when he would leave office with hopefully many noble accomplishments.

But this response to so ridiculous a decision by the Nobel Committee only makes me wonder about those remarks my friend made about ego.

Back home in the Midwest I know exactly what they are thinking today: This guy needs some come-up-ins to get that ego under control.

So, what’s the next big goal on his agenda to change us all?

Health care.

This president, by accepting this award, just might have unwittingly created even more opposition to his health care efforts if only because he has today dramatically increased the cynicism directed at his administration.

Give me a break.

5:47 da tarde  
Blogger Clara said...

Paz na Palestina

Com a atribuição do prémio Nobel da Paz, Barack Obama tem a obrigação de conseguir a paz na Palestina, obrigando Israel a aceitar a criação de um Estado palestiniano nos territórios ocupados e obrigando os palestinianos a aceitar a existência e a segurança de Israel.

11:22 da tarde  
Blogger Clara said...

Paz na Palestina

Com a atribuição do prémio Nobel da Paz, Barack Obama tem a obrigação de conseguir a paz na Palestina, obrigando Israel a aceitar a criação de um Estado palestiniano nos territórios ocupados e obrigando os palestinianos a aceitar a existência e a segurança de Israel.

vital moreira, causa nossa

11:23 da tarde  

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