I read this today by Howard Zinn, a writer whom I generally admire, and I have a brief reaction.
I was dismayed when I heard Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize. A shock, really, to think that a president carrying on wars in two countries and launching military action in a third country (Pakistan), would be given a peace prize. But then I recalled that Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Kissinger had all received Nobel Peace Prizes. The Nobel Committee is famous for its superficial estimates and for its susceptibility to rhetoric and empty gestures, while ignoring blatant violations of world peace.
Howard, please. Try not to lend more volume to the incessant idiotic cacophony of the great and miserable unwashed.
We do not get to complain about somebody – anybody – receiving or not receiving one of the Nobel Prizes. It’s not a public matter.
The Nobel Foundation is a private institution established in 1900 based on the will of Alfred Nobel. The Foundation manages the assets made available through the will for the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace. It represents the Nobel Institutions externally and administers informational activities and arrangements surrounding the presentation of the Nobel Prize. The Foundation also administers the Nobel Symposium Program. [Nobel Foundation Web site]
The Nobel Committee can give the peace prize to Wile E. Coyote, if they want to, for conspicuous failure to catch and eat the Roadrunner. So put your earnest dismay back in the pocket from which it so easily emerged.
If they give the literature prize to me, for this blog, the rest of you can just sit there agape and applaud politely. And kiss my pink butt, ‘cuz I’m going to Sweden to meet the king. White tie, baby. I would look good.
Every single day, we the thundering herd grow more insistent that everything that hits the news is our business. Which makes it no more true, but incrementally more annoying.
Besides, Obama inherited those wars – including the incipient ones Pakistan and Iran – and we all knew we were foisting them upon him on the day he declared candidacy. And he has taken great steps to heal the worst divisions between people. So there. Does that mean he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize? Again, what the hell do I know? That’s none of my business, or Howard’s either.
