Nobel jury defends Obama decision

[kpete]

Source: Associated Press


AP Newsbreak: Nobel jury defends Obama decision
AP


OSLO – Members of the Norwegian committee that gave Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize are strongly defending their choice against a storm of criticism that the award was premature and a potential liability for the U.S. president.

Asked to comment on the uproar following Friday's announcement, four members of the five-seat panel told The Associated Press that they had expected the decision to generate both surprise and criticism.

Three of them rejected the notion that Obama hadn't accomplished anything to deserve the award, while the fourth declined to answer that question. A fifth member didn't answer calls seeking comment.

"We simply disagree that he has done nothing," committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland told the AP on Tuesday. "He got the prize for what he has done."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091013/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nobel_peace_obama

[Mz Pip]

1. The Obama haters

remind me of 10 year olds who stomp and whine, "NOT FAIR!" when someone else in the class is chosen to be "Student of the Month." It's so petty.

The GOP does not get a vote on the Nobel Committee. Get over it.

[IndianaGreen]

2. The last big controversy on the Nobel was when the Literature Prize

was awarded to William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies. That was quite a doozy!

[NJCher]

3. Oh yes, Obama's accomplishments are so modest...

Well, really, all Obama did was engineer the legal takeover of a country controlled by extremist right wing/corporatist forces who have all the money. Possibly save the U.S. from the most spectacular nosedive of a nation ever. Oh, and the world, too, since we now see that so many are entwined in the U.S. economy.

No big deal, really, especially for senator once recognized as the most liberal in that governing body.

:eyes:


Cher

[liberal N proud]

4. They shouldn't have to do this

But because there is such a concerted effort to take President Obama down, these people have to come out and restate their decision.

:wtf:

[bertman]

5. I'll bet they said "Oh Fuck!!" (in Norwegian) when they heard about the secret 13,000

troops that got slid into Vietghanistan under the cover of bureaucracy.

[Cha]

14. I bet they didn't and I bet you don't even know why they

gave President Obama the NPP bc you're too busy stamping your feet.

[bertman]

15. Can't take a joke eh?

Relax, you'll live longer.


P.S. I know why they gave it to him and I'm delighted that they did. I'm HOPING it will have the desired effect.

P.S.S. I gave up foot-stamping a long time ago. Bad ankle.



:hi:

[change_notfinetuning]

6. Remember "Being There"? Obama has planted the seeds. So far, it has

produced a Nobel Prize. In time, we shall see what other benefits flow.

One must not underestimate the gardener.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Or underestimate the Afghanistan weed

it is as intrusive as kudzu.

[change_notfinetuning]

10. Um, I've driven through Indiana . . . ahem . . . maybe not like kudzu, but . . .

[IndianaGreen]

12. that's the good weed. It is also Kentucky's largest cash crop.

:smoke:

[24601]

26. I remember "Being There" and Chancy Gardner was a moron

being touted as a genius by those around him who didn't know who he really was - and he was going to end up as POTUS. Are you sure this is the analogy you want to use?

[Beavker]

7. the GOP is shameless, and the US media a joke

He said most world leaders were positive about the award and that most of the criticism was coming from the media and from Obama's political rivals.

Even foreign entities are having to fight the GOP. I think the rest of the World needs to demand the GOP be put under control, or they will be deemed a Terrorist Organization being harbored by the United States. I'd love the US to be sanctioned by all major industrial powers of the world because of the GOP. That would be great.

[Tippy]

9. Hell the GOP Would just LIE through their teeth and blame it all on

Our President...Never saw an outfit that could lie and have so many dummies believe what they say....

[Gman]

11. Well at least AP didn't call it a "firestorm"

Which is getting to be one of the most overused terms.

[acsmith]

13. it is nothing to do with the GOP

the rest of the world thinks your politicians are all right wing nutters (even the ones you think are liberal). they just dont think Obama has done enough to deserve it.

[No Elephants]

17. Unlike Arafat and Rabin?

[No Elephants]

16. They should not bother to answer. They knew A. Nobel's criteria better than anyone else and they

made their decision. End of story.

Obama humbly accepted it on behalf of the American people and others and he is donating the money to charity. End of story.

Rule of thumb: Ignore the RW.

[Hissyspit]

18. Nobel Jury Speaks Out in Defense of Obama Prize (Decision was Unanimous)

Source: Associated Press

Nobel jury speaks out in defense of Obama prize
By IAN MacDOUGALL and KARL RITTER (AP) – 1 hour ago

OSLO — One judge noted with surprise that President Barack Obama "didn't look particularly happy" at being named the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Another marveled at how critics could be so patronizing. In a rare public defense of a process normally shrouded in secrecy, four of the Nobel jury's five judges spoke out this week about a selection they said was both merited and unanimous.

To those who say a Nobel is too much too soon in Obama's young presidency, "We simply disagree ... He got the prize for what he has done," committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland told The Associated Press by telephone from Strasbourg, France, where he was attending meetings of the Council of Europe. Jagland singled out Obama's efforts to heal the divide between the West and the Muslim world and scale down a Bush-era proposal for an anti-missile shield in Europe. "All these things have contributed to — I wouldn't say a safer world — but a world with less tension," he said.

- snip -

Jagland said that was never an issue for the Nobel committee, which followed the guidelines set forth by Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite who established the prize in his 1895 will. "Alfred Nobel wrote that the prize should go to the person who has contributed most to the development of peace in the previous year," Jagland said. "Who has done more for that than Barack Obama?"

- snip -

World leaders have reacted positively to Obama's Nobel in most cases, the committee said, with much of the criticism coming from the media and Obama's political rivals. "I take note of it. My response is only the judgment of the committee, which was unanimous," Jagland said.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5irLyPrFK_rtRwMOsfjRBFjGDVZCgD9BAPJ481

[liberal N proud]

19. Too bad they had to defend their decision

The award was their to give and that should have been that.

The M$M, right wing media should have left it alone. If they were journalist, they would have simply reported he won and shown his comments and moved on.

But in today's all propaganda media, they had to castrate a great honor bestowed upon the leader of our nation for politics.

:cry: for what America has become at the hands of neo-conservatives.

[SpiralHawk]

20. Well, they are dealing with Republicon Homelanders

And as we have all learned to our collective astonishment and dismay, it's just not possible to underestimate the Republicon capacity for smallness and skankitude. As Republicons demonstrate repeatedly, they have no honor.

Sad but true.

[mopinko]

21. skankitude and

evil

[truthisfreedom]

22. Republicans=no honor. You got that right.

Probably the most accurate assessment of repubes today.

[HuckleB]

23. Nobel jury speaks out in defense of Obama prize

Source: Associated Press

One judge noted with surprise that President Barack Obama "didn't look particularly happy" at being named the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Another marveled at how critics could be so patronizing.

In a rare public defense of a process normally shrouded in secrecy, four of the Nobel jury's five judges spoke out this week about a selection they said was both merited and unanimous.

To those who say a Nobel is too much too soon in Obama's young presidency, "We simply disagree ... He got the prize for what he has done," committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland told The Associated Press by telephone from Strasbourg, France, where he was attending meetings of the Council of Europe.

Jagland singled out Obama's efforts to heal the divide between the West and the Muslim world and scale down a Bush-era proposal for an anti-missile shield in Europe.

"All these things have contributed to — I wouldn't say a safer world — but a world with less tension," he said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091014/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nobel_peace_obama

---

It's ludicrous that the so-called "conservatives" in our nation have made this response necessary.

[jeffbr]

24. Pakistani Taliban criticize Obama's peace Nobel

Pakistani Taliban criticize Obama's peace Nobel
(AP) – 1 hour ago

ISLAMABAD — The Pakistani Taliban has criticized the decision to award Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize saying the U.S. president should have received a "villain of peace" award instead.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g0cuy6Vh2jdNBUwOfDRLt961dZ-gD9BAULJO0

[kestrel91316]

25. IMHO the Nobel Committee owes NO ONE an explanation of why they chose

Obama beyond what they have already said in the award statement. They are a private organization with freedom of conscience.