The Daily Background
| Zuh, what? In complete shocker, Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize
by Arlen Parsa
This is pretty surreal news to wake up to. Didn’t even know the guy was nominated… and neither did he:
President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.
Nobel observers were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in the Obama presidency, which began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama woke up to the news a little before 6 a.m. EDT. The White House had no immediate comment on the announcement, which took the administration by surprise.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided not to inform Obama before the announcement because it didn’t want to wake him up, committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said.
“Waking up a president in the middle of the night, this isn’t really something you do,” Jagland said.
This has to be one of the most bizarre things that has happened in Nobel history. Though it should be noted that he’s not the first sitting US president to win the prize however, with presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt getting it in 1906 and 1919 respectively. But has this prize ever been given to somebody whose achievements are mostly ahead of them instead of behind them?
Flashback: Arizona State University refuses to give Obama honorary degree
What surprises me is that this shows just how disconnected Americans are from the rest of the world. The international community “gets it.” After half a century of acting belligerently, with impunity, stomping over the planet like a drunken elephant, Obama is the symbol of a change in US attitudes in general. He reflects a growing willingness to get beyond our single “get tough on (fill in the blank)” approach to every issue, to start using reason to address those issues of mutual concern. We’re growing up, getting past the bullying stage, opening up to the idea of actually discussing problems, making violence a last resort rather than the first option of choice.