overshadow others’ work?
First and foremost, congratulations to President Barack Obama for winning the praiseworthy Nobel Peace Prize. It is certainly a great honor.
But does Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?
After all, isn’t it a little too early to give the president such an award before we see if his endeavors are successful?
According to the Associated Press, the announcement “… shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.”
It almost seems as if Obama was nominated and won in the same way that a high school cheerleader becomes Prom Queen — by popularity alone.
But this surprise win overshadows many other people’s efforts to improve the world. For example, former President George W. Bush’s efforts of maintaining peace throughout the world by combating the terrorists have resulted in foiling many deadly plans for attacks on innocents here and overseas.
Did Bush have the same level of charisma as Obama? Of course not. Obama is very charismatic.
However, Bush did accomplish many things and many of his programs to combat terrorism were adopted by Obama. Whether Bush deserves the Nobel Peace Prize is not the point. The point is that he put plans in motion to help the world and we have seen those results.
In fact, there are other people who are more deserving of the award besides Bush or Obama. Some would even say that it was insulting not to give the prize to Nobel Peace nominee Simi Samar, an Afghan women’s rights activist, or to fellow nominee Chinese dissident Hu Jia, who was given a three-year jail sentence for speaking out against China’s harsh government.
Granted, Obama never asked for this admirable award but it does seem a bit too early in his presidency to present it to him until we see if his efforts succeed.
We will see a great many things from President Obama and once he accomplishes his achievements, only then should he be given the award, not before.
After all, awards are not given out to those who have potential but to those who have made great accomplishments.
Contact Anthony Leone at
communitarian@mail.dccc.edu
This column first appeared on Anthony Leone’s blog,
The Times Observer, which is at: www.thetimesobserver.com
