SHOCK: Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

So, like most of you, I imagine (and, apparently, the President), I woke up this morning to the genuine shock that President Barack Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Uhm. OK.

Don’t get me wrong – in general, I’m a supporter. (Although I take serious issue with his lack of action regarding LGBT equality.) I still believe Obama has all the best intentions. But last time I checked, Nobel Prizes weren’t given out for wanting to create peace. They were given out to those who had achieved peace. To his credit, the President’s acceptance speech was humble and appropriately shocked at the decision. The New York Times has a full transcript, but I think the key sentences were (emphasis mine):

I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee.

Let me be clear, I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.

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 this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women and all Americans want to build, a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents.

And I 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.

I can imagine that the Nobel Peace Prize would, indeed, be a motivating factor to get yourself (and your adminstration) in gear. Again, overall, I think Obama has been a good President. But really, with less than a year in office, he hasn’t had time to actually d much. And then there’s the tiny detail which my friend and fellow writer and blogger Roland Hulme brought to light on his blog, Militant Ginger (emphasis original):

The nomination period for Nobel Prizes closed in February – just two weeks after President Obama took office. Somebody decided to nominate him even then – when he’d barely had enough time to unpack, let alone do anything to qualify him for one of the world’s most prestigious prizes.

The justifications the Nobel committee have given for awarding Obama the Peace Prize are all well and good, but they don’t explain his nomination in the first place.

Every reason the committee gave for giving him the prize occurred after Obama had been nominated – which means when that decision was made back in February, it was on the cynical understanding that he’d end up doing something – anything – to justify that nomination in the intervening months.

Just like the award of the prize itself, he’d been nominated on a promise – which is, in all honesty (and with all due respect to President Obama) a bloody stupid way to go around choosing who’s worthy of the world’s most prestigious peace prize.

And I tend to agree with Roland, here. Frankly, as Obama said, he doesn’t deserve it. Not that he won’t ever be worthy of it, but he simply hasn’t earned it yet. And I don’t think such a prestigious award should be granted based on promises.

Discuss.