Obama Accepts Nobel with ‘Great Humility’

[Hissyspit]

Source: MSNBC

Obama accepts Nobel with ‘great humility’

President acknowledges irony of receiving peace prize under shadow of war

updated 4 minutes ago
OSLO, Norway - President Barack Obama acknowledged some of the controversy surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize which he received in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday.

"I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility," he said during the speech accepting the prize. "It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations — that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice."

"And yet I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the considerable controversy that your generous decision has generated," he added. "Perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of a nation in the midst of two wars."

The president was awarded a medal and diploma for his work to reshape the way the United States deals with the world. Yet he does so under the long shadow of the war in Afghanistan, where he is ordering 30,000 more troops into battle.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34358659/ns/politics-white_house

[ixion]

1. a 'war' president accepting a peace prize

it's a crazy world, alright. :crazy:

[polichick]

2. And a peace prize speech justifying more war is just disturbing. nt

[high density]

3. Do we really need to rehash these stupid fucking arguments again today?

Who the hell has said this "justifies more war?" These threads become painful enough without these useless non sequiturs.

[polichick]

4. Aren't you listening to the speech? nt

[Tansy_Gold]

8. These threads are too painful for you? then just remember how painful

the war is for those who are fighting it, for those who are being fought against, for those at home whose lives are forever changed by the experiences of those who have come back and by the loss of those who do not come back.

Reading a "painful" thread is a trifle in comparison.



Tansy Gold

[MissDeeds]

17. Yes it is n/t

[PSPS]

22. Obama has no shame, does he?

[midnight]

5. Men who have been protected from the cruelty and hardship or war are slower

to bend history in the direction of justice.....

[Bragi]

6. No Sir, that is not the issue

Obama is quoted above as saying: "Perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the Commander-in-Chief of a nation in the midst of two wars."

That isn't the problem, since because of Bush, Obama was always going to start out as President with two wars onging. The problem is that he has escalated the war in Afghanistan, which has divided his supporters in the U.S and abroad. This is his own doing.

He has also backed away from his commitment to shut down Gitmo, and has refused to bring to justice those U.S. officials and operatives who disgraced and endangered their country by engaging in kidnapping and torture.

[Tansy_Gold]

7. +1

I don't want to recommend this thread, simply because the issue is so disturbing, and yet I think it's a subject that needs considerable discussion.

Your comment, however, deserves the rec.

It's not what Obama inherited; he knew all that up front and so did we. It's what he's done with the mess since he's had it.

If this "prize" was awarded on the basis of a promise, I'd say that promise is well on its way to being irretrievably shattered.

Tansy Gold

[glitch]

40. He is also expanding the war on Afghanistan into Pakistan.

And the speech was very dismissive of King and Gandhi IMO.

More of the SHAME.

[seeinfweggos]

55. that's all fair

i'm a strong supporter of the president. he hasn't really let me down, mainly because i never thought the guy was moses and could part the waters to deliver us from the pharaoh. however, i think your assessment is quite fair.

[truthisfreedom]

9. In all seriousness, I wouldn't have been able to accept it.

I would have passed it to someone more deserving, and left without it.

[MissDeeds]

20. I agree

It would have shown a great deal of integrity had he graciously declined the award and recommended that it be given to someone who had actually brought about peace. I don't know how he can accept it.

[ShortnFiery]

21. This is the first time that I've been ashamed of President Obama overseas.

I don't think many PEOPLE of THE WORLD will respect him any more ... especially after his second Afghanistan war escalation. I'm ashamed that he accepted this award, he is, IMO, not deserving.

[Yupster]

30. I would have graciously declined it

and said I hope to end these two wars and be back to happily accept a prize once I deserve it.

Him winning the prize is just bizarre -- to me anyway.

[glitch]

41. That would show both dignity and "great humility" not to mention integrity. nt

[bdamomma]

32. yea, me too, maybe that is why Obama is refusing all the pomp

and circumstance of events scheduled for him to attend.

check out this thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7195212

[pjt7]

35. He doesn't want to talk to these people directly

or look them in the eye.

I have never seen a pubic figure, have his audience CHANGE,so quickly from total support, to weary,doubtfull eyes saying WHO ARE YOU? & WHO ARE YOU KIDDING?

Amazing turn of events, these past 2 weeks.

[bread_and_roses]

10. "War is Peace. We have always been at war with..."

Even Orwell might be shocked at the prescience of his own vision.

[SpiralHawk]

11. "Wait, I thot I is the Commandah in Cheef?" - xCommanduh AWOL (R)

"I thinks the Nobelsters shulda gived me a prise for deSerTin my uNiT insteada goIN to vIEtnaM, and stuff. Sneer. Smirk."

- xCommanduh AWOL (R)

[Robb]

12. Well, the 90K+ U.S. troops leaving Iraq in the next 8 months

...think he's got it coming. :toast:

[Bragi]

16. Theyll be delighted to fight a pointless war in Afghanistan? /nt

[Robb]

28. Do math. nt

[high density]

42. But that math doesn't fit their Obama = Bush way of thinking

There must be an error!

[Bragi]

52. Thanks for the help there

I was having trouble categorizing myself among "those people", so I'm glad you showed up with your handy formula.

- B

[Deep13]

13. Great humility? Why do politicians always say that?

Or they say they are "humbled." How can being granted a globally-recognized award possibly be humiliating?

[Algorem]

19. "I'm very proud of how humble I am."

[JonQ]

25. In fact, I am the most humble person alive

if there were an award for being humble I'd win it hands down.

[ShortnFiery]

36. With this one statement President Obama has OUT - humbled Stephen Cobert.

Whoa! :wow: :silly:

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

38. Exactly

I didn't see humility at all.

What I saw was Arrogance under cloak of expected humility.

[GodlessBiker]

14. I was in favor of him getting the award when it was first announced, but...

now, after his war speech, I think it is unseemly.

[bdamomma]

34. yea, I was too, just seems not right to accept if you're

escalating a conflict.

[Jefferson23]

15. Congratulations Obama!

[mogster]

18. Congrats, Obama

Great speech, and the overall tone was very respectful and graceful. A lot of hubbub in Oslo, with the security detail and all, but people seem to accept that as a part of the whole commotion. Cool day! :D

Transcript of his speech is available from http://www.obamainoslo.blogspot.com/ which is maintained by the US Embassy in Oslo.

[pjt7]

23. What a joke that the Nobe Committee

followed thru & gave this guy a peace award.

Insult to humanity.

[izquierdista]

26. They should have revoked it

Maybe the original intent was to shame him into doing the right thing in Afghanistan, but that fell on deaf ears. He's about as humble as a silverware thief at a dinner party coming back because he forgot to stuff the tea set under his jacket.

[DonkeyHoTay]

43. Is it at all possible to revoke a NPP once it has been awarded?

No idea... Just asking, is all.  (Serious, not flippant,
question for fellow-DUers)

[iverglas]

24. leaving aside the issue ;)

Nobel prizes have been known to be awarded as a pressure tactic. Canada received one some years ago for its laudable efforts on behalf of refugees ... right at the moment when Canada was starting to consider much less laudable policies. We in the refugee biz knew what the point was.

Anyhow. Just an aside.

I caught about one minute of the speech before running out the door. It was this:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iRWjTDaT4JuS0nFj9APZAues8vjAD9CGFID00

Third, a just peace includes not only civil and political rights — it must encompass economic security and opportunity. For true peace is not just freedom from fear, but freedom from want.

It is undoubtedly true that development rarely takes root without security; it is also true that security does not exist where human beings do not have access to enough food, or clean water, or the medicine they need to survive. It does not exist where children cannot aspire to a decent education or a job that supports a family. The absence of hope can rot a society from within.

And that is why helping farmers feed their own people — or nations educate their children and care for the sick — is not mere charity. It is also why the world must come together to confront climate change. ...

It is never a bad idea to have FDR quoted in a forum where it will be heard by the world, and the constituency back home.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want--which, translated into universal terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants--everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear--which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor--anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.

[chill_wind]

27. A little additional controversy not mentioned

The Obama Administration's amicus brief for John Yoo.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7194785#7194986

But hey.

[EFerrari]

39. This is going to be a tough week for Obama. He's cancelled events

that the prize winner usually goes to so those people are insulted. Then he's going to be late to Copenhagen having already announced he will not get with the program.

[chill_wind]

45. In his Oslo speech, I notice

he is still using language claiming credit for "prohibitng torture."

Where force is necessary, we have a moral and strategic interest in binding ourselves to certain rules of conduct. And even as we confront a vicious adversary that abides by no rules, I believe the United States of America must remain a standard bearer in the conduct of war. That is what makes us different from those whom we fight. That is a source of our strength. That is why I prohibited torture. (...)

:-(

[EFerrari]

46. Last night, the fascist Honduran de facto government refused Zelaya safe passage

to Mexico unless he signed a document validating their coup -- which has tortured and murdered and raped.

:shrug:

[No Elephants]

47. OMG. I cannot believe this.

[fascisthunter]

29. I'm Sorry, but this is Ridiculous

and thank Obama for letting torturers and war criminals off the hook.

[bedazzled]

31. twilight zone? yahoo headline - "Obama defends US wars as he accepts peace prize"

it's finally orwell's year...

[No Elephants]

48. I've thought it was Orwell's year every year since I read 1984 as a freshman in college.

Hint: I am not exactly in the first blush of youth.

[bedazzled]

51. i used to love that book - also fahrenheit 451 and the like

i can't read them anymore. they're too much like
my reality.

[pjt7]

33. Shame on the Nobel People for not

with-holding this award, until Obama deserves it.

Honestly,the fakeness that engulfed George Bush Jr. is taking over Obama.

[ShortnFiery]

37. I partially blame the "media bubble" that Rahm has kept our President within.

President Obama is a VERY INTELLIGENT human being. I would like to believe that, if he knew just how disappointed his base is with his actions ...

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL? :shrug:

I fear the *media isolation* that has surrounded President Obama is morphing his actions into a warmongering image-version of James T. Kirk.

[No Elephants]

49. You're blaming Rahm and the media for Obama's conduct? BTW, Rahm

had a track record and quite the reputation when Obama appointed him. Why do you think Obama chose Rahm, knowing exactly what Rahm is like and how he operated as Chief of Staff in the past?

[Thickasabrick]

44. He called Afghanistan "a just war". I think I threw up in my mouth

a little bit after that one.

[stiplic]

50. Yay for the Bush-lite war criminal

[marasinghe]

53. gobama! next year, he should be a shoo-in for the nobel in economics.

he's already in the august company of those noble nobel warriors of peace: henry kissinger, menachem begin, anwar sadat & yasser arafat.

he's already won the bi-partisan praise of us conservatives from palin to gingrich for his "war for peace" nobel speech.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/30448
"... President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize speech Thursday is drawing praise from some unlikely quarters –
conservative Republicans – who likened Obama’s defense of “just wars” to the worldview of his predecessor,
Republican George W. Bush.

It’s already being called the “Obama Doctrine” – a notion that foreign policy is a struggle of good and evil, that
American exceptionalism has blunted the force of tyranny in the world, and that U.S. military can be a force for
good and even harnessed to humanitarian ends.

“There will be times,” Obama said, “when nations – acting individually or in concert – will find the use of force
not only necessary but morally justified.”

The remarks drew immediate praise from a host of conservatives, including former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich and
former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ..."


all that's left now - is for the nobel committee to acknowledge his standing as one of the outstanding intellectuals of the milton friedman chicago school of economics, for the amazing banking & wall street bailout that salvaged the whole world from economic ruin.

i guess it's par for the course - for a prize, that's financed by a fortune, made off the invention of one of the first explosives that could blow away thousands of those pesky opponents of the personal worldview of global elitism; that of bringing their brand of civilization to us less deserving hoi polloi.

the audacity of bullshit is so awesome.

[unkachuck]

54. maintaining....

....two wars of aggression is not 'just' or peaceful....Obamas' a hypocrit....but then so is a 'peace' prize created by a war-mongering explosives mogul....

....just more capitalist grand-standing propaganda for capitalisms sake....

[budkin]

56. They should have taken it away from him on stage... what a damn joke.

[New Dawn]

57. Well, what else did you expect from a "Peace Prize" created by the inventor of dynamite?

[ProudDad]

58. DISGUSTING

That's the word that occurred to me when Obama had the gall to invoke the names of King and Gandhi to justify his fucking dirty little war in Afghanistan.

Un-fucking-believable...

But not unexpected from just another mouthpiece for the corporate capitalist masters who are fucking up the Earth...

Still, it was a disgusting display...

Shame on you, Barry...