Good Morning Conflucians!!!
The big news this morning is that President Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize. WTF??!!! Am I living in an alternate universe from the Nobel committee? What the heck has Obama done to earn the Nobel Peace Prize? Give me a break!
U.S. President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for giving the world “hope for a better future” and striving for nuclear disarmament.
The decision to award one of the world’s top accolades to a president less than nine months into his first term, who has yet to score a major foreign policy success, came as a major surprise.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
For a malignant narcissist like Barack Obama, this has to be major validation. I guess the Nobel committee members either haven’t been paying attention or they have been injecting Koolaid straight to the vein. I admit, I don’t get it.
The other big story this morning is that we are going to bomb the moon at around 7:30AM Eastern time.
NASA moon ‘bombing’ a plunge into the mystery of lunar water
Within the past two weeks, three other moon missions have reported finding evidence for water across virtually the entire surface of the moon. Now, two projectiles are scheduled to slam into one frigid crater – the first at 7:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday – in hopes of confirming that water is there concentrated as ice.
“This is really exciting stuff,” says Anthony Colaprete, lead scientist of the mission, called LCROSS. “Who woulda thunk that the moon has a water cycle on it, perhaps,” with water concentrations in the moon’s surface changing throughout the lunar day.
Let’s see…what else is going on? It looks like the FHA is going to need a bailout now.
Problems at the Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees mortgages with low down payments, are becoming so acute that some experts warn the agency might need a federal bailout.
Running questions about the F.H.A.’s future — underscored by interviews with policy makers, analysts and home buyers — came to the fore on Thursday on Capitol Hill. In testimony before a House subcommittee, the F.H.A. commissioner, David H. Stevens, assured lawmakers that his agency would not need a bailout and that it was managing its risks.
But he acknowledged that some 20 percent of F.H.A. loans insured last year — and as many as 24 percent of those from 2007 — faced serious problems including foreclosure, offering a preview of a forthcoming audit of the agency’s finances.
That can’t be good, can it?
Here’s an important story–NOT. Lawmakers play hoops with Obama at White House
President Barack Obama and a few members of his Cabinet played basketball Thursday night at the White House with a handful of House members, two of them Republicans.
“We ran into a president with some serious game,” said Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash.
Obama had “a sweet crossover move” and appeared to be in great shape, Inslee said. “He put a real nice move on me and beat me along the base line.”
On the president’s team were Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. Also playing with Obama was his personal assistant, Reggie Love, once a forward for the Duke Blue Devils.
The game was closed to the press. Expected on the House side were Democrats Mike Arcuri of New York, John Boccieri of Ohio, Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill of Indiana, Inslee and Rick Larsen of Washington state, Frank Kratovil of Maryland, Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania and Heath Shuler of North Carolina. Republicans invited to play were Jeff Flake of Arizona and John Shimkus of Illinois.
Isn’t that just so cute? {{Gag!}} {{{{Sigh…}}}}
More stories…..
World News
Video of deadly blast in Pakistan marketplace
‘Doomsday’ blast kills 41 near Pakistan bazaar (more photos)
French Official under fire for sex with “boys”
A leading Socialist lawmaker has asked the French president to fire Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand as a scandal grows over his admission in a 2005 book that he had paid for sex with boys.
Both far-right and leftist politicians have joined in a campaign criticizing Mitterrand that started earlier this week and now risks throwing the government into crisis mode.
US forces in Afghanistan withdraw from isolated eastern base after deadly attack
Indian engagement in Afghanistan, a blessing or a headache
Rain, floods in N. Philippines kill over 100
US News
UCLA student brutally attacked in chemistry lab
David Letterman had a secret bedroom above the Ed Sullivan Theater
Gay rights activists growing impatient with Obama (what took them so long?)
Zazi’s father indicted by grand jury
Gun-toting soccer mom, husband shot dead
Red Sox blow it bigtime in game 1 of division playoffs
I’m glad I fell asleep early and missed the game.
Son of NY socialite Brooke Astor could get 25 years
Dollar Rises, Bonds Fall on Bernanke Comments; Commodities Drop
Blogs
At the Big Orange Cheeto:
It’s Not the Prosecutors’ Committee, it’s the Judiciary Committee, by Russ Feingold
Bad news today from the Judiciary Committee. At the beginning of the year, I had high hopes for the Patriot Act reauthorization process. We had just elected a President with a strong civil liberties record in the Senate. His Attorney General had supported some reforms during consideration of the last reauthorization bill in 2005. And Democrats controlled the Senate by such a large margin that our advantage on the Judiciary Committee ended up at 12-7 after Sen. Specter switched parties. Even as recently as 10 days ago, I hoped to be able to support a reauthorization bill introduced by Sen. Leahy that, while narrower than the JUSTICE Act that Senator Durbin and I have championed, did contain several important and necessary protections for the privacy of innocent Americans.
Events over the past two weeks dashed those hopes. Over the course of two business meetings, Sen. Leahy’s bill was diluted to the point that I had to vote against it. It falls well short of what the Congress must do to correct the problems with the Patriot Act.
At Open Left: Health Care Fantasy Land, by Chris Bowers
Hours before the CBO score of the Finance Committee bill was released, 150 House Democrats sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi saying that they opposed a tax on high-cost health insurance plans. This renders such a tax dead on arrival, as it is opposed by more than 75% of the entire House of Representatives. Such a plan happens to be $201 billion of the $829 billion in funding for the Finance Committee bill, or 24% of all its funding.
Despite this, not only is the CBO score on the Baucus bill still taken as meaningful, but it is hailed nearly universally in the press as a major breakthrough on health care.
Firedoglake on the Oklahoma law to *out* women who dare to get abortions.
Talking Points Memo: A New Public Option Compromise Shows Promise–But Let’s Not Get Ahead Of Ourselves
Writer’s Guild Blog: Herta Muller Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature
Murderati: The Man Who Hates Libraries, by Tess Gerritsen (love her detective stories!)
HAVE A FAB FRIDAY!!!!
Please add stories you’re reading in the comments.
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Filed under: General | Tagged: Morning News Links |
The Confluence 
On CBS they just reported that this NPP was the first time anyone has ever been rewarded for their “intentions” rather than their accomplishments.
Much gnashing of teeth here.
I’m telling you there has been a bribe or a quid pro quo is on the way.
talk about losing all credibility ~ even his media supporters seem sheepish about this.
That’s the first thing that came to my mind too: Wonder how much the NPP costs?
well they have officially made asses of themselves. Wait until they figure out his intentions are all about his next election. Pageant Queens “intend” to work towards world peace and nuclear disarmament.
LOL!
The nominations ended right after inauguration so the cult of personality was still running high. I kind of feel sorry for the Nobel committee because they could not have imagined he would be so lousy and a do nothing to boot.
Thanks for posting this. I’m reading that nominations for the Peace prize closed ELEVEN days after his inauguration.
I wanna know who nominated him.
Just thinking about how this will feed his already-inflated ego makes me shudder.
Bet my last dollar this pissed off Sarkozy and Brown.
and Blair, and the Big Dawg and any one that has done any real work towards those goals.
I am completely disgusted with the Nobel Committee.
It’s an insult to past winners who have sacrificed their freedom and their lives for peace.
I just hope that it somehow inspires Obama to live up to it. *looks at last sentence and tries not to laugh hysterically*
Go ahead and laugh. It clears the sinuses. She who laughs last………..
I think the world has officially gone mad.
I heard the news on CNN and immediately logged in here so that I could be sure that its not just me who thinks this is a colossal blunder.
Next year please look for me winning the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature .I have every intention fo writing a good book – mind you I will not write it but as the Noel Committee has shown us -it’s the thought that counts.
I think I’m officially crazy. This man has refused to meet with the Dalai Lama. This man’s policies ensure economic disparity and social disparity. I don’t get it. I am officially crazy. This will only make him more firm in his belief in his own greatness. They gave him the peace prize? Whose life has he made better other than his own?
I think it just highlights the absurdity of the whole Obama phenomenon–especially at a time when more people are recognizing how ineffectual he has been. I mean, if SNL is lampooning him for doing nothing, the contrast of the NPP-one of the highest honors–is just a joke. This really is Bizarro World.
As Matt Lauer just said BO “won the prize for NOT being Bush”
this is unbelievable.
how did they buy this?
Bob Scheiffer said the same thing. He said his first reaction was to say “What??”
“Not Being Bush” After Bush 2 all they’re asking of American presidents is to talk the talk.
Michelle Obama answering the question about Barack running for president. “It’s way too soon. He hasn’t done anything yet.”
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7ae_1225494615
That’s also how he won the presidency–oh, and for NOT being a woman.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
I guess someone appreciates his speech-UHfying.
Is the Committee infiltrated by teenage girls??
Here is a Globe and Mail article on the other nominees. Note the number 4 who should have been a great choice:
Link
I must add:
especially as the selection of Dr. Mukwege would have raised awareness of the plight of women around the world.
Has the committee ever awarded a prize for bettering the lives of women?
Not to mention, ghost, that the $1 million prize would have allowed him to help even more women.
Michelle will just buy more $500 tennis shoes.
UGH
“Is the Committee infiltrated by teenage girls??”
No, why disparage teen age girls? My guess is that grown men and perhaps a few women were able to accomplish this on their own.
On the other hand, will we hear, “My children told me to vote for him.” ?
Yeah, sure, but can Dr. Mukwege read off a teleprompter?
Dr. Mukwege can read off a traumatized body and spirit.
Doesn’t count.
Harry Smith on CBS morning news said when he saw it he thought it was a joke.
Yikes…ringing endorsements everywhere.
It’s like Paris Hilton just won an Emmy for “The Simple Life.”
ROFLMAO!!!
I thought it was a joke too… something out of an Onion headline…
You mean it’s not a joke???
My first reaction when seeing this first thing when I got on the internet is WTF. I’m still in shock and disgust. This has to be some publicity stunt on the part of the Nobel committee. There is no other explanation for this.
Quite frankly, I could care less at this point but geebus, the morning pundits are really doing the verbal eye-rolling
I’m disgusted by this…
I am sick and tired of this misogynistic malignant narcissist being rewarded.
boy oh boy is the news moving on quickly about this….the Letterman scandal is getting more air time. they must know this won’t sit well with the general public.
“they must know this won’t sit well with the general public” – I think you’re right, because it was merely mentioned in passing on the radio, with little to no commentary on it besides the facts.
The gossip on Letterman’s marriage troubles got much more play.
Well, I’m hoping to find a cure for cancer by 2020. Can I haz the Prize too?
I am stealing this. 🙂
I’m planning on single-handedly ending war in the Middle East from my couch. Oh, I’ll be stopping the drug trade as well. And putting an end to human trafficking as well.
I think I hear the doorbell. Must be my prize….
They gave Milli Vanilli also a Grammy but it was withdrawn when it became clear that they were lip synching.
Question: Can you withdraw the NPP when it becomes clear that O-zero is only a Speechident?
I was disgusted when I saw the NPP news on yahoo, but then I calmed down. Is it not better to go through this now than next year, or year after that? Or in 2012 just weeks before the election?
I am glad that the news is getting bad reviews from kool-aid drinking MSM TV.
They had to give it to him now. By 2012, he will have conclusively demonstrated that he doesn’t deserve it.
We’re planning to bomb the moon, bomb Iran, we’re bombing Pakistan, kids are dying in Ozer0’s neighborhood – still, and gays and women have no HOPE with this yahoo in the WH. Let’s give him 2 Nobel awards!
This truly brings shame on the committee, and destroys the meaning of this prize imho.
Another myth busted by Obama. How many illusions can he shatter? He should get an award for that.
Free Press? Check.
(True) Democratic Party? Check.
Fair Elections? Check.
Nobel Peace Prize? Check.
Like a Red Pill award?
daily telegraph: Nobel prize for President Obama is a shocker. He should turn it down.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100013071/nobel-prize-for-president-obama-is-a-shocker-he-should-turn-it-down/
I agree he should turn it down. The White House shoud be vetting some of the other nominess and ask that it be given to one of them as more deserving. A gesture like that would go a long way in making BHO look less narcissistic and grounded in reality. I’m not holding my breath!
Obamania is a global disease. The timing is bizarre though–since he is being revealed as the empty suit that he is.
That’s a dead on article …
Obama is a narcissist. There is no way he’ll turn down the award unless his own administration and advisers really pressure him to. This is just another undeserved accolade that will feed his already enormous ego.
WTF!? was my reaction too.
At least it is ‘just’ the NPP – why not also the literature one – did he not pen 2 books?
They’re saving that for next year.
Yeah, that novelist in Romania is just a piker compared to “The One.”
LOLOLOL.
Watch out for the economics noble prize – biggest stimulus EWAH and the winner is Ozero!
why not the physics one? he moves around a lot
and goes to the gym & basketball – def defying gravity!
I don’t think we are certain on those books. Now a lit prize for a book written perhaps by Ayres—that would be a special hoot.
When you think about all of the criticism of Obama winning this award, it’s probably worse for him than blowing the Olympic bid. He can’t win for losing! KARMA
Yeah, the Oborg think Hillary’s a bitch? Wait’ll they and their Chosen One get a load of Madame Karma!
This actually may turn out to be a self-defense move by Scandinavia, to keep him from attacking them because of the Olympic bid humiliation.
They certainly know he and M.O. are highly p*ssed., and MO could possibly persuade him to “push a button”.
I understand she did say something about “taking the gloves off”.
He ESCALATES the war in Afghanistan and gets the NPP?
As I noted on an earlier thread, this is like when they gave one to Kissinger. *headdesk*
Up until now Kissingers took the prize for lunacy. Now this…
I just listened to Axelrod on Morning Joe. They’re as taken aback by this as everyone else. I may be reading too much between the lines, but he sounded like he was worried about a backlash.
This really is a bridge too far.
I am glad someone in the WH is aware that this will turn into one long joke. That is the thing the narcissist fears is ridicule. This just after the belly flop in Copenhagen does indeed look bad.
Axelrod may be a cheat and a liar, but he is not delusional. This will draw attention to all the things that Obama has not done to bring peace and will make it that much harder for him to escalate the war in Afghanistan and nuke Iran’s nukes.
Could THAT be why the Committee gave him the prize, or am I giving its members too much credit?
who the frack nominated him???
“This really is a bridge too far.”
I consider it the triumph of Madison Avenue. Image over substance. Obama to world: “Brooklyn Bridge anyone?” World to Obama, “Sold!”
Don’t know if I’m more embarassed or furious. No, I’m definitely more furious. But it’s a low energy, disdainful kind of furious, so it’s ok.
Been just to a German newspaper site – response of the readers – WTF . Rarely seen such an uniform view. Apparently same in Russian newspapers. This will actually turn O into a complete joke – and he thought the trip to Copenhagen was bad. Look, mate, Scandinavia is just not your thing!
It also highlights the strange disconnect between who this guy really is and the fantasies that are projected onto him.
Maybe there is some hope for the world if there is some world comment on how outrageous and ridiculous this is. I hope the Nobel Peace Prize Committee is totally flamed and I am declaring the day the prize is awarded as an International Day for Global Mourning.
it shows that words are stronger than actions in the (new) world of the nobel prize committee.
Wait until next year, when they give it to the Coca-cola company for the song “I want to teach the world to sing”. la la la
I’m thinking they’ll give it to the contestants in the Miss America pageant. The committee specifically cited his speeches calling for world peace and an end to nuclear arms. Fair’s fair.
Just had to delurk to type – Perfect! Well done.
who were the other candidates to choose from? Robert Mugabe?
Well, there was a posthumous offering for Saddam Hussein. Was Ghadaffi (sp) in the running?
I do recall his recently repeating the mantra re “nuclear free world”, as dozens before him have done.
However, I guess I missed the news about all the dismantling and abandonment that was, and is, taking place, since the ONE utterred it,
Yeah…..good luck with getting Israel EVER to join the “nuclear free world.” Not gonna happen.
Not to mention that while Obummer was speechifying at the UN and impressing the NPP committee, Sarkozy and Brown were pissed that he wasn’t confronting Iran about the 2nd nuclear site they had all known about for months.
Gimme a frikkin break. Real life is not like Sesame Street, whether we wish it were, or not.
Sarkozy is probably having a fit as we speak….How can he compete with this – even a supermodel wife cant fix this.
Sarkozy will suggest the committee is trying to shame him into doing something rather than just talking about it.
Thanks for that video, SoD!
The Nobel Prize? Makes me fear the dark forces behind Obama have more and bigger plans for him. Would they buy/strong arm the Nobel committee just for gift to Obama’s ego?
That’s why he wouldn’t put the Iranian mess into his UN speech, and why he went to Copenhagen, he knew all along someone had bought the prize for him. Shame on the Nobel Committee. Nothing is real anymore.
In so many ways, B0 could have truly earned the Nobel… but he is Detachedly Dispatching his Predator Terror Drones that take out more innocents than villains ~ and that alone disqualifies him. When you figure in his escalation as opposed to winding down, Afghanistan, and the fact he is pwnd lock stock and barrel by the Military Industrial Complex and the Oligarchy from which it sprang, well… well… well…
For Shame Nobel Committee, for SHAME!
Ok so it’s not a joke, I am speechless.
Even Chuck Todd, BO apologist extraordinaire, said his first reaction was “For what? He hasn’t done anything, yet.”
WTF?
Yes, exactly. He has made a huge mistake in purchasing this prize for himself. This will not go unanswered. An outrage of this magnitude is so very transparent to even his lingering supporters. I am having great difficulty with this shock. This is the only place I have found at this hour that is discussing this travesty. This prize was purchased. That is the only explanation and if he thinks this will not be dug into and examined very very closely he is a bigger fool than even I thought. This is an outrage. It has essentially rendered the Nobel Prize useless in it’s gravity. It is now meaningless. Oh.My.God. I in indredulous. I just can’t function at all right now. I turned on my TV to get the overnight news and when they said this I thought it was a sick joke. Then….my worst fears proved to be true….he actually was awarded the prize for doing NOTHING. Oh, this is huge because it is so very transparent. well, I’d better end this here because I am able to just keep going and that isn’t good. Oh dear. What the hell have we come to? Oh, I am distraught here. I need to rant some more. Please excuse. I am beside myself. Thanks all for bearing with me here. It is just after 7 in the morning and I need a drink. oh my. I just don’t know what to do. Damn.
I feel the same way, Becky.
And now I have to go to work, in the same Chicago neighborhoods that worship TehOne. This is going to be a very hard day for me.
Actually the right wing blogs are on it hard. Try Flopping Aces, Hot Air or Drudge. don’t have to tell you what they think
lol. Hang in there Becky–don’t forget, he was also elected president for doing nothing. The madness continues…but at least we’ve got each other for a reality check.
This prize was purchased.
That’s how I feel. He needed a boost, so his backers bought him one. It just shows you Obama ‘s backers are from the highest places…they bought the Dem party on the cheap, now it seems they can also buy a Nobel prize.
Well, he and his Treasury DID pledge two trillion dollars to the IMF to “shore up” the poorer countries affected by our banksters’ problems.
Hmmmmm
It was the “Beer Summit” that did it.
lmao
I forgot about that one. That must be it since there is nothing else. BTW did we ever find out if that worked?
“Bah-bah-bah, bah-bomb the moon…”
You’re welcome for the earworm.
Everything is turning into a joke this am. Keep it up!
I can’t. As a night worker, I need to go to bed, so ciao for nao.
please, don’t go!
must have more comic relief!
😥
Coming next month… the commemorative Wheaties box featuring the pres and his new medal!
Funny how it is NOT too soon to award him the Nobel Peace prize, but it IS too soon to judge him on his accomplishments here in the U.S.???????
WTF!
In the same vein as Suziq – Obama, you just won the Nobel Prize. Q – What are you going to do next.? A -Visit Disney World!!!!!!!
Oh please keep him out of WDW.
We are planning a trip there and it would totally wreck it!
Actually, it’s the Committee singing with Dada: “I just flipped off President George/I’m going to Dizz Knee Land!”
That is a good one!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I thought I was reading the Onion. Wish I
had been.
Well after all, he was elected POTUS without haven’t done anything, so this is just more of the same thing.
There is that. I thought we were the only ones in the world caught up in the culture of celebrity rather than the culture of accomplishments. Seems the rest of the world is just as childish as we are.
Well, what’s the big shock about Nobel? It’s not like the man deserved to be POTUS – or for that matter – a senator either?
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/totus-must-be-proud-nobel-prize-for-a-speech/
I wonder what SNL will say.
if nothing else, the Peace Prize really points out that Obama is rewarded for nothing at all…
Exactly. I think it will do his reputation more harm than good
you watch, attacks on Palin will ramp up now…
every time something embarrassing happens to Obama, this is how it’s handled.
Or it’s Bush’s fault…or maybe Bill or Hillary had something to do with it! No, it’s rac*st! That’s what it is!
I’m reading that the head of the DNC is saying Republicans who laugh at The One receiving the NPP are “siding with the terrorists /Taliban.”
I think I’m gonna be sick.
Remember: anyone who questioned Bush was unpatriotic. The New Dem Party = the GOP. How ironic.
And it totally discredits the Nobel Prize itself!
I had a thought. Does this mean we are pulling out of both wars?
No. it means that war is peace. Same difference.
The deadline for submissions was 1 Feb. Obama was President for about 10 days and then nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
This is from another blogger…Is this true?
yes. That was the first point they made on Fox and Friends where I first heard the announcement.
That’s just insane. It’s like the world went insane over this know-nothing politician. I keep wondering when the bad dream will be over.
Probably not until I’m forced to move to another country to receive real health care…
Thanks. This is really bad.
If the Committee wanted to award the US for extraordinary efforts to strengthen diplomacy, why the hell didn’t they give it to Hillary Clinton?????
Or Bill Clinton for his global efforts to relieve poverty and deliver medicine to suffering people?
If BO acclerates in Afghanistan, now, no other American will win the Prize for decades.
What a ridiculous decision.
Well this explains his slowness in not doing what all of the DC bealtway wants, ramping up in Afghanistan, stat . He needed to wait until he got his peace prize. Now it can be full Mchrystal speed ahead on the war front!
yes, he was holding back wasn’t he?
And he got Sarkozy’s back up at the UN….
It is absurd.
My only consolation is that SNL could have a field day with this. And it will be interesting to see what Messrs. Stewart and Colbert, as well as other late-night commentators, will do with it.
djmm
I am going back to bed – wake me when this nightmare is over.
Sheez. I saw the Nobel headline on the Beeb and thought, did I load the Onion by mistake? Guess not. Thanks for the funny comments everyone. It made me feel better to laugh.
Talk about jumping the shark, I think Oblahma’s jumped about 10 of them in the last few weeks. And it makes me laugh, laugh, laugh!
Ditto! Ho ho ho ho hope!
I stopped a fight in soccer practice. I should win.
Yea, I think that’ll do.
I protested the start of the Iraq war, and got rained on many times doing it. Can I get one too?
I broke up a bunch of little girls pushing each other on the playground… I think I should get it…
I talk about stuff a lot–does that qualify?
yes, I suspect it does…
I’ve thrown water on fighting tomcats, producing immediate stand-down and de-escalation.
Can I have the prize, too?
I interceded today between two people who were fighting over a parking spot across the street where I live. Do you thing I should be considered for NPP?
…do you think? (sorry)
I pacified two spoiled cats AND settled my stomach with an antacid.
I had a V-8
Geez. After Bush getting the nom and now Obama actually getting one, that really makes them none too special if those two dodos can get in the mix.
Maybe they will be marked down soon and we can all pick one up at the dollar store.
Anyone can be nominated. It’s up to the committee to sort the chaff from the grain. Did Not Do, in this case.
LOL My guess is that they will gather dust!
From another blog. DeniseVB:
PBO won over 204 nominees. Some who have actually suffered for peace. Wonder how they feel this morning.
Bill Clinton or Bono not Obama deserved Nobel Prize
By Niall O’Dowd
“The Nobel Prize committee has decided to punish George Bush by awarding his successor the Nobel Prize.
That is the only conclusion I can come too when the head-scratching verdict of this year’s Nobel Prize winner was announced.
The hatred for Bush was profound in Europe and it seems the global outreach Obama has done since he took office a mere 10 months ago has achieved mythical status already in Europe.
The widespread approval for Obama’s policy is warranted, the Nobel
Prize is not. Frankly where are the great foreign policy achievements?
Compare Obama to former President Bill Clinton whose global initiative has stemmed the tide of AIDS in Africa, has raised billions to fight previously incurable diseases and who dedicated himself in office to solving the Middle East – almost – and Northern Ireland where he played an invaluable role in the peace process there.
Or think of Bono the global crusader for Africa who like Clinton on Africa has raised hundreds of millions for the cause and energized millions of young people to think beyond themselves and give back to the world.
Both men would have been profound and deserving choices for the Nobel Prize.
Last month I interviewed former Irish president and UN Human Rights chair Mary Robinson about the impact of Barack Obama since he took office.
She immediately referred to his now famous Cairo speech where he reached out to the Muslim world and carried the olive branch that had been missing during the Bush era.
Robinson had been traveling in the area during the period on her own humanitarian work and had been well-placed to assess it.
She said the speech had been transformative and overnight the image of America had shot up in countries where under Bush it had been at its lowest point ever.
I thought of that conversation when the Nobel Prize committee awarded its top honor to President Obama.
I understand where they are coming from – mainly delivering a belated kick in the pants to former President George Bush I think, but it is far too early.
Obama has been wonderful on rhetoric but understandably short on delivery as he has been in office less than a year.
In the Middle East it has been very tough going,with no tangible success In Afghanistan and Pakistan the war drums still beat.
In Iraq a shaky civilian government still has much to prove.
It may well be that in a few years Obama will have brought peace and stability to those war torn regions.
But the Nobel Prize this year has been awarded for rhetoric not results.
Bill Clinton and Bono have a reason to be annoyed.”
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/col/NOdowd/Bill-Clinton-or-Bono-Not-Obama-Deserved-Nobel-Prize-63841857.html
Lessee…I write a blog and in my dreams I’ve written the Great American Novel, therefore I should win the prize for literature. I balance my checkbook. I should get the prize for economics. I hope for world peace to, and I’ve actually participated in peace marches (unlike Obama), NPP for me too.
Come on BB, you’re sh*@ing me.
I haven’t really read the 2nd line of your news round up.
WTF?
Lemme go back to The News.
BB, THANKS for posting the link about Typhoon Parma (“Pepeng”) in the Philippines. It looks like the Philippines is having a pretty bad typhoon season this year, first Typhoon Ketsana (“Ondoy”) then Pepeng.
I grew up in Benguet. It’s an area that has a lot of metal mining so there is always the problem of landslides when there are heavy rains because of erosion and collapse of tunnels.
I hope readers will consider donating to victims via the red cross or unicef.
I should have put in a link to a local paper about the landslides
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20091009-229200/122-dead-in-Cordillera-landslides
Metropolitan Manila had 6 feet of mud flooding homes.
I keep looking for a confession that the Nobel Peace prize for Obama was a bad joke. It is never too late to fess up BTW. Europe is nuts. Are they trying to make amends for the Olympic slap down? That makes the Nobel Peace Prize worthless IMHO.
Ha! I had the same thought. Now for the media it will be what Olympic slap down? It will be disappeared
Obama needed a new toy since his Olympic one was so meanly snatched away from him. The backers of Bush 2 and Obama have debased every Western institution in order to shore up these losers. Put a fork in us, we’re done
“Canada Adds Six Times More Jobs Than Forecast; Jobless Rate Falls to 8.4%”
Ok what do the Canucks know that we don’t? Maybe it is that Canadian Health Care System at work.
One thing… in Ontario, when they had a budget surplus last year, the government anticipated the job losses in the private sector and poured a lot of the money into infrastructure projects to counteract them. I swear, when this is over, there won’t be a pothole left in the Province at the rate they’re going.
Unlike the other Nobel awards, the Peace Prize is not awarded by the Committiee. The Peace Prize is awarded by a group of 5 appointed members of the Danish Parliament. fwiw.
On another front, Obama Advisor seems to like Sharia Law.
Obiteme seems to have gone out of his way to be a feminist once again. 😯
That explains it-Pips said the Danish press was over the top for the big O.
Norwegian Parliament I believe. Not that I give a hell anymore.
Miss Mogahed made no challenge when
“They called for Sharia Law to be “the source of legislation” and said that women should not be “permitted to hold a position of leadership in government”
Yeah, right! That is “gender justice” indeed!!!
What an idiot!
I now know why Obama won the prize – The Norwegian selectors are idiots and Obama surrounds himself with idiots. Birds of a feather and all that.
There are not enough W’s, T’s or F’s in the woprld to express my feelings about the Nobel Peace prize awarded this morning.
Unbelievable.
the Nobel Peace prize is now a t-ball award.
That was my very thought. You know how all the kids get a trophy even though they may have done nothing but show up. That’s how I feel about this prize.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been officially cheapened. It is essentially meaningless. It sounds like an Onion story. What a bunch of garbage. It is sickening that this worthless pos would receive this award.
if Obama is going to expand the war in Afghanistan, I’m guessing the irony will not be lost…
he must be pissed.
Could it be that Hillary’s incessant work behind the scenes has been confused with Obama’s meager efforts?
Comment: absurd decision on Obama makes a mockery of the Nobel peace prize
Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world.
Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6867711.ece
—
Analysis: He won, but for what?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_nobel_analysis_1
Come to think about it-that’s Obama all over. Didn’t he get to be Pres of the Harvard Law Review by doing absolutely nada.
It is the story of his life. He has been awarded for doing absolutely nothing. Disgusting.
Exactly way any call for him to do something falls on deaf ears…he’s sitting at 1600 PA ave with the peace prize by doing nothing ….why stop a win streak by doing something?
We think it’s awful now? Wait till he goes over there to get the prize. The media / obot /orgasm / climax will be mighty to behold.
He should politely decline the award, but his narcissism won’t allow him to do that. Imagine, the winner of the NPP won’t sit down with the Daili Lama. Good intentions are not actual accomplishments.
The award is meaningless, especially after Killer Kissinger got it.
I am so shocked about this. Imagine, giving the Nobel Peace Prize to someone that has two wars going on, has not done anything for peace in the middle east, and won’t speak with the Daiai Lama. WTF is wrong with this picture? He should be embarrassed, but he is too narcissistic to think that he doesn’t deserve this.
It lowers the esteem of the award. Who can now hold the NPP in high regard? What a joke.
I can’t imagine folks like Tony Blair who is the UN middle east envoy or Bill Clinton with his Global Initiative are going to feel magnanimous about this in private. I can see this backfiring on the way foreign leaders treat him big time which isn’t good.
i could not agree more – upstart with a NPP!
Agree completely, Dak.
And in his smugness, Obiteme will behave as if he’s earned the right to be in their “club.”
UGH
Blair and Clinton will go on with their lives…….
I bet we see the Nobel Prize placed under a microscope after this one. Who, what, when ,where should be the questions asked. After holding office less than 2 weeks and he gets the nomination? Will we hear who nominated him in the 1st place? I feel for past recipients who were deserving. This award will never look the same to the world as anybody can see that it is a sham for it to be awarded to Obama. Even his pundits are asking if this was a joke. Thats pitiful.
Change we can’t believe in
The distance between Obama and Bush on a host of policies is not as great as many people might hope or have expected – and it appears to get narrower by the day. This should not, perhaps, come as a huge surprise. One reason for continuity between US presidents – even those who are, on the surface, as different as Bush and Obama – is the nature of the modern imperial presidency, at the apex of a bloated national-security state.
http://www.newstatesman.com/north-america/2009/10/mehdi-hasan-bush-administration-oba
—
Obama win the Nobel Peace Prize. Is this a joke?
I am still rubbing my eyes in disbelief
So what are the odds? The week I write a cover story for the New Statesman, arguing that President Obama has turned into “Barack W Bush”, and is emulating his predecessor’s policies on human rights, civil liberties, Afghanistan and a whole host of other issues, the bloody Norwegians go and give him a Nobel Peace Prize. You couldn’t make it up.
http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/mehdi-hasan/2009/10/nobel-peace-prize-obama
In honor of his awesomeness (and because it’s inevitable anyway), I guess it’s time that we go ahead and just award him a Super Bowl ring, an Oscar, an Olympic Gold Medal, and a winning Powerball ticket.
lol! well there’s 3 more years to go….so indeed all that may come his way ….AND the Kingship of Mars as well !
that calls for a photoshop !
From Jake Tapper on Twitter:
apparently the standards are more exacting for an ASU honorary degree these days
The Committee stated that they gave it to him to support what he “wants” to achieve. So now, apparently the award is not for people that have, through word AND deed, shown that they are committed to peace and are willing to risk their lives in some cases to achieve it. It is just for what someone would “like” (supposedly) to achieve. I hope the backlash makes them feel utterly embarrassed for this travesty. To put him in the same group with Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, & Mother Theresa…
I can only imagine the silly posters that are going to be plastered in the hallways of public schools K-12 all over America praising the Messiah.
interestingly, in my inner city elementary school, not a word is spoken about Obama…
I find it curious.
That is curious. Maybe the real consequences of this fake in public office are starting to hit home.
The people I know who supported Obama but who no longer have jobs or couldn’t find employment after graduation stopped talking about Obama a long time ago. It’s mainly the media elite and the upper class who continue to worship him and send money his way.
Wall Street speed dial gets Tim Geithner directly
Dimon and Blankfein are members of an exclusive club: Along with executives at Citigroup Inc., they are among a cadre of Wall Street executives who have known Geithner for years, whose multibillion-dollar companies survived the economic crisis with his help, and who can pick up the phone and reach the nation’s most powerful economic official.
Geithner’s calendars, obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the extraordinary influence of three companies. More than any other company or any of their rival banks, Goldman, Citi and JPMorgan can get Geithner on the phone several times a day if necessary, giving them an unmatched opportunity to influence policy.
Geithner had more contacts with Citigroup than with Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who leads the effort to approve Geithner’s overhaul of the financial system. Geithner’s contacts with Blankfein alone outnumber his contacts with Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2009/Oct/08/wall_street_speed_dial_gets_tim_geithner_directly.html
Never before has one who has done so little been given so much…………….
Ann Althouse:
Last Friday, it was so disconcerting. It just didn’t make sense. Chicago is out?! Chicago is out?! And now, things feel right again. Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Exactly why it was bought for him…..even down to going to the same place, Copenhagen, to get his prize . I will not be looking at any ‘news” program during what will undoubtedly be a week long media kool-aid orgy
If I’d realized that you could win the Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing, I would have nominated myself.
LOL!
Me, too! Me, too! I’m just sitting on my ass here. Gimme a prize!
Just went to the Nobel site. It seems the answer to our questions, who nominated, etc. will be answered in 50 years. Thats right. All details are kept underwraps for 50 years.
And in 50 years we will learn The Great Secret:
The Moon is inhabited by Little Green Vikings, who are readying a deadly attack on Norway’s fjords which would threaten to cut off the world’s supply of salted herrings.
Learning of their plans through his cyborg-enhanced hearing, President Obama quickly authorized NASA to bomb the lunar HQ’s of the aliens. Norway gratefully awards President Obama with a well-deserved Nobel Peace Prize and a lifetime supply of salted herring. (An upgrade to smoked salmon is available at a very reasonable rate.)
Good jokes. Thanks.
why did not give the NPP to roman polanski?
That’s the bio-chemistry prize.
And also the anatomy research prize.
He couldn’t go to Norway to accept it.
good point – i guess that is like Aung San Suu Kyi
Let me add that I think this will really bring more attention to the fact that Obama has actually accomplished nothing other than words via prompter. The eyes of the world are looking for the deed(s) that brought about this supposed honor. They’ll have to look really hard especially considering this was awarded in February.
Good point. Perhaps it will also expose the hope hoax, and the mania it generated, as the superficial theater it was
Lech Walesa, who won the prize in 1983, spoke for many with his reaction. “Obama? So fast? Too fast – he hasn’t had the time to do anything yet,” the former Polish president told reporters in Warsaw.
If anyone cares ..BO is gonna speak now, 11:00 am or so about his prize.. all news channels
I can’t bear to watch.
I peeked over at TL and they said BO says he doesn’t dserver the award but he’ll take it anyway “as a call to action”
Plus MO wants to go shopping in Copenhagen again. Great bargains.
Cannot believe this news about the Nobel prize. I’m just utterly gobsmacked. What’s next for him? Canonization?
😯
Could O-zero become Pope? Watch this space!
I’m actually feeling sorry for Michelle having to live with him. His ego was out of control before … can you imagine what it’s like now?
totally agree- but also half the world’s politicians will have it in for this upstart! G Brown and Sarkosy will be sooo mad!
Saint Oblameless, s’il vous plait.
He should really should decline the prize. He isn’t worthy of it.
Q: Why didn’t they give Obama the Nobel Prize for Literature?
A: Because he actually wrote two books.
Becasue someone penned a book for him?
If they thought he didn’t write them, they’d give him that prize too.
I felt a need for this today:
“If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; . . . If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same . . . Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.”
(Joseph) Rudyard Kipling
Thank you. I’ll need that and more.
The Kool-aid zombies admit he doesn’t deserve it but think it’s okay because it pissed of the right-wing.
They aren’t thinking about how the majority of Americans will react.
Uh, yeah.
Independents already wavering will be appalled.
i’m an independent – and oh yeah, i’m appalled
So apparently he’s going to fly to Oslo to accept the prize in person, on December 10th. Then he can skip down to Copenhagen for the Global Climate Summit. No action on peace, no action on wars, but great speech making opportunities. All seems planned. David Plouffe flew to France in June to accept the Cannes Lion for best ad campaign in the world with Obama for America. Twilight zoney stuff. The arrogance in the face of so much difficulty in the nation is hard to understand.
Can we change the locks at the WH while he is gone?
Your comments on this thread keep me giggling. 🙂
Just a wee bit over the top:
So now the Dems are calling people who criticize da boss terra-rists?
Talk about stealing from the other team’s playbook.
A “senior White House official” (Rahm Emanuel) called Joe Scarborough an “asshole” for criticizing the award.
Doesn’t everyone look like an asshole if you’re head is stuck up someone’s ass.
Rahm needs to look in the mirror.
Rahm has quite the vocabulary doesn’t he?
Reducing these highly venerated, prestigious honors to door prizes. Ridiculous. SMH.
If you want to express your views on this prize you can do it in this online poll:
http://msnbc.newsvine.com /
It gives you 4 options.
Is one of them “puke?”
Nah, but Partizane has a cool poll. I think the choices are:
WTF?
OMG
ROFLMAO
I’ll have what they’re smoking
YGTBK
Heh. I picked WTF.
the missing option was:
All of the above
Meet the people who were passed over for Obama:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/10/meet_the_people_who_were_passe.asp
I am dying of shame here. What a mockery.
that’s truly bad.
Personally I thought the award became meaningless in 1973 when it was awarded to Henry Kissinger for his “peace” efforts in Vietnam.
Did you guys see this quote?
Whatever goodwill with foreign nattions that might have been built with the leaving of Bush and Obama coming is severely compromised. I wonder what he is going to do with the $.
The is the best joke EWAH…go to the Noble Prize website
http://nobelprize.org/. They have on the right side of the main page a poll:
Did you know about Barack Obama’s efforts for a nuclear weapon free world?
I mean…are they taking the piss?
OK, I watched his speech. I did it so you wouldn’t have too. 🙂
So he played it correctly. He said the award was not given to him for what he has done. Duh. But he said sometimes these awards are given to try to help momentum for a cause. And he’s assuming the cause is about eliminating nukes. So he’s accepting it with that assumption and will try to live up to it.
It sounds like they’ve heard the rumblings and decided to take that better approach.
Now excuse me while I burn out my eyeballs.
And I award you a Purple Heart for your wounded eyeballs (seeing as awards are being handed out like Halloween candy).
Well done, sir!
You are a brave brave soul.
Oh barf.
Obama can’t even get Israel to give up settlements, let alone nukes.
What are these people smoking?
thank you for your bravery…medal will follow
lol–even he admits he doesn’t know why they gave it to him.
Thank you DandyTiger!
I hereby award you the much coveted Saint Lucy award. It is the most prized and precious of the awards I hand out. Your dedication to the cause (keeping me happily bereft of Obamadramablahblah) is immensely appreciated and gratefully noted. 🙂
I am so glad I can come hear and read sanity.
I got an alert on my phone at 3AM this morning – that he’d won – I had to go to sleep immediately – thinking I might wake from a dream.
Ugh.
Next year, there’d better be at least two Clintons nominated if we’re just giving away prizes for presumptive ability. Theirs isn’t even presumptive.
Nobel Peace prize = Much Ado About Nothing
How absurd! It’s can’t be because he’s not Bu$hit – he owns Bu$hit II moniker.
When you consider all that have actually contributed real actions to further world peace, human rights – it’s like a hideous joke. If it is not retracted, each and every winner in the past must feel slighted – such an empty meaningless award now.
Look at all the women BO played “hoops” with! What a great way to get face-time with the pres – what? He didn’t play hoops with any women?
I’m sure that’s just a bizarre coincidence. He would never create a gathering designed to “accidentally” shut out women.
Peace Prize, my bitter feminist ass.
My ass is in the same place.
I figure that next week he will play golf at a “males only” club.
Maybe Michelle is organizing the women to put out a “favorite recipe” cook book. Here is my contribution – Eat shit and die.
Why does it look like 1959 all over again?
TERRORIST BOMBS MOON!
The moon – that nocturnal inspiration to poets and lovers for centuries – was viciously attacked this morning by Muslim terrorist Barack HUSSEIN Obama and his co-conspirators within THE GOVERNMENT.
A clear message has been sent by this radical jihadist to good and decent people everywhere. There is no room for misinterpretation: if they can target the moon – THE MOON! – in such a ghastly and unprovoked matter, it only proves – conclusively – that Main Street is not safe. Our children must be protected from the radical, hideous agenda of this man and his vile administration. Mark my words, my fellow Americans – today the moon, tomorrow Anytown, USA. OH, THE HUMANITY!
At the moment this lunar holocaust was taking shape, an announcement was made on Oslo, Norway awarding Barack HUSSEIN Obama the Nobel Peace Prize.
Coincidence? I wonder….
But seriously, folks….
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
When I saw a headline, I initially thought I was reading a joke – like something from the Onion. Then I realized it was real.
I guess I shouldn’t be too astonished. I’ve attended three international conferences in the last year, and whenever I expressed my opinions about Obama (in a reasonable fashion – no display of frothing at the mouth), the continental Europeans attendees looked aghast (at me) and thereafter treated me like a pariah/nut.
Just have to say that the word on the street is: Incredulous. Strangers were engaging me in conversation, some even seemed to be positively inclined to Obama, but the reaction was the same: A universal shaking of heads.
Giving Obama the NPP is completely absurd and cheapens the award. First the SNL skit. Now this. His presidency is quickly becoming a joke, and not just to those of us who have always seen through his BS.
I think this “prize” will be a millstone around the O’s neck as the entire world will now watch his performance a lot more carefully. That can’t be good for an employee who does his best to do nothing at all. The NPP will be diminished along with it’s recipient before year’s end