45 / Obama's Nobel backlash
If you know me, you know I like Barack Obama (I often quote him: "I don't just want to end the war, I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place." Brilliant! See also - 2009 January 21 - Excerpts from President Obama's Inauguration Speech.)
When his Nobel prize was announced, my first reaction too was … wow, that's early. Not for a split-second, though, would I have doubted that he deserves it. But many people have different ideas.
How about Peter Beinart of The Daily Beast: "Perhaps they'll now start giving Oscars to people who have the best chance of making the best movie next year … he's done nothing to deserve this." Come again? Or as Bob Ellis said, "Really? Obama stopped torture, inspired his black compatriots, prevented a new Cold War, made steps toward getting rid of nuclear weapons and gave a speech that pacified a billion Muslims. Will that do?"
"Hell, no" said Piers Ackerman in the Sunday Telegraph. "He's failed to close Guantanamo Bay, failed to bring home the troops from Iraq, failed to deal with Iran, failed to kick-start peace in the Middle-East." Furthermore, he hasn't ended global warming, nor the drought; hasn't stymied the drugs crisis, nor crime in general … but most importantly, he hasn't been able to shut down the Tele and send morons like Akerman to the furthest Gulag.