By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas
So, it's been a while, eh?
Let's see... what's everybody talking about today... China is trying to land something on the moon? Nah. Protests in Thailand? Nope!
Wait a minute... that's wierd. There's this video on NDTV, an Indian news channel... and I recognize this woman. That's Susan Sarandon. Ok, let me check this out...
I love how immediately she answers the question, and almost laughs about it!
And I have to agree with her. In fact, I also felt from the very announcement that something was awfully fishy... and I voted for the guy!
At the time, after an AMAZING induction speech, and after the joy I experienced at seeing Bush get booed out of office, I was ready to see what kind of change I would get with Barack Obama. As a newly re-naive-d Sledgester, I was ready for anything.
My first sign that something was up was his decision to NOT follow through with war crimes charges, instead insisting we should "look forward, not backward." That always stuck in my craw.
Then, the next thing, and this article's topic, was his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the popular imagination, this prize is given to those who, obviously, work toward world piece. Of course, there have been numerous recipients of this prize who may or may not deserve it according to that standard. There's also the obvious irony of the prize being named after the inventor of dynamite. But those are non-factors here.
My questions here are, did Barack Obama deserve it then, and does he deserve it now?
The answer to both of these questions is an emphatic NO.
When he was called to receive it, he had just gotten in office! Sure, he was incredibly popular, but he hadn't done ANYTHING yet. NOTHING. Much less anything that would cause people to say, "this guy should get that there peace prize, I tell ya."
Does he deserve it now? Well...
Moneyed Interests Over Anyone Else:
Drone Strikes:
NSA:
Hell, he practically even BRAGGED about "being pretty good at killing people."
Even if it IS true that he didn't start a lot of that, it IS ALSO true that he hasn't done ANYTHING to counteract any of this. Bush and Cheney went OUT OF THEIR WAY to fuck shit up. Obama has done NOTHING to even LOOK like he's doing anything about this. If anything, he seems MORE THAN WILLING to keep this stuff going. Even increasing some really horrible practices.
So, did he ever deserve the Peace Prize? I guess that's up for the Nobel comitee.
Do we have to accept it? Absolutely not.
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