Oh-Bah-Mah!
Hey, don’t get me wrong. I love President Obama as much as the Europeans do (we endorsed him way back when Clinton was still leading the primaries). But Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize is just…awesome. He’s been in office for nine months and hasn’t actually done anything at all yet. Except, maybe, increase the troop count in Afghanistan.
For the record, we still believe Twitter was the best choice for winning the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
Was Obama awarded the prize for his heroic attempts to fight the spread of disease? Or perhaps the fact that he is single handedly saving OpenID from its tragic yet inevitable end? We may never know.
Far be it from me to criticize the winning of an award based on nothing but an incredible ability to manipulate the press. We’re guilty of that ourselves with the CrunchPad, some would say.
But perhaps in the future the committee should wait a few years to review the accomplishments of a nominee before giving the award. Like they do with the prizes for physics and chemistry, among others. Seven of the last ten Nobel Peace Prizes were awarded for “effort” rather than achievement. And when it comes to just trying your hardest v. actually getting something done, Sean Connery said it best:
first
people are still doing this…
not people, idiots are still doing it.
I think Obama awarded the piece price because he singlehandely shut down the torture camps on cuba’s guantanamo bay of pigs.
Gitmo is not a torture camp. It is a place where they keep bad people that want to kill you and me. With that said, the fact remains he has not shut it down and in fact the deadline he imposed on himself, he is not going to meet that. And in typical Obama fashion, the former Clinton lawyer who burned his bridge with the Clintons to endorse this guy is going to be taking the fall for Obama’s failure to deliver on his promise to his leftist supporters.
As for my own comment…
I don’t really see the reason for this post on TechCrunch, but since this site is in the business of discussing and promoting web companies that are all hype and no revenue, it does seem fitting that they would celebrate the “achievement” of a man who is all hype and no accomplishment. His success defies all logic. I am sorry, it really does.
@doug
“bad people” – because it’s proven? some were innocent you dickwad. sure, some are bad, but, then you have war tribunals and determine a sentence. No court, no communication = return-to-dark-ages (no Twitter).
“torture” — old subject, approved by previous administration at highest levels and acted upon with no value except to diminish the US in eyes of the World (we’re supposed to be better than that – after all, America created Twitter).
“achievement” — read some of the more sane comments here. the achievement is that there is a massive shift of repositioning the US to be a global leader in intelligence and peace, which are good things (if Obama doesn’t deliver, Twitter will).
I love the piece price over peace prize.
“the US to be a global leader in intelligence and peace”
And fairies and unicorns.
Really, does being vacuous come naturally to you or do you work on it?
Perfect post Doug.
Its still open. and oh yeah its torture and inhumane camp.
of all sites, i’d think TC is the last place i’d see this
GTFO!
i can’t believe twitter did not get the noble peace prize. may be next time when a war breaks out.
He’ll bring change! We don’t know how he’s going to keep everything going or where the money is coming, but change is coming. Let’s just hope he doesn’t change us from being a world power.
By change I think you meant he wants to make me pay for not only my own mortage, but also those of others. Remember change is not guaranteed to be in the positive direction.
Did I come to Politico on accident?
lol. i was thinking more huffington post but yeah same feeling.
This is a pretty fitting post. Obama is just like an entrepreneur taking VC money: He’ll either IPO his way to greatness or blow his investment on a hooker and Ferrari fueled binge.
Only time will tell!
Every American (rouge ou bleu) had the same reaction. “What? Why?” thinking that only tangible, hard and fast results are the intent of any award.
The Nobel prize actually designates “process” as a key variable.
What this is about is how after 7 years (2003+) the US was perceived by most of the rest of the world as a war mongering nation who condoned torture. Forget “truth,” we’re dealing with “perception.”
Mr. Obama has, in short turn, shifted the process and perception of America as being a proponent of honesty, integrity, intelligence and peace.
It is that process he’s being awarded for. It’s a compliment to all of America that the country has repositioned itself as a leader for positive, peaceful change in the World.
It’s the rest of the World looking in on you, not so much about your own internal debates.
Standing ovation
YES WE CAN. eventually.
Yeah, but it’s true. Al Gore got the award and global warming isn’t fixed. Tons of them have been handed out to brokers of peace in the Middle East, and obviously nothing of substance has been achieved there. The awards are generally given as encouragement of effort, not for actual literal achievements. See http://tabarnha...ize-makes-sense for a more detailed response.
“Al Gore got the award and global warming isn’t fixed.”
lol!
WTF do you mean global warming isn’t fixed. The globe hasn’t warmed in a decade. CO2 levels HAVE risen. That illustrates that global warming is fixed/rigged/faked … it is a lie. Look it up on WolframAlpha.
Henry Kissinger was awarded the same award. HenryChileanCoupsLogistics.com Kissinger, go figure.
> The Nobel prize actually designates “process” as a key variable.
No it doesn’t. If you read Nobel’s will, he was a pacifist and the purpose of the prize was to rid of the need for countries to have armies. It is the reason why he nominated the Norwegians to select the winner, because at the time they were an entirely non-aligned country with not even a hint of foreign policy.
Awarding it to the sitting president of a country that controls the majority of military power on the planet, has the highest incarceration rate in the world and a guy who has actually done nothing on this front other than to make speeches is *ridiculous*
>Mr. Obama has, in short turn, shifted the process and perception
Perceptions are shifted using words. Nobel’s intention was for actions.
@nik
Alfred Nobel
wrote in his will that the peace prize was to be given “to the person who shall have done the most
or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing
armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
http://www.irwi...nominations.pdf
There’s more. But, that’s a start. “Fraternity between the nations…” should be enough at this point. You may not care about how divided the World was pre-Obama, but, you’ll have a lot more fab vacations options available to you, if you get a Passport, in the current climate. Welcome back to the World community, the fraternity of nations…
I can;t but laugh at u at this point. don’t defend just because u r supposed to – think logfically..
>Alfred Nobel
wrote in his will that the peace prize was to be given “to the person who shall have done the most
or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing
armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
Do you think Obama has done this in 9 months? What fraternity are you talking about? Do you even know anything – what fraternity have u experienced in the past 9 months? If your words had any bit of truth, probably u and the Norwegians wouldn’t have been the only ones thinking like u. Your own countrymen think it was too early. Ur views are so biased, I dont even know how to argue against them.
It is all rhetorics – go out, look for facts and then comment.
And if you still think what he is doing is right, y don’t u think they should have awarded it to George Bush – he was the one who started the supposed war against terrorism – Obama is just continuing it..
@Cubrilovic, hilarious to read this from a Techcrumnch writer, really hilarious. Quote: “warding it to the sitting president of a country that controls the majority of military power on the planet, has the highest incarceration rate in the world and a guy who has actually done nothing on this front other than to make speeches is *ridiculous*” This is just hilarious.
1-change the perception of USA in the world
2-Breaking race Barriers, letting peoples perceive each other in the US as human being, not Blacks, white, yellow, red and whatever, just humans.
3-Reconciliating the Arab world with the Western, before Obama: people in the arab world use to say, those american/europeans are against the muslim world, today everybody(even the muslim world perceive the terrorist today as a treat to their reputation) says, hey we have to fight the terrorists.
4-Ending a war in Irak (maybe still in the process but it’s underway)
5-Figthing terrorism, that’s actually a peace act, it makes the world more secure
6-Ending a potential crisis with Russia (nobody know where this would have ended), and bringing Russia back to the table to assume their role
7-Bringing Iran/North Korea to the table for peace talk, and having all the allies put pressure on them (yeah even Russia who just use to step aside and watch things happen)
Well, there is a bunch of things I could write down here, so you may have more expectations from him, but just name me one person in the world who could have deserve it more!
And here comes: This Guy is in office for less than 10 Months, he has already manage to make all those moves…
Do you know which message Sarkozy sent to Iran as they keep building their Nuke, well: Hey Folk, keep in mind we have a bunch of Nuke here, so you better watch out…..so go make some research, you’re a Journa…hmm a Blogger, and peoples actually read what you write here.
He deserves this Prize, the Nobel Jury folk actually know what they do, and I think every single American should just be proud of that
(Disclosure: Beta comment with Bugs, I like the Guy but I’ve just try to put this with logical analysis together, not englisch speaker)
Completely agree. Obama did more than enough to restore America’s reputation and image in the rest of the world on his first day at president to justify winning this prize.
Is there anyone in the US who *still* doesn’t understand how despised Bush was in the rest of the world?
Saturday Night Live says all that needs to be said on this topic.
I feel Obama’s remarks on the SUL were courageous and contributed in their own way to world peace: http://twitter....atus/3876642912
nice. dispute resolution is a key component to winning the NPP
not first
Carla was the prom queen
nice
+1
The tale of the holy bible says God created the world in six days. The deadline for nominating candidates to this years prize was 12 days into Obamas presidency. Yes, we can.
Well, the Nobel committee has had 7000 years to evaluate God’s work, and so far as I know he still hasn’t gotten any recognition. I feel like the review and evaluation process may have been a wee bit short-circuited in this case.
I think we know who’s gay for Obama.
The big loser today has got to be the The Onion. How do you top “President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize”?
How about “Obama actually living up to promises about bringing troops home instead of sending another 60000″?
I wonder if a high school valedictorian has ever been named during his/her freshman year???
absolute horrible selections for 3 years in a row now. it has become a political prize.
people who should have won: Irena Sendler, Marek Edelman, Mordechai Vanunu, Ed Grothus, Vaclav Havel.
Edelman died last week ..
I’ve never heard of any of those people before in my entire life.
Maybe because ther’re actually doing important things, unlike us who comment on techcrunch . . .
no offense to techcrunch
me too. i must be living under a rock.
+1
u won’t – gandhi didn’t win the nobel prize when he was alive..
NPP has become a political sham – i feel for the likes of deserving people who have actually won it in the past – such as Aung San Suu Kyi or Mandela..this decision really belittles their achievement..
You might want to look up the criteria for the award before you say he doesn’t deserve it. It is not nessesarly awarded for what someone has done, but it is also awarded for what a person says they are going to do in order to “pressure” them to follow through.
haha. good one.
Umm. That was actually based on fact. Do you have any facts to share of your own or are you gonna stick with glibb sarcastic comments?
no, no, seriously, stop. I need to breathe.
+1
u really know how to derogate someone!
if only Gandhi had done more press conferences. http://en.wikip...Prize_laureates
Ghandi’s problem initially was that he was focused on Indians in S. Africa and ignored the massive indigenous population.
Mahatma Gandhi – The Greatest Man and the biggest proponent of peave not to have won a Nobel Prize
http://nobelpri...ndhi/index.html
Insightful Article. Would also explain some criterias behind selecting Nobel Prize award winners.
+1 @arrington
i mean, carter won it just for vacationing regularly in cuba.
SCREW YOU MIKE!!! Oops, sorry, channeling someone else
Anyways I was just sharing the facts (and they are provable facts). I would think that you would want to approach this from a point of fact and knowledge, seem as how you have such a strong opinion about it.
I dont know what country those who decry his nobel live in, but I feel like I live the America I used to know before Bush II – where you are innocent until proven guilty, where causality holds. For me having Obama and his posse up there makes me feel safer, lots safer. So, fine, he didnt accomplish anything yet – other than applying brakes to the speeding train towards Armaggedon.
everything is better now that Obama is president.
The “Peach” Prize was quickly corrected back to Peace Prize. It seemed more appropriate without the edit!
Well then I can become King then!
http://www.yout...h?v=eNLQY3bQyaM
That was really enjoyable. The best John Kerry speech to date! Can you do one with Bush and Cheney talking heads?
What does this have to do with Marge being on the cover of Playboy?
If someone didn’t say “What? Why?” then they have a man crush or worse. We all know the perspective of those that decide who wins. I’m just glad we aren’t in a real global depression. People would be falling all over themselves for “peace” and to “feel good”. As Dylan said in “Man of Peace”. “I think there is going to be a peace.”
The deadline for submissions was February 1st. So we was nominated two weeks into his presidency. CNN stated that he won the nobel peace prize because of his ‘Hope’ message. WTF!!! They give the Nobel Peace prize for awesome campaign slogans now!! A little ridiculous.
Shouldn’t Shepherd Farley have the prize then?
Incorrect. They nominated him for campaign slogans. They gave him it for actual works, its usually not given until September-ish.
wait what blog am i on?
i’m wondering too…
Michael Arrington’s.
get out – no one’s asking u to be here..
Nik,
Try Ronald Reagan who freed more people than any man since the dawn of history.
But sadly the Nobel committee isn’t real strong on peace through strength. But repeatedly criticize your own country and you’ve got their attention.
+1
Now that’s a knee slapper. Dear god.
“Reaganonics” is exactly what has been leading to the downfall of the US economy over the past decades. The only prize Reagan should win is a Nobel ‘Worst Prize’ for having had some of the most egregious, most destructive policies on Earth.
Dude, the USSR was headed to the deadpool all by itself.
You know, the usual stuff: bad product, incomprehensible marketing, lack of transparency and poor execution (in the strict business sense).
So why was Gorbachev given the Peace Prize in 1990?
How do you qualify to be nominated for a Nobel Prize? You had to have been nominated by Feb 1 2009. That was 11 days into Obama’s presidency.
http://nobelpri...nominators.html
ROFL!
I’m upset that Optimus Prime has yet to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Surely he has done as much, if not more, than Obama, right?
Twitter? => lol
Maybe Techcrunch should go back to what they do really well which is cover innovative companies and technology. This fluff piece with no real purpose or point should be reserve for your personal blog Michael.
A loyal reader
you gotta let me do this every couple of weeks. it’s the only way i can stay sane. just give me this one thing. please. just this one thing.
Ha! touche you handle my angry comment beautifully. I was going to suggest posterous as a better place, but upon further inspection you use it like condense version of Flickr.
Alrighty then, go ahead. Fluff every couple of weeks is a small price to pay for good free content.
thank you. also, you just won a techcrunch tshirt.
Awesome. Expect a picture of me wearing it on my blog soon
So….Where is the CrunchPad?
I’m waiting for the Nobel Peace Prize committee to ship it back to me.
And then we get functioning prototypes? You know,, after the Nobel Peace Prize does their live Webcast and read the notes of their speech off the CrunchPad on Google Docs?
yes we can.
My question as well: Where is it? It was promised months ago. It’s success as a product only fades over time. At least give us some more pictures to promote it so that it doesn’t seem like complete vaporware.
Hell yeah the guy deserves it. He won it for keeping Sarah Palin away from the white house. If she were in power, we’d be at war with Russia by now.
Noble Political Award. ?
@Alex,
or Canada, we surely would have started a couple new wars, just to keep them fresh you know. Old wars are unpopular
Forget the Nobel Peace Prize lets just have a “who fucked the prom queen” award
I nominate Palin next year. No I’m not American but I just want to see her do a few more speeches.
And by screwing up her campaign badly she ensured that Obama won and she could not take the US to war. That counts as process for peace I think?
i dont think it was because of the color of his skin
I think they said it best on the news here in London – Obama won a prize for not being George Bush…
Nobody gives a shit about your political views. This is TechCrunch, not WorldPeaceCrunch.
Mike you would make Rush proud! Good for you, a little more subtle but this same shit.
I’ll I wanna know is WHERE IS THE CRUNCHPAD!! ha ha
“I’d like to have an argument, please”
-Monty Tech Crunch
Oh no, this is abuse.
Have you heard of the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ – The Right Livelihood Award?
Listen to an amazing interview with the creator, they’re about to have their 30th anniversary.
http://www.holi...re-Council.html
Keeping it real
Obama has done nothing but triple our national debt since he’s been president. Of course everyone outside the U.S. loves him, what competitors wouldn’t? The Nobel Peace Prize represents nothing but a popularity contest for liberal ideals anymore. Thank God for other Nobel Prizes that give credit to incredible scientific achievement and for people actually doing something to deserve such awards.
SNL got it right:
http://www.hulu...e-obama-address
National Debt:
January 20, 2009, the national debt was $10.6 trillion
October 09, 2009 the national debt was $11.9 trillion
404 tripled not found
p.s. you look like a serial killer
I am. BTW, I’m your neighbor Alex.
From now on, I will just have to assume that any prize given by the Nobel committee is just garbage. Sorry to those that actually do something, it is apparently not important that you spend years in jail, worked tirelessly to help the poor, have fought to free Tibet, or lost your life to the cause of freedom. Eh, you just need to not be George Bush and can give a pretty speech (with apologies for being American) from a teleprompter.
In related news… This years Nobel Stupidity Prize goes to the Nobel Peace Prize committee….
If he can shake the whole MTV awards debacle, my money is on Kanye West for next year’s winner. If Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, and Obama can win, Kanye’s a sure thing! =)
He’s been given the prize pre-emptively.
By winning it and then accepting it – its gonna make it super hard for him to kick Iran’s ass when the time comes.
Peace Prize winner cant be a warmonger.
It’s like getting Arrington to publicly accept an award called “Handshake Lover 2009″ – there’s no way he will be able to standup against them and trash the concept after that.
Its all a hustle….
The Norweigans are cunning buggers!
This is also why I read TechCrunch.
I think Mike should have a standing monthly rotation writing series produced exclusively in – or on immediate return from – paradise oriented locales.
MAKES SENSE. IF ARAFAT GOT IT, WHY NOT OBAMA?
if Kissinger got it, why not Arafat?
I’d like to point out that the nominations for the Nobel Peace Price had to be submitted shortly after Obama’s inauguration as president. Thus, he had done nothing to earn this. It is merely a statement by the Nobel committee as a vote against America, George Bush, and all other conservative U.S. leaders. They’ve tarnished this award by giving it to someone who didn’t earn it and belittled the accomplishments of those that did. If Obama was a stand up guy he’d give it back and ask them to consider someone who actually deserves it.
its the case of a boy who cried wolf, republicans bitch and moan about every little thing Obama does, at this point noone cares what you guys have to say. It’s just white noise.
For me it hit the point, when you guys complained for a whole WEEK that he didn’t get ketchup on his burger.
You’re point being that he accomplished what for this?
he stopped Sarah Palin from getting into White House and starting a nuclear war with Russia
Thanks for proving my point =D
Funny you don’t point out thats why twitter couldn’t have won for the actions during Iran. Because it happened after Feb 1st. But then its hard to pay attention to other things when your a rabid obamaphobe.
He was nominated shortly into his presidency. He was awarded the prize 8 months into his presidency.
Jan 20 ‘09 – Obama elected US president
Feb 1 ‘09 – deadline for submissions for Nobel Peace Prize ttp://nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/process.html
It’s worth saying that compared to other Nobel Prize categories, “peace” is the least measurable one and prone to subjective interpretations and evaluations (”my peace is bigger than yours”). Literature is in the far second place.
Cheers!
Shonzilla
The only reason Oh-Bah-Mah got it is because Chuck Norris declined it.
I’m happy that this post was at least tangentially related to tech.
“we still believe Twitter was the best choice” .. sure, and ur vc buddies and take that out on a ride for a nice exit soon?!
I still feel that Connery’s best is “You’re the man now dog!” http://ytmnd.com