Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

So our beloved trophy-president has been awarded, and now accepted, the Nobel Peace Prize. His speech, which as usual was enlightening and insightful, was oddly themed with numerous references to war, and the necessity of war to maintain the peace. This has been lampooned by those on the left, as well as hailed by those on the right, and left a whole shitload of people in the middle wondering just what sort of president we've gotten, here. But mostly, it's been flatly commented that Obama has done very little to deserve his Nobel Prize, and as such, doesn't really deserve it.

Now, I'll admit, it does seem like our President hasn't done much yet. In fact, at first glance, it doesn't seem like he's done anything, yet. He's named Sotomayor as a Supreme Court Justice, passed another economic stimulus bill, and is about to sign into law an absolute joke of a health care bill, but other than that, what is there? And to add to the irony, he's just recently added 30K worth of troops to Afghanistan. (See my previous blog post on that one.) Obama himself called his accomplishments "slight," and pointed out that he is "at the beginning of [his] presence on the world stage, rather than at the end."

However, I take issue with those who say that this is something akin to giving a new model of car an award for durability after its first year on the road. It's not like we're giving Sarah Palin a Pulitzer Prize for Literature, here! I would argue that he's accomplished quite a lot in his short time. Let me list what he's done so far:

Let's not forget what he did as an Illinois State Senator. All during Obama's presidential campaign, the so-called liberal media kept quiet about this, making it seem as though he were an empty suit. But during that early time, he brokered a bipartisan deal to prevent racial profiling by the police, rallied funding to keep daycare centers open for working mothers, and garnered support from Chicago police districts in winning reforms of death penalty regulations. Bear in mind, rallying police behind a black politician is difficult even on the Republican ticket. (It's a shame Barack didn't live in L.A.!) He was a pretty good candidate for president right there, if only the media would have bothered to mention it once in a while. (I had to learn it on fucking Wikipedia, for shit's sake!) It was almost as if it were mutually agreed among all national news sources that State legislation was something akin to minor-league ball, and didn't count. Bullshit to that, I say.

Let's also not forget his real estate deal with Tony Rezko. "What?" you say. "You count the land deal with Rezko among his accomplishments?!" You bet your ass I do! Here's why:

Yes, the Obamas wanted to buy a house, but it was beyond their price range. Rezko offered to buy some of the adjoining land, which lowered the overall price on the remaining real estate. Rezko probably wanted some later political kickback in return for doing this. But what this this dirty crook get? Nothing! That's right, absolutely nothing! Zip! Zilch! Nada! In short, people, our current president did a deal with a crook all right, and swindled him! Bully for Obama! Haven't we always wanted a president who could cheat the devil?

After that, he singlehandedly gave the DNC a much-needed kick in the ass (pardon the pun) with a rousing speech that nearly won John Kerry the election by itself. The whole nation watched that and said, "Damn! Now there's a presidential candidate!" They were already talking about him running in 2008.

Finally, he succeeded in winning the 2008 presidential election. By becoming the first black president, he's done more for African-descended Americans than anyone before or since -- including the oft-worshipped Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.! It shook the inner cities of the U.S. to their very core. No longer can black youth claim that they have no hope. No longer can they presume that there are only two ways out of the slums -- drugs or basketball. Now, with a black president, they can know that it is possible to live their dream. And on top of all this, Obama becomes the very symbol of what black youth need the most to be: educated! No more can they say that education is a "white thing." No longer can speaking proper english be seen by blacks as a betrayal of their heritage. No longer can hoodlums tell smart black kids who study hard that they're being an "oreo!" Because now we can look to a black president with a Juris-Doctorate and say, "That's a small taste of what you can be!"

If anybody can show how such an accomplishment ISN'T worth a Nobel Peace Prize, and THEN some, I'll buy him or her a new car!

And in ten years' time, when Barack has retired, and goes on to doing secular humanitarian work the way all former presidents do, some of the best home-grown American scientists, engineers, and medical doctors will be black, and will to point back to Barack's years of presidency and say, "He inspired me! He made me realize I could be more, do more, achieve more!"

Want more reasons? How about foreign relations. Overnight, Obama has taken America from being a despized evil empire, to something more like, "Well, I still hate America, but maybe it's not so bad after all." Now THAT'S quite an accomplishment!

So enjoy your award, Mr. President. I disagree strongly with your humble assertion that your accomplishments are "slight." No, they're great! Maybe you haven't saved the economy yet, and maybe you haven't cleaned up all Bush's international messes yet, but you are off to a fairly good start, all things considered. And you'll always be the symbol of what America can be, no matter how your four-to-eight years turns out. That's why you deserve the symbol of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Eric