Celebrating The Audacity of Hope - Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize
Celebrating The Audacity of Hope
In a truly stunning decision, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded President Barack Obama the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
Coming a mere eight months into the first year of his presidency, the Prize is as unprecedented as it is surprising. Following the embarrassment of failing to win the 2016 Olympics for his hometown Chicago, with reports that French President Nikolas Sarkozy views him as "naive", while the dollar continues to be mercilessly pounded in global currency trading, assailed across the political spectrum over what route to take in the deepening quagmire of Afghanistan as health care reform remains trapped in the legislative lurch on Capitol Hill, the Prize is a moment of sweet respite for an otherwise beleaguered Obama.
Characterized by some analysts as "encouragement" for the President's initiatives to rewarding the new "tone" in Washington, the Nobel Committee's statement sited Obama's "...extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
"Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role..." the Committee said approvingly. Pointing to the inspirational force of his presidency, the Committee reverently stated, "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."
Touting their hundred-plus years promoting the idea of a global community that subordinates state sovereignty and national interests to an international consensus on the common good of mankind, the Committee proudly crowned Obama as "the world's leading spokesman."
Yes, Mr. President; they love you. They really love you.
Yet, let there be no mistake. The Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize not to Barack Obama, President of the United States, but rather Barack Obama, Citizen of the World.
While bowing, both literally as well as metaphorically, before his peers among the ranks of world leaders may endear him to global elites, it does nothing for his standing with the people he has sworn to serve and lead.
Lest there be some confusion amidst the starry-eyed faithful in Oslo and the White House, that would be the American people and not the newly hopeful global masses.
Yes, the President should be commended for seeking cooperation and consensus where common ground can be found. Moreover, the objective reality of the moment requires America adroitly use diplomacy to advance its interests in the face of the limitations imposed by an anemic economy, a skyrocketing fiscal deficit and a military spread thin from the Mesopotamian cradle to the heart of the Hindu Kush.
While the Nobel Committee alludes to Obama's humility on the world stage, he is by no means the first American president to recognize it as a virtue in international affairs. However, though a virtue it may well be, it does not entail sacrificing the national interests of one's nation. Might I be so bold as to suggest the President familiarize himself with the words of one of his esteemed predecessor's, Teddy Roosevelt.
Setting the tone for a humble foreign policy buttressed by a steely resolve to defend the nation's interests, the 26th President famously adopted the African proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick" as his mantra.
However advisable this may be, though, one must be willing to wield the big stick on those occasions when appropriate. Only in doing so, can they expect to be taken seriously and respected when speaking softly. Though eagerly practicing the later, Obama has yet to demonstrate any inclination whatsoever for the former. While this has resulted in the President's personal popularity soaring among his global peers and admirers, America's credibility, influence and prestige has correspondingly collapsed.
In addition to encouraging America's new found modesty, Obama's selection is also a final repudiation of the Bush administration. Ironically, a parting shot in the name of peace, if you will.
Viewing Bush as a cartoon caricature of a cowboy eager to shoot first and negotiate later, global elites roundly condemned America during his term for what they viewed as unrepentant and heavy-handed unilateralism. Obama's Prize is the crowning jewel in a trio of anti-Bush award winners that include Al Gore and Jimmy Carter. One might justifiably expect the President to be comfortable to be counted among the ranks of these Liberal luminaries and stalwarts of American obeisance.
In the end, the Committee in Oslo celebrated substitution over substance; hailing Obama's abandonment of America's traditional position of preeminence in the international arena for a one of hope-inspiring deference. Indeed, perhaps the Liberal dream of a global kumbayah moment is not so far away after all.
Is that John Lennon I hear ringing on high?
Alas, the audacity of global hope has trumped the primacy of America's national interests.
And it and the President have been richly rewarded as a result.
Now what was the amount of the Prize again, faithful readers? Was that 1.4 million dollars or 30 silver pieces? Stay tuned for further updates as events warrant and we watch as the President humbly receives his Prize to the cheers and accolades of billions the world over.
