The founder of Miss World Eric Morley’s estate must be wondering which wrong turn the late Mr. Morley took in life to not have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize. After all there is perhaps noone in the world who has done as much as him in providing a platform for attractive people to spew warm air about “world peace”.
Because today the Nobel Committee officially announced that that’s all you need to do in order to get a Nobel Prize. That is you need to be a good-looking person with a nice deep baritone who just “talks” about disarmament and world peace. Obama’s achievements on the world stage, and I challenge his biggest supporters to show otherwise, has been nyada.
Zilch. Zip.
He has given one flowery speech to the “Islamic nations”, he has mollycoddled Pakistan (as expected) by giving them massive amounts of aid with the full knowledge that it will be used to promote terror in India, he has sat for months on sending more troops to Afghanistan and he has pandered to China by refusing to meet a “deserving” Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dalai Lama.
But of course we all know that the Nobel Peace Prize is a gigantic “get your PhD in a week by correspondence” kind of scam handed out by a gushing Europe to people whom they admire/want to suck up to because of the prevailing political climate. Which is why Mahatma Gandhi never won the Nobel Peace Prize because Europe in the 30s was fully behind colonialism and Britain. Neither did Jawaharlal Nehru even though he was a world statesman whose non-alignment, obsolete today, was a powerful movement for world peace at the height of the Cold War and his initiative together with Tito and Naseer to form a peaceful alternative to a nuclear armed USA and Russia was an awardworthy effort.
Which is why Sakharov, the pro-NATO Soviet physicist-cum-dissident, was given the Peace Prize for condemning his country and glorifying NATO at the height of the cold war. Which is why a terrorist like Yassir Arafat is a Peace Prize awardee. And which is why a humbug like Gore who gave his voice over for a documentay on environment also has a Peace Prize in his trophy cabinet despite his frequent very un-environment friendly lifestyle choices.
But then again many of the controversial peace choices did something positive, even though one may argue that they did more for the cause of war than for the cause of peace during their lifetimes. Obama however has done absolutely nothing. He simply has not had the time.
So what explains this award? Irrational exuberance? Europe unambiguously sending the message “We expressed our disapproval for Bush’s policies by refusing Obama , when he was wearing his “the representative of the US” hat, the Olympics. We now express our total devotion to Obama, the man, by giving him a Peace Prize?” An attempt to mend bridges with the US after the uneasiness over the last few years? Was Celina Jetley, the courageous crusader for LGBT rights and lower necklines, and Yash Chopra, the greatest proponent of “romantic lovey dovey for all” the only other nominees on the shortlist?
We may only conjecture. But there is no doubt that an award like this to Obama, right when he is in a battle internally over his healthcare bill drawing flack from the Left and the Right, just provides his critics with one more “Haha total snake-oil salesman” stick and sets him up even more spectacularly to fail on the world as well as on the domestic stage.
Plus it demeans the achievements of the genuine few who deserve the award like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, though some may point out with good reason that the Nobel Peace Prize has been a travesty for long.
Well in that case, we can say is that this then has been the final nail in the coffin of the credibility of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Filmfare Awards now have competition.
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
First response…ipod please
When Obama won….I screamed “Oh Baba” “Oh Maa” “Oh Baba Maa” 🙂
Completely agree with every point, this is a total joke…
First (?)
Mayawati should be the next to get it!
My thoughts exactly. Just what HAS he done to get the Nobel?
Gandhiji must be thinking “now where did I miss out?”
What about Mother Teresa and Dalai Lama who served all thier life and then got a Noble. I am not saying Obama has done nothing but its too early to give him this honor.
GB, yours is the blog where I’m inclined to comment before reading the post! I apologize for that! I think this prize is a blessing from Lord Ganesha! Michelle is also surprised at the effect of Karwa Chauth fast that she observed with her Hindu friends.
Nobel Peace Prize has been a farce since some time. However, this was the last straw. And I totally agree–this is the final nail on the coffin of credibility of the Nobel Prize.
This list is indeed very interesting :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_Peace_Prize_laureates
truly the joke of the year.
What is really astounding is how his 12 days in office got him the award. Yes, he had 12 days between swearing in as the President of USA and the final date of filing of nomination for the prize.
If you want to know more about how he championed the cause of peace in 12 days, visit this news article: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/10/09/tommy-seno-obama-nobel-prize-win/
Kapil Dev should snap his association with Rapidex English book. We have more efficient people here serving more important causes.
Is it just me or are there others who now think Baba Ramdev and Celina Jaitley should be jointly awarded the Nobel peace prize?
Agree agree. I am a big fan of Obama but it seems like in a hurry to make him leader he may turn out to be everybody is rewarding actions he is yet to take…
Complete travesty..
And all this after US just bombed the moon????
Its a complete mockery of awarding based on somebody’s hard-work. Westerners are still imperialistic and biased!
When I read this news on the N.Y Times website this afternoon, I literally thought it was a joke. I mean, I’m a fan of his oratory skills and all, [I even saw his inauguration live on T.V last year] and if there be an award for that, he’s undoubtedly numero uno there, but Peace Prize? And that too even before the first year of his Presidency ending? If Mr. Obama is deserving, I say even Baba Ramdev should have won 2-3 years ago! The dhoti dude has cured lacks of people in the past decade! I always believed the Peace Prize is non-sense, but as you rightly say, this is the “final nail in the coffin of the credibility of the Nobel Peace Prize”. Who knows if tomorrow there is another 9/11, the U.S will incessantly bomb an Afghanistan Iran or Pakistan or some other country under the pretext of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’. Who knows how much slaughter the American ego will be responsible for.
I’m guessing this award is going to become a full-on liability for his entire political life, at least while being President.
Oh, and here’s his reaction to the win – http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/10/09/sot.obama.nobel.reax.cnn
Reminds me of Star Screen Award which was given to Atal Bihari Bajpayee for best lyricist for ‘Meri 51 Kavitayen’ (album with same name sung bu Jagjit Singh). Obviously he didn’t come to take the award so organizers went to his place to give the award.
tripling the aid to pak … a fancy speech to muslim countries …this is all he had done to effect/affect world peace …. n what do we have here Nobel peace prize … (all work done after nominations i presume)
Gandhiji must be wondering
“i told them not to kill the mosquito that night”
and how can we forget… blasting the bloody moon 😛
Osama has been quite for some time now ..how about giving him the next one !!
Hear Hear!
Actually the nobel committee did fear that US may attack some country or the other so they gave the award in advance. No US’s hands are tied. They can’t attack another country till Obama is the prez. 😛
Haha…I still cant believe it. Can I be next?
Ha ha..nice post Greatbong. This puzzled me as well when I the news on TV and for some time I thought they r giving to him d nobel for arranging “bear /peace meting” between the black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and the white policeman who arrested him.
@Late Savita Bhabhi
You should’ve won it this time.
C’mon, surely Dr. Manmohan Singh deserved it more than him for not attacking Pakistan after 26/11?
http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/the-half-naked-fakir-sits-next-to-his-brothers/ – very apt.
You go to a party-and you spot a kid you think is going to make the most noise-you then give him “Prize for the quietest and most well behaved kid”-so he spends the rest of the party trying to live up to that prize-Ain’t that smart?
Yep. Premature.
I think, the committee members must be wondering, how to get people to take notice of Nobel Prize. In an era of 24X7 media bombardment; where a news evaporates within few days, some kind of “big bang” is needed to be visible. (Lest people forget a thing called Nobel Prize exists)
And who better than Mr O to make this bang. Europeans love for O was visible during the Presidential Elections. They had wet dreams of Obama’s win. This prize is only an extension of that smitten kitten Euro love for O.
Last year they gave it to Gore. For the life of me, I can’t make the connection between “Peace” and “Green”.
There’s a glamor quotient attached to US big shots. And Nobel guyz know this. The news won’t have any traction if some unknown dude working tirelessly in Africa or Burma or Afghanistan would receive this award.
BTW, Clinton must be scratching his head in dis-belief -“What the hell I do wrong?” Lewinsky probably did him in. He was America’s blue-eyed boy then and Europe was gaga over him, till he decided to screw his interns @ white house.
Logic behind the awards could have been to encourage or use efficacy of Nobel peace prize for achieving something significant.
Still this award baffles me, it is not a peace prize but populist prize, pandering so sections of world.
@shubho: Fox news??? really??? you did not have better source!
I agree its kind of strange but I dont see any “deserving aamir khans” left out by this award being given to Obama; so I guess at least his ideas are for the greater good and coming after Bush, that alone does serve a great purpose in cooling down tempers! I hope he gets the health care bill through and removes Dont ask-Dont tell from the US army else next elections he will face a huge group of dispappointed democratic supporters!
This looks more like an “Effort Grade” than an “Attainment Grade”. A promising film director has been assigned an important film and gets the Oscar even before the film is released!
While it has been a surprise ( and yes I agree to the point about Europe making a statement), I suggest u read Obama’s Dreams of my Father and Audacity of Hope to judge the man himself. Having been brought up on a strict diet of cynicism myself , I was pleasantly surprised to be impressed by the existential journeys of this president.
In fact Arnab , u will do good to review the first book here.
We have to remember that the real machinery that makes things happen runs very quietly only to be divulged years or decades later to the general public.
Much of world politics relies on personal charm and trust and relationships. Obama seems to invite that trust from world leaders based on his history as well as his persona.
His bedding with the chinese is politics.
His debunking the single nation super power notion is also politics.
But something tells me , the guy means well. I couldnt say that about the last 5 US presidents.
Remember the Nobel peace prize is not about scoring 89 out of 100 in a race.
Mandela didnt score 92 and Dalai lama didnt score 90.5 to merit it.
It is about creating an impact.
I personally think he is worthy of the Nobel prize on his performance so far.
What his legacy will be only time and professional historians will be paid to tell one day. No doubt he will suffer within US. And perhaps even fail.
But what matters is a rational mind tried.
“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,” the Norwegian committee said in a statement.
“The Filmfare Awards now have competition.”
Arnab, how come you have so low opinion about Filmfare awards as to put it in the same category as Noble Peace Prize?
Totally agree.
Though I do hope that he is able to justify this award and all the expectations people have from him.
And btw, about Mahatma Gandhi, they had apologized for not given Mahatma Gandhi the peace prize adding that giving him the award now will be humiliating.
Even Obama would have been surprised to recieve this award…. Only mentioning that he would like to have a dinner with Gandhi, give a lovey-dovey speech to all Islamic nations and warming his ass in the office for a mere 12 days (as pointed out by Subho) he managed to get a Nobel Prize… Nobel Prize is doing a Tulsi Das by sawing off the branch on which he is sitting…
One more thing… I dont think nobody could have put it more aptly than you have presented it… Seriously more people need to hear your opinions … It has more reality and sting to it….
Raja yoga
Nalani is right..Mayawati, Mulayam Singh should get it next
great bong is the next noble peace winner?:P
This award must have embarassed Obama. Seems tht the europeans, much like the congressmen in india, dont take the permission of their lords before lauding them 😛
Good post.
Think its a brill move by the Nobel Foundation. Obama must be thinking “Those nobel SoB*s, Damn…now how will i nuke err-raq…Bush was lucky”
Somebody nominate me next year…I might win.
@Late Savita Bhabhi..you did deserve to win..like Obama, u even have nukes!!
@Sourav,
If u think Obama’s books are really great, he should’ve got the nobel prize for literature instead.
I believe that giving him a nobel now is like giving a debutant a life time achievement award.
@Gyanban
Uh huh, Gandhi was realistic enough to know the worth of such tokens.
You called Yaser Arafat a terrorist!!!! I think it deserves another post on why you think so. Or atleast some update on that. I do not think he is terrorist. One nation’s freedom fighter is another nation’s terrorist. The year when Arafat won nobel even his Israel counterparts won the peace prize and worse one of them was shot dead by his own countryman for signing the Oslo Peace accord.
Yes surely, ‘Yaser Arafat a terrorist’ deserves another Post in case GB is interested in clarifying it. Certainly its debatable but would be interesting to know GBs take on this.
A very honest post.
It’s a shame that Mr. Obama got the peace prize for ‘not being George Bush’. It’s an insult to some of other winners of peace prize in the past. But then again, Nobel Prize is more of a political move than an endeavour to recognize excellence.
Mr. Obama should not have accepted the prize.
And yes GB, another post on Yasser Arafat would be nice 🙂
Regards,
Sowmik
Here is a starter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasser_Arafat#Terrorism_in_the_1970s_and_official_recognition
Now before we get into the one man’s freedom struggle is another man’s terrorism thing, under Arafat’s leadership there was violence against non-military targets and civilians, not just against Israelis but also against fellow Arabs ! He was kicked out from Jordan simply because he was engaged in several illegal violent operations there not just directed against Israel (which Jordan would have no problems with) but also against Jordanians themselves. He then shifted base to Lebanon where his reign of terror was once again repeated.
Greatbong, how about Menachem Begin?
All I can say is, while they are handing out million-$ prizes for not being George W. Bush, I want mine too.
Terrorist or no terrorist…how can a person who takes guns as means to reach his goals be awarded with a peace prize? how do you spread peace using guns?
There’s this joke going on Facebook that the clerk writing the name for the peace prize messed up the names and wrote Obama instead of Osama.
Thats so true. Osama has done so much for world peace by keeping quiet for
so many days. He deserves it better than Obama.
Arnab,
Methinks these blogs should fetch you a Nobel Literature.
A Booker is out of question – only depressing novels fetch that Man Booker.
Among the most undeserving Peace Prize winners was Agnes Boiaxhu, the ghoul of Calcutta. And among the most deserving who have been ignored are Baba Amte and Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak.
I second Srinivas! Really GB (I mean Great Bong and NOT George Bush), how do you do it?!?! 🙂
Brilliant post and excellent comments as well!
And what about the suppression of Palestinians by Israelis. People living as refugees in their own nation. I am sorry for digressing and bringing a totally tangential topic to the point of discussion in the blog. This would be my last comment about the topic.
This is a great post but I have to disagree on something even as I agree on most of the observations.
It is an open secret that the Nobel goes to the politically correct. This is not restricted to the Peace Prize but also to Literature.
Arafat was the person who pioneered hijacks and suicide bombings and he got the peace prize.
But I am very much pained at the observation of a gentleman who went by the name Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi failed to get the Nobel.It would be total travesty to place such a person in this list.Let us put once and for all, Gandhiji out of this debate.
@ Y V…Nobel prize doesn’t deserve Mahatma Gandhi…its too small for him…lets put it this way. May he never get it else imagine we will have to read his name in the list of several other names already mentioned above…
Regarding achievements of Obama, one of the first things he did after coming to office was shutting down Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo was a one word example of everything wrong with the US. The guy had the motivation (even after possible severe internal dissent) to get it shut.
Regarding his policies of sending 17k more troops to afghanistan, We need to be practical, no US president or for that matter any major country’s head can be that great (like our beloved Mahatma Gandhi) . Perhaps some things just have to be done, for countries own strategic interests. Regarding hypocricy of his Islamic speech at Egypt, even Bush could’ve ‘reached out’.. all the other European heads could have ‘reached out’.. The fact is noone did it. Thats honesty of purpose, and its only present in this guy.
I did read somewhere that in 1948, the Nobel was not given to anyone…the reason “there was no suitable living candidate” and a posthumous award was not allowed.
but Nehru and the NAM? GB you got to be kidding….that was a spineless organization. It was “world famous” only in India thanks to DD’s non stop of it in the 80s.
@S,
Read about the role played by the major powers at NAM during the Suez crisis.
You may want to check out the deliberations of the Nobel Peace Prize committee – http://j.mp/3S9D4V
Hear Hear!!
And what about Kissinger? A nobel prize for admitting that his american backside was squarely bruised and battered by the vietcong?
Peace indeed…
The Nobel Peace has been given to deserving candidates barring few exceptions like Henry Kissinger, and whatever their politics, you can scarcely deny, that most of the Nobel Peace Prize winners, have been people who have had tangible achievements to their credit.
Barack Obama getting it however is a sick bloody joke. Its like giving the National Award to Uday Chopra, hoping that he would deliver on his promise of becoming the greatest actor. Forget about Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Aung Saan Suu Kyi, Mohd Yunus, compare Obama with the past US presidents who have got it.
Teddy Roosevelt- Negotiated the truce for the Russo-Japanese war, bringing it to a close.
Woodrow Wilson-Played an active role in setting up the League of Nations, which would be a forerunner to the UN.
Jimmy Carter- The Prez, every one loves to make fun of, and while his Presidency was ineffective, he got it for his latter day work, of ensuring fair and free polls were held in nations that till then otherwise were just tin pot dictatorships or farcical one party “democracies”.
Obama stands nowhere close to those folks, except speaking of “Hope”.
BTW if Obama, why not Michael Jackson?
He has not just spoken about “Heal the World”, he has also shot a lovely, fuzzy music video about it.
Also he has donated to charities, adopted kids.
GB,
Obama for Noble is kinda sad. But anyone reasonably aware knows that the Nobel prizes these days (especially literature and Peace) are just political statements and no one ever takes them seriously.
Also raking up The Mahatma’s name repeatedly in connection with the prize is undeserving to the man himself.
I guess you are right about Nehru though…his NAM efforts were seriously underrated.
‘Yasser Arafat is a terrorist’, that was a gem though. Seriously, with what is happening to the legitimate owners of the land is beyond any kind of explanation and Israel cannot be condoned in any way. Of course, Mr Arafat is not beyond reproach, but you should see where he came from before making blanket statements (with corroboration-please don’t tell me Wikipedia is the only source of all your information…that would be sad). But then it’s your opinion and you have the right to it.
Cheers,
Rahul
Wish GB gets the Nobel prize, when blog writing gets recognised as literature. :).
Though tough competition would come from the ‘Bhabi’ writers & illustrators.
This peace prize did rendered me speechless. Everytime, this prize is declared, everyone talked about how Gandhiji missed. Think we should let this to rest, becasuse we agree that he was greater than that.
I did read about the ‘ancipating greatness’ sort of nature of this award. It sounds like a funny excuse.
You summed up well with your last line. Perfect.
GB,
“…which is why a humbug like Gore who gave his voice over for a documentay on environment also has a Peace Prize in his trophy cabinet despite his frequent very un-environment friendly lifestyle choices….”
What cut, really cut to the bone, is who they passed over that year for Al Gore’s hot air.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irena_Sendler
Thanks,
Jai
You might like the explanation for Gandhi never getting the prize directly from the Nobel site
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/articles/gandhi/index.html
The Filmfare Awards now have competition – so true 😀
so do i deserve an i-pod now? 🙂
First????
Firssssttttt from bottom….
Has to be said though. They couldn’t have figured out a more spectacular way to lose their virginity.
“just provides his critics with one more “Haha total snake-oil salesman” stick and sets him up even more spectacularly to fail on the world as well as on the domestic stage.”
Interesting you should say that.
Basically, I think your article and many other media outlets, opinion editors, writers, media commentators, want just that. They want President Obama to fail. Why else would they all question ‘oh what has he done?’. Havent they kept their eyes open the past year? He did a lot more than the previous president in his first year. I agree slightly that he hasnt achieved anything ‘physically substantial’, but he has put into action some of the things he said he would do.
The Committee giving him the Nobel Prize cannot be compared to Oscars, Miss World, or most definitely not with the stupid Indian Film Fare awards. Any such comparison would be naive and ignorant.
Abhishek,
dont know abt the others, but I very badly want Obama to succeed. If I had a vote there I would have voted for him, and most likely again in the next run.
But I equally firmly believe he hasnt done anything substantial enough yet, to deserve the Nobel peace prize.
Thanks,
Jai
77th response…. Ipod Please
Obama,as a commentator pithily observed,received the Nobel for not being George W Bush.The Europeans have never really forgiven America for saving their collective asses; and not just once,but twice.
The currency that the tripe “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” has is exactly the reason why we as a nation continue to suffer successive terrorist attacks.Try using that argument to the relatives of the victims of Mumbai attacks or for that matter to the next of kin of a soldier killed due to the “actions” of “freedom fighters” and see what reply you get in return.
Talk about people missing the point totally… “he hasn’t done anything substantial yet”. Total horseshit. Truth is, he has had plenty of opportunities to set things right (Guantanamo, Iraq, renditions, Iran etc.) and what we see, if we want to see that is, is a continuation of the policies the bad old days when a certain GW was president. Obama has personally, in his capacity as president, lied about Venezuela and Iran, upped the ante with those two nations as well as Russia (where is playing the passive-aggressive game). It’s not about Obama the man, it’s about him as president and there, he’s just another American president. Doesn’t matter if he has more intellect in his testicles than Bush has upstairs.
And greatbong, your problem with Obama is that he hasn’t bombed Afghanistan enough? America has f**ked up enough already. The ‘allied forces’ ARE the problem there.
I’m a big obama fanboy tracking his ratings speeches palin et al, till he finally does replace funnyman dubya from the white house … and yet, a noble ?
did he get it fir winning the presidency race? … poor fellow has to live forever with the greatest joke of this century now …
On a separate note altogether, a gem from the comments section of outlook’s e – mag(comment from one Iqbal Z):
It was a cold October day in AUGUSTUS AAA’s proud suburban shack in the culturally advanced town of Glubba T. Blubba Burg, Tennessee.
Missuss Augustus swooshed in, her 350 pounds light as a balloon and the same shape too, but her noble yard-long chin covered with rancid froth……She was waving a newspaper.
“I nebbah hear de cheek of it!!!”, she shrieked, “dat drat niggah Obummer- dey done go shove him one Nobel Prize for de Peace……All on account of dat shockin’ dirty black hide of his…Dish yer folks is plumb crazy!”
AUGUSTUS – reclining on the floor on a tasteful skunk-hide mat, his elegantly rounded belly touching the ceiling, perusing as usual his well-thumbed copy of the “De Shockin’ Ignerant Niggah’s Guide to de Queen Engleesh” – let out a rich, low, ganja-laden giggle.
“Not to worry, honey”, Augustus crooned “I go send our Ganjaboy wid his hundred-pound club to knock some sense into dem Norwegian pansies…..Dey gonna put me six month in de hospital with a cracked ass got from laughing when Ganjaboy finish dat job….”
“Augustus, you get dem Norwegian pansies sorted, you hear?”, yelled Missus. “De Nobel Prizes is only for us blackies of Madras, singing “I am dreaming of de White Christmas” in 100 degree heat…..Let those scandalaous Scandinavian niggh-lovin’ numbskulls know dat wid de help of a hundred pound club!”
Iqbal Z
Pune, India
The nobel prize was never known to be an exercise in righteousness.
If the world’s best known terrorist Yasser Arafat can be jointly awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize,why not Obama!
its like givin imran khan and ranbir kapoor…dere lifetime achievement awards.!!!becoz we kno dey r good actors nd dey wil perform in years to come!!!!!!!!
Why do we care.. Its their Awards.. Theyre paying for it.. Let them give it to anybody they want. Why dont we just institute an Gandhi Peace Prize, make the prize amount twice that of a Nobel and hope that in 20 years its more respected than Nobel.
GMD hota nahi . We just crib..
Dalai Lamai befriend Amir Khan now.