Bono nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

My neighbour at home in Mericky is an Englishman who basically invented medical ultrasound, he gets 'nominated' loads too for the Science bit.

(I didn't know there were innumerable nominations - not that it makes it much easier to stomach)

Y'know, Yasser Arafat got one of those, kept it proudly on display in his office...before the IDF blew it to smithereens.

A love pocket could be anything... like that small pocket in jeans for condoms, for example.

You're still an ethical thief, Lara Byrne.

I stole no one's moral code. If you've strayed from the path it's no one's fault but your own.

Maybe Ken Livingstone should get it.

Obviously the Nobel Committee will have to swayed by the "Electrical Storm" video w/Samantha Morton.

;)

Aye, and I'd hope you didn't hate me! Least not til Nick Aid 2015.

Ah, so would I. But since my good kicking leg permanently out of commission, I will have to settle for dropping a bowling ball on his feet.

"I WANNA DIP MY BALLS IN IT"

I'd have attached a picture of Louie, but I came up empty when searching. =/

-
Alan

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/images/20060202_p020206pm-0095-515h.jpg

From his appearance at the 54th Annual Nat'l Prayer Breakfast.

Still, as some have pointed out, the guy is willing & able to down with anybody to talk about his causes.

14678 answers

Time to go check drudgereport, fox news & malkin

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5981JK20091009

Aren't they giving this to him a bit early? He has done a lot of rhetorical stuff, but in a number of key areas it seems to be still same-old, same-old.

Not Bono then?

quick

Starting now, I'm going to say a lot of high-minded pacifist things in public this year so I can win next year's prize.

This is silly. Especially as he's just about to ramp up in Afghanistan.

He did extend the hand of peace to those goth girls. Maybe that swung it for him?

kneejerk reaction to a us president not being gwb

Has this been done purely to rile up the haters? If so, I approve.

sounds like SOME committee has been reading our "favorite contributor to NR's the corner" thread

hahahaha LOL am in Mpls and LOL at my mom; let the kvetching begin.

My first reaction is "uggh" and the press announcement saying that it's b/c he's giving hope to the world makes it double uggh. One way to defend the "hope" explanation is that Obama's campaign and election meant a lot to people of color in e.g. France, where they perceive they would have no chance of reaching the upper echelons of power. Obama's success says to them: maybe we can succeed in a place as hide-bound as this too. I can get with this explanation.

In that case shouldn't the Prize go to the people who voted for him?

Maybe the Nobel Krew thought he should be alive to enjoy it (as this is only get the right wing nuts stroking their guns even more).

Maybe this thing works the other way round too, and they're trying to send a message to him?

I will happily take my 1/1000000000 or whatever of the Nobel Prize money.

nobel peace prize: now easier to get than a diploma from ASU

So now instead of spam saying "Receive a Batchelor's degree" I'll get things like "Get ur Nobel Prize - no classes or exams to take!"

It'll just be another reason for the American right to hate them commie europeans. :-/

no experience necessary! we'll train you!

Come on guys--he brought Skip Gates and Officer Crowley together for beers.

I'm willing to bet that behind closed doors Obama is actually really pissed about this.

I bet he is too.

It's hard to see the upside for him (besides the cash, I guess).

Consolation prize for not winning the olympics.

(xpost) He can't even keep the money - he has to give it away otherwise people will be like "ooooohhhhh"

He's one up on Bono?

I think it might be alright a few years from now when 'nobel laureate' is just a title we can use to make him look more impressive than the GOP candidate and people have stopped thinking about the 'lol wait why did he deserve this' - it's like getting your medical degree in morocco or something, eventually people are gonna forget and just start calling you Dr.

He'll certainly have to donate the prize cash to a non-partisan aid charity or something, right?

cash for clunkers

(xxpost) Could totally backfire if Afghanistan and Iraq are still in a bit of a mess.

(I mean, still in a bit of mess by the run up to the next election)

I can't wait to see if he wins for Literature too.

The upside is: Bono didn't win! :-)

Iraq's going to kick us out soon enough anyway, so that should off his back.

should be, rather.

This may be some kind of internet watermark story--this news broke over an hour ago and I still don't see it up on Drudge or HuffPo.

Drudge just now put it up.

Fox & Friends all trying to avoid having seizures right now.

Announcement from Al Gore: "He gets a Nobel Prize AND the presidency? Oh FFS."

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

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.

For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."

This is gross. Euler OTM.

Guys, The Corner will make for awesome reading this morning.

This is definitely a "LOL Europeans" moment.

I for one am looking forward to right-wing insinuations that nobody cares because peace is for fags and poor people.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1887090,00.html

Maybe Obama will use the prize money to balance the budget when in 6 months 1 krone is worth 10000000000000000 dollars.

It makes a pleasant change from all of Europe laughing/crying at the stupidity of a US President/Americans in general. Prize goes to the first Corner writer to call the Nobel a Swedish award.

The Corner:

The Company He Keeps [Mona Charen]

Here is a list of Nobel Peace Prize winners since 1980. There are some worthy recipients — Lech Walesa, Shirin Ebadi, Mohammed Yunus. But most Nobel Peace Peace prizes go to conventional leftwing types popular with European elites — Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Mikhail Gorbachev. Before they break out the champagne at the White House, they may want to pause over the fact that Obama now shares this honor with Mohammed el-Baradei, Yasser Arafat, and flagrant liar Rigoberta Menchu Tum.

(GOP hates el-Baradei? Why?)

Because he hates nuclear weapons and talks to heads of state.

Oh. I didn't know he was a terrorist.

omigod.

Prediction [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

Bibi Netanyahu will never be given a Nobel prize.

LOL

I'm willing to bet that behind closed doors Obama is actually really pissed about this.

― ENERGY FOOD (en i see kay), Friday, October 9, 2009 11:21 AM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

seriously. this feels like guardian readers writing to voters in swing counties in ohio encouraging them to do what's right, but with evening wear.

Should have figured that "Arafat won it too!" would be the Right's reaction.

Triumph of Hope . . . over Experience? [Mike Potemra]

It looks like the Nobel Prize Committee likes to have fun with the U.S. domestic political consensus. The “most read” stories over on (conservative-leaning but mainstream) RealClearPolitics right now are the following: “Is Obama Becoming a Joke?” “Voters Are Turning Away From Democrats.” “More Popular, But Less Respected.” “Obama Is Suddenly Looking Unsure of Himself.” “Obama’s French Lesson.” And “The Obamas’ Narcissism on Display.”

Those foreigners don't understand America. Don't they know that people who read a right wing news site are clicking on negative stories about Obama?

Should have figured that "Arafat won it too!" would be the Right's reaction.

Well, Kissinger's won too.

Um...

Maybe if we changed the name ... [Andy McCarthy]

After a number of years, the NFL renamed its Super Bowl trophy after its most fitting recipient — it's now called the Vince Lombardi Trophy. I'd like to see the Nobel Foundation follow suit. If today's headlines said, "Barack Obama Wins Yasser Arafat Prize," that would be perfect.

Conveniently forgetting that Arafat shared his prize with Yitzak Rabin and Shimon Peres.

Mohammed el-Baradei

Huh?

The entire history of people who'd write for the Corner is about convenient collective amnesia.

with the IAEA for contributions for nuclear disarmament I think.

xpost

Giving Obama a peace price for 'hope' is pretty dumb when he's escalating the Afghan war

I did not realize the Nobel Peace Prize had an affirmative action quota for, but that is the only thing I can think of for this news.

... from Red State.

To my credit, I predicted this post nearly verbatim when I first heard the news.

the award for best trolling definitely goes to the nobel committee. it's like their main objective is make heads explode across wingnuttia.

Aren't they giving this to him a bit early?

loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool, yes, the body count will be much more in the NPP groove in Jan 2013

For once, Greg Mankiw's snarkiness seems apropos:

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-year-grad-student-wins-nobel.html

First of all, I agree that this award was premature, and Obama's probably behind closed doors having a hissy fit. But a few things:

A reason not to be angry at Nobel Prize committee - I still don't support the line of thought around here (and elsewhere) that we should all adjust our actions so as to avoid angering the wingnuts. First it applied to specific debates, then to national politics in general, and now the Nobel Prize committee should consider the needs and worries of the wingnuts before they award a prize. Fuck that, seriously. Obviously the Nobel Prize makes political waves, whomever it's awarded to, but let's not flip the world upside-down so that crazy old racist uncle Charlie can angrily eat his beef jerky in the corner in relative peace and quiet tonight.

and a possible silver lining - this might place some pressure against Obama's plan for Afghanistan. It's bad politically for him, but if you're not a fan of escalation, you can at least view it as a push in a better direction.

But yeah, I agree with everyone here in wishing the Nobel Prize committee wouldn't have blown their collective wad.

They couldn't have held onto this announcement till Monday? I'm in Philadelphia this weekend, and all the wingnuts in my parent's community are going to be chattering about this.

i guess you've learned a good lesson here, Mordy: always email Sweden when you have travel plans.

bastards!

who's got the open line to The Corner – is it you, Mordy?

Yeah. Got a message to send?

"Peace unto this house."

Norway, xpost

Not really a bigger deal than Helen Hunt winning an Oscar.

do we think Goldberg is being honest here?

Exactly! [Jonah Goldberg]

A reader forwarded me this tweet from an Obama supporter:

I loved this tweet from an Obama supporter (@LeeBillings):

Yknow, just to reiterate something I've heard elsewhere... It's not Obama's fault that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize... Jeez people.

lol great thread for this

he's speaking like right now isn't he? is anyone watching tv?

and now the Nobel Prize committee should consider the needs and worries of the wingnuts before they award a prize. Fuck that, seriously.

erm as a Norwegian (and I've said a "wtf" at this awardination alredy) -- NO -- plz understand USA that no other country really knows or cares about your wingnuts!

(ok ok some care about wingnuts bcz lol etc, but.)

yeah why would any foreigner need to care about american politics?? lol

yeah why would any foreigner care about a Norwegian award?? lol

"And the winner for Noblest Fjord goes to..."

or a swedish award given by a norwegian

Not any Norwegian, this Norwegian (far left):

http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2000/07/09/DI_5sl26kchSvaboSak2.JPG

What I meant abt "wingnut" post was just the obvious, ie Glenn Beck or whoever is in the world's eye about as important as Li Guwhatwho, the insurgency leader in wartorn Gelbankistan, intent on bringing the justice of Confucianism to the suffering people of the Leninist leaders of the Counter-Counter-Revolution.

It's still many, many lols though, so don't stop reporting from your particular country, ie Ireland. Enjoying your updates, Bono.

Not any Norwegian, this Norwegian (far left)

Looks like he knows a thing or two about life. I do not distrust that man.

do we think Goldberg is being honest here?

Exactly! [Jonah Goldberg]

A reader forwarded me this tweet from an Obama supporter:

I loved this tweet from an Obama supporter (@LeeBillings):

Yknow, just to reiterate something I've heard elsewhere... It's not Obama's fault that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize... Jeez people.

― pariah carey (Mr. Que), Saturday, October 10, 2009 4:16 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark

I think this is like, "nope it sure isn't his fault ;-) ;-)". "Obama supporter in foot-in-mouth lolz"

lol @ all of this

that half inning wasnt a fatigue-induced hallucination was it

haha wrong thread

erm as a Norwegian (and I've said a "wtf" at this awardination alredy) -- NO -- plz understand USA that no other country really knows or cares about your wingnuts!

Yeah...and thank god for that!

If you read my original post, I was offering a counterpoint to people who try to argue that the nobel prize shouldn't have been given to Obama because of what the wingnuts would think.

no other country really knows or cares about your wingnuts!

From what I understand most of the world's 'right wing' is more left wing than the US 'left wing'. They see US wingnuts as completely and utterly batshit insane - and hardly worth taking seriously - right?

xpost to self

...which is like my persistent quasi-strawman that I always try to beat the shit out of. It just annoys me when I see the argument crop up occasionally.

Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Prize 5x and never won, Richard Burton to Bam's Sally Field.

From what I gather, the Peace Prize has never been about foresight, and in fact nobody is quite sure why Alfred Nobel created it in the first place. It's been used as a political ratchet wrench more often than not. Which only makes it funnier that many people, commenting on Obama's win, are taking the tone of, "Doesn't the Nobel Prize mean anything anymore?! This is all just politics!" Uh... yeah. It is.

this is embarassing and awkward for everyone involved imo

More embarrassing than giving it to Kissinger? I think not.

Nobel Prize Committee may have pulled a serious boner here

A bad vision.

Let's see what Afghanistan looks like in a few months.

Time will tell. It always does.

fuckin snitch

Which only makes it funnier that many people, commenting on Obama's win, are taking the tone of, "Doesn't the Nobel Prize mean anything anymore?! This is all just politics!" Uh... yeah. It is.

Next thing we know the Grammys are going to mean nothing.

I was offering a counterpoint to people who try to argue that the nobel prize shouldn't have been given to Obama because of what the wingnuts would think.

― The World's Biggest Christ (Z S), Saturday, October 10, 2009 3:27 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

I'll otm alla what Z S is layin down. It's an especially silly argument since it doesn't really matter what Obama does when it comes to the wingnuts. Crazies gonna craze.

For once, Greg Mankiw's snarkiness seems apropos:

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-year-grad-student-wins-nobel.html

― o. nate, Friday, October 9, 2009 10:50 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

oh man I didn't realize this was the same guy who wrote my intro to microecon textbook

would rather a first year grad student win it than greg mankiw

http://imgur.com/eIdek.jpg

tbh I'm waiting for the Kanye acceptance speech & OMG Obama wins Peace Prize memes to converge

From what I understand most of the world's 'right wing' is more left wing than the US 'left wing'.

France's right wing is some crazy shit though.

But let's be fair. Who DOESN'T hate Arabs nowadays?

(I realize now that I hit 'submit' that my comment may not carry the irony I intended. So just to be clear, that was a joke.)

tbh I'm waiting for the Kanye acceptance speech & OMG Obama wins Peace Prize memes to converge

Someone already made this joke at a friend of mine's Facebook profile:

Imma let you finish Obama but Martti Ahtisaari is one of the best Nobelists of all time! One of the best Nobelists of all time!

I think about 17,000,000 people made that joke before noon, actually.

From what I understand most of the world's 'right wing' is more left wing than the US 'left wing'. They see US wingnuts as completely and utterly batshit insane - and hardly worth taking seriously - right?

I think so, yeah. At the same time I seriously wonder whether they're admiring them in secret or something.

when you consider that we let an ayn rand devotee run the federal reserve for almost 20 years, the world kind of has to take our right-wing lunatics seriously.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1219364/QUENTIN-LETTS-Why-politicians--including-sadly-Tories-week--fawn-Bono-smug-hypocritical-whining-tax-dodging-Irish-mountebank.html

Obv I'd happily watch Letts being eaten alive by soldier ants but kudos on getting "mountebank" in there.

I liked the Taliban's reaction: "He should have won the Nobel prize for escalating violence." It sounds fantastically childish, like, "Yeah, he should have won the Nobel prize for SUCKING ASS!"

Letts: "Had Bono not taken up his famine and African poverty agenda, would he have sold so many records and remained such a big name for so long? Quite possibly not. He might well have disappeared into non-entitydom."

Or quite possibly yes. I'll never understand this sales-boost logic: "I just saw a picture of Bono shaking hands with Kofi Annan and now I just have to buy a copy of the new U2 album!" Probably outweighed by: "I just saw a picture of Bono shaking hands with George Bush and now I'm going to stop buying U2 albums."

A reason not to be angry at Nobel Prize committee - I still don't support the line of thought around here (and elsewhere) that we should all adjust our actions so as to avoid angering the wingnuts. First it applied to specific debates, then to national politics in general, and now the Nobel Prize committee should consider the needs and worries of the wingnuts before they award a prize. Fuck that ... But yeah, I agree with everyone here in wishing the Nobel Prize committee wouldn't have blown their collective wad.

― The World's Biggest Christ (Z S), Friday, 9 October 2009 15:05 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Er, yeah: the thing is, outside of the sciences (maybe IN the sciences, I don't know) the Nobel is notorious for being about the expediency of that moment and what message it can send (c.f. Pinter's terrible latter-days work prompting a Nobel Lit., when he was being very vocally anti-Iraq at the time). And this reads (to me, at least) as a fairly explicit lol-at-you-guys move aimed at the American right wing. It's not a helpful or well-timed intervention, I guess. Or er in other words kenan otm:

From what I gather, the Peace Prize has never been about foresight, and in fact nobody is quite sure why Alfred Nobel created it in the first place. It's been used as a political ratchet wrench more often than not. Which only makes it funnier that many people, commenting on Obama's win, are taking the tone of, "Doesn't the Nobel Prize mean anything anymore?! This is all just politics!" Uh... yeah. It is.

― tie me up, dress in drag, and read to me from the bible (kenan), Saturday, 10 October 2009 03:41 (10 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

xpost

The original Live Aid gig did boost a bunch of careers tho I thought, saleswise.

Everyone except Boomtown Rats I think.

I heard everybody except Adam Ant.

Sales going from 0 to 2 = a boost.

Oh yeah, definitely. Likewise the 1988 Mandela show, which seems to have been a nightmare of competing egos and shallow opportunists despite presence of bona fide activists like Jerry Dammers. But that's one easy three-song set in front of a global TV audience. I think Bono's in a different category, seeing that he spends an enormous amount of his free time working on campaigns (the efficacy of which are, of course, an entirely different issue). In terms of time spent, and flak attracted, there must be easier ways of getting publicity. This trite publicity = sales equation ignores why most people buy pop records, ie they like the music.

The relative commercial failure of No Line on the Horizon, at a time when Bono's profile as an activist is as high as it's ever been, proves my point.

Oh Lett's, with his up-to-date and groovy pop references.

enough to make a reasonable man come over all Pete Townsendish

seeing that he spends an enormous amount of his free time working on campaigns

"You know that world poverty? It's a terrible thing, let me show you some my graphs"
http://slashgossip.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/bono_bikini_chicks.gif

it occurs to me that basically what the nobel committee are doing is trolling

Someone already said that upthread.

Nothing worse than people repeating messages on a thread.

Someone already said that upthread.

So did anyone think the Nobel committee was trolling?

haah sorry :(

http://slashgossip.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/bono_bikini_chicks.gif http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs204.snc1/7133_642880151230_36910239_41162122_650888_n.jpg

TOO SOON

sorry :-)

:-D

what did lj get 204'd for?

Obama vs. Bono: FITE!

would rather have bono vs. quentin letts: fite but you're american so OK

but you're american so OK

board descrip for Britisher sub-board

http://www.slowpokecomics.com/strips/terminatrix.gif