Obama's Noble Alternative

JUST LAW AND RELIGION

Michael Kessler

I wish this year's Nobel Peace Prize had gone to the people of Iran who vigorously protested an oppressive regime. Instead, President Obama got it for noble aspirations and well-directed first steps. I wish he had declined the prize, but what should he do now?

Obama, after learning that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize, tried to strike a humble tone: "Let me be clear, I do not view [the prize] as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations. To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize, men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace."

He then pointed to the tireless efforts of freedom-fighters everywhere. All those who share in the aspirations of freedom and dignity deserve the award. He said: "That's why this award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity; for the young woman who marches silently in the streets on behalf of her right to be heard, even in the face of beatings and bullets; for the leader imprisoned in her own home because she refuses to abandon her commitment to democracy; for the soldier who sacrificed through tour after tour of duty on behalf of someone half a world away; and for all those men and women across the world who sacrifice their safety and their freedom and sometime their lives for the cause of peace."

The true heroes, Obama tells us, are the protesters and innocents around the globe who fight for their dignity (and the soldiers, diplomats, and NGO workers who sacrifice to help them). They have already marched in the streets and trenches and built roads, wells, schools, and hospitals so that freedom might develop in far off places. Accepting on their behalf was one noble way to handle the situation.

The Nobel committee is certainly free to do as they please, and many have noted the intense political messages they conveyed by choosing to give the Peace Prize to Obama. In making the award, they pointed to the President's "'extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples' during his nine months in office and singled out for special recognition Obama's call for a world free of nuclear weapons, the subject of a major speech April 5 in Prague."

Obama has pushed our foreign policy in this direction, to be sure, and has taken some notable first steps in a grand foreign policy that just might work. But I wish he would have declined the prize. (John Dickerson and Mickey Kaus in Slate beat me to print with that thought.)

Why? Because it would have been an incredible opportunity for him to lay out his agenda of what he hopes to accomplish in the next 3 or 7 years--overcoming immensely complicated challenges around the globe, working in concert with many other countries, organizations, and freedom-seeking peoples. He has nothing more to gain from accepting the award--he already "won." But he has much to lose (see comments on any blog or news story from across the political spectrum).

Here's my wish for how this morning had played out:

The President comes to the podium and says he is deeply humbled. He then declares that he hopes in 7 years time he would deserve this recognition after tirelessly working on many fronts.

He then asks the Nobel committee to instead recognize the brave, defiant protesters in Iran who for weeks earlier this year exemplified the common human struggle for recognition of basic rights like religious freedom, political recognition, and some measure of basic dignity. They are, he declares, paradigms and models for all those who strive for the same rights as the oppressed around the world. (He invokes Desmond Tutu's speech from U2's 360 concert tour).

He then proceeds to give the speech of the century.

He lays out how he will work on multiple fronts with every willing partner to pursue security and peace in the face of global threats. He promises to continue the legacy of the past few Presidents in eradicating nuclear weapons (even the staunch, nuclear-armed Reagan did a huge amount to reduce nuclear proliferation and capacities!). He pledges to continue the immense work of President Bush on eradicating AIDS and other diseases. He commits to ensuring that he will not engage in political horse-trading for strategic goals that trump our intolerance for religious oppression, torture, genocide.

He echoes themes from his brilliant Cairo speech, laying out how hatred cannot rule our hearts, how misunderstanding and stereotyping cannot be allowed to trump our need to work together and the common humanity recognized by most people of good will. He calls on everyone to distinguish between those who use religion to lay waste to human life from those who are motivated by religion to seek peace and the betterment of their fellows.

He powerfully reiterates that those who resort to violence will not only not be tolerated, but will be stopped in their tracks wherever they may be.

And then he lays down the gauntlet: He hopes in seven years he deserves the prize and history will judge him accordingly. But he asks that we give him time. Please work with him where you can and challenge him where you disagree. Give him the space of time to analyze situations like Afghanistan so past mistakes are not repeated.

And then he goes back in the Oval Office and gets busy as a leader we can all believe in.

Dr. Michael Kessler is Assistant Director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and Visiting Assistant Professor of Government at Georgetown University.

By Michael Kessler | October 9, 2009; 2:31 PM ET

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Norrie,

"Nobody who snubs the Dalai Lama because the Chinese Communists don't like him, and refrains from advancing gay rights because he thinks most American voters don't like them, is worthy of receiving the Peace Prize."

I posted to this affect on another thread, not on this blog. The pandering to the Chinese is an inherited malady. As for gay marriage, he did not support it while a candidate.

That said, his conduct in regard to both issues leaves a great deal to be desired, I grant you. However, giving the Nobel Prize to a man who has held office for nine months is where the absurdity begins. It is a paternalistic cum racist thing to do, as well as a piss ant attempt to manipulate US politics.

Fortunately, Obama is an intelligent man with a healthy ego. I suspect he knows what's up Nobel-wise, has taken it in stride, and is moving on.

Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | October 12, 2009 5:06 PM
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Nobody who snubs the Dalai Lama because the Chinese Communists don't like him, and refrains from advancing gay rights because he thinks most American voters don't like them, is worthy of receiving the Peace Prize.

Posted by: norriehoyt | October 12, 2009 1:58 PM
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And who started us down this road of hate??

Cain of course!!!
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Posted by: ccnl1 | October 12, 2009 8:33 AM
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Dr. Kessler,

I thought you might be interested in the "thinking" of one of your co-religionists, a Christer, calling himself an atheist, who blogs under the name of Coloradodog:
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Why blame anyone, Hirschfeld? Is not Obama doing your AIPAC bidding in Iraq and Afghanistan. Would he deserved the peace prize more if he nuked Iran for you? Or is it unfathomable to you that a "cushan" could receive such recognition? This article was unnecessary and reveals much about your bigotry and that of your people as well.

Posted by: coloradodog | October 10, 2009 8:41 AM
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Now, sir, this, your co-religionist, posted this bit of Christian filth on R. Hirschfield's thread. At first, I couldn't figure out his meaning. Who would "your people" be? Americans?

But, why then the reference to the Christians' "OT"? ("Cushan"?) But then there is the reference to AIPAC....

Well, I figured it out. ColoradoRabidog is referring to the AmeriChristians. He got AIPAC confused with the Christians' British Petroleum and Haliburton (may his god bless them).

He forgets that "Cushans" can be Christian, too, the racist.

R. Hirschfield, of course, knows that there are Jews all over Africa, thousands of African American Jews, brown Jews like me, whom he's met. Unlike your co-religionist, he doesn't use the word "Cushan." No Jews do.

I noticed that your co-religionist hasn't blogged here to criticize Christian you for sharing R. Hirschfield's point of view.

Them's the Christers for you....Take the money, klll the brown and black folk, spread hate, and run, run, run....

When will you Christians start taking some responsibility for the mental defectives you produce so that the rest of us need not read the "thoughts" of the such as ColoradoRabidog?

Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | October 12, 2009 4:05 AM
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A Reminder:
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BO's backers are the members of the Immoral Majority who put him in the "Blood" House i.e. the 70 + million voting "mothers and fathers" of the 35+ million aborted womb-babies slaughtered since 1973 at a rate of ~one million/year.
Again as a horrid reminder, when BO said "So help me god", he did so as the blood of 35 million dead aborted babies oozed out over that bible.
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Posted by: ccnl1 | October 11, 2009 9:09 AM
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Obama has been voted Most Valuable Player.

Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | October 10, 2009 9:26 PM
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He has also now just won the Booker prize, until now only awarded for works of fiction.

So, will he now be awarded a gold medal from the Olympics Committee?

Does it get more racist, more patronizing than this?

Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | October 10, 2009 7:54 PM
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Posted by: anti_bad | October 10, 2009 6:09 AM
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This award to President Obama symbolizes CHANGE. Symbols have meaning. The world was sick of BUSH-CHENEY administration. Obama not only promised change but initiated steps to improve America's standing in the community of nations. Of course, he has limitations because vested interests are obstacles to change.

He is INTERESTED in TALKING with nations rather than seeking CONFRONTATIONS.

Posted by: zebra4 | October 10, 2009 12:03 AM
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But I wish he would have declined the prize. (John Dickerson and Mickey Kaus in Slate beat me to print with that thought.)
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A must read. Dickerson and Kaus are right on every point except the refusal, ironically. How does anyone refuse the prize on the grounds that he doesn't deserve it?

Regardless of one's opinion of the president, the award was ridiculous, patronizing, depressing. Not comparable to that to Chairman Pedophile Arafat, but unfortunate.

Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | October 9, 2009 4:11 PM
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Obama's Noble Alternative

By Michael Kessler | October 9, 2009; 2:31 PM ET

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