In 2007, a 97-year-old Polish woman named Irena Sendler was nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. During World War II, she saved 2500 Jewish children from the Nazis through a network that hid them from the Nazis with Polish families and in Catholic churches and convents. For her activities, Sendler was arrested and tortured, her arms and legs broken. She would have been executed but for a well-placed bribe that won her release. After the war, she was also persecuted by the Polish Communists.
That year’s Nobel Peace prize went not to Sendler but to Al Gore, a serial self-promoter who personally contributes as much to global warming as many small American cities.
This is why the award of this year’s peace prize to President Obama — who has accomplished even less than Gore — is not as surprising as it might seem. Even if Obama turns out to be the greatest president since George Washington, he has so far done nothing in office worthy of such an honor. With 205 nominees this year, worthier candidates must have abounded. This award should come as an embarrassment to the White House — you might even hear Republicans use the phrase “Nobel-prize-winner” when describing Obama’s failures during next year’s election campaign. If he’s wise, President Obama will turn it down.
This morning on MSNBC, presidential adviser David Axelrod was at pains to explain how his boss could possibly deserve this prize. “I think it’s an affirmation by the Nobel committee that the things he’s been working on and talking about around the world are important for humanity.”
Incredibly, “just words” appear to have been good enough to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
