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I heard he won powerball!
Obama awarded 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
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TooFarTampa
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The Heisman, also, too.
Commentary: Hope is no laughing matter | McClatchy
Commentary: Hope is no laughing matter
Lauren R. Stanley | Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service
So how much is hope worth to you?
A lot?
Or is it something you take for granted?
For the most part, we Americans tend to live in hope. We're weaned on it. Ours is a country, we are told constantly, where you can be born poor and become rich. You can, through hard work and a little luck, rise to the heights of fame and popularity. You can even become president of the United States.
To be honest, sometimes we focus so much on hope that we overlook the harsh realities of life in our nation. We ignore the poverty in our midst, the literal hunger for a decent meal, the desperate need for better education and health care and decent pay. We pretend that the continued racism and sexism and every other "-ism" that plague our land don't really exist.
But even so, America is a land of hope.
Which means that all too often, we take it completely for granted.
But much of the rest of the world does NOT live in hope.
It lives in despair.
People in those parts of the world the "Third World," the "Global South," the "Developing World," call it what you will people there, who have been beaten, abused, neglected, and killed on a regular basis; who have seen their families devastated by nature, by their own leaders, and by world leaders who ignore them; who have been offered hope by well-intentioned people and organizations only to have it snatched away when those same groups abandon them those people do not take hope for granted.
For them, hope is something that only exists for the rich and privileged.
When the Nobel committee awarded President Obama the Peace Prize on Friday, it didn't do so on the strength of measurable accomplishments, it did so because of the hope that the president has inspired among so many, especially among the poorest of the poor.
I know that in the United States in particular, as well as in many parts of the developed world, we measure success only by what you have done, and usually by what you have done lately.
And no one among us is going to claim that President Obama has achieved a whole lot of concrete things. He's made pledges, he's trying to get legislation through Congress, he's trying to mediate intractable disputes around the world ... but he has just begun a long journey, which even he admits might not be achieved in his lifetime, much less his presidency.
But the president's "success" around the world, for which the Nobel committee gave him this tremendous honor, is not about tangibles.
It's about intangibles.
It's about hope.
Laugh if you like, disparage the award and the committee and even the president if you feel you absolutely must, but hope is an incredibly powerful emotion. And one thing this president has done is given hope to many people who have not experience that emotion in years, if ever.
The Nobel committee was clear: They choose President Obama because of "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He has, they said, "created a new climate in international politics." The committee went on to say: "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."
Yes, it's an aspirational award, given at a time when aspirations are all too often denigrated and despised.
But for a whole lot of people living in despair, even the idea of aspiring to something better is new.
After winning the Iowa caucuses in January 2008, then-candidate Obama said, "Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be."
Less than a week later, after losing in New Hampshire, he returned to that theme: "We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."
That's why the Nobel committee awarded the Peace Prize to this oh-so-young president: Not because of tangible results, but because of an elusive intangible emotion.
Hope for a better world, for a chance at a better life, is no laughing matter.
Neither is President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize
(The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley is an appointed missionary of The Episcopal Church serving in Haiti.)
Commentary: Hope is no laughing matter
Lauren R. Stanley | Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service
So how much is hope worth to you?
A lot?
Or is it something you take for granted?
For the most part, we Americans tend to live in hope. We're weaned on it. Ours is a country, we are told constantly, where you can be born poor and become rich. You can, through hard work and a little luck, rise to the heights of fame and popularity. You can even become president of the United States.
To be honest, sometimes we focus so much on hope that we overlook the harsh realities of life in our nation. We ignore the poverty in our midst, the literal hunger for a decent meal, the desperate need for better education and health care and decent pay. We pretend that the continued racism and sexism and every other "-ism" that plague our land don't really exist.
But even so, America is a land of hope.
Which means that all too often, we take it completely for granted.
But much of the rest of the world does NOT live in hope.
It lives in despair.
People in those parts of the world the "Third World," the "Global South," the "Developing World," call it what you will people there, who have been beaten, abused, neglected, and killed on a regular basis; who have seen their families devastated by nature, by their own leaders, and by world leaders who ignore them; who have been offered hope by well-intentioned people and organizations only to have it snatched away when those same groups abandon them those people do not take hope for granted.
For them, hope is something that only exists for the rich and privileged.
When the Nobel committee awarded President Obama the Peace Prize on Friday, it didn't do so on the strength of measurable accomplishments, it did so because of the hope that the president has inspired among so many, especially among the poorest of the poor.
I know that in the United States in particular, as well as in many parts of the developed world, we measure success only by what you have done, and usually by what you have done lately.
And no one among us is going to claim that President Obama has achieved a whole lot of concrete things. He's made pledges, he's trying to get legislation through Congress, he's trying to mediate intractable disputes around the world ... but he has just begun a long journey, which even he admits might not be achieved in his lifetime, much less his presidency.
But the president's "success" around the world, for which the Nobel committee gave him this tremendous honor, is not about tangibles.
It's about intangibles.
It's about hope.
Laugh if you like, disparage the award and the committee and even the president if you feel you absolutely must, but hope is an incredibly powerful emotion. And one thing this president has done is given hope to many people who have not experience that emotion in years, if ever.
The Nobel committee was clear: They choose President Obama because of "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He has, they said, "created a new climate in international politics." The committee went on to say: "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."
Yes, it's an aspirational award, given at a time when aspirations are all too often denigrated and despised.
But for a whole lot of people living in despair, even the idea of aspiring to something better is new.
After winning the Iowa caucuses in January 2008, then-candidate Obama said, "Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be."
Less than a week later, after losing in New Hampshire, he returned to that theme: "We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."
That's why the Nobel committee awarded the Peace Prize to this oh-so-young president: Not because of tangible results, but because of an elusive intangible emotion.
Hope for a better world, for a chance at a better life, is no laughing matter.
Neither is President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize
(The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley is an appointed missionary of The Episcopal Church serving in Haiti.)
Many conservatives are full of hope also. Hope that his every endeavor is a failure, even if that failure is the failure of America. They chant "we want our country back" even if they have to destroy it to get it back. They remind me of a child wanting the toy another child holds, not because they really want it, they just don't like the other child having it.
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It seems almost sacreilgeous to post Maureen Dowd's column after goodwitch's lovely post, but it's too wickedly funny not to share. Maureen Dowd writes for the New York Times and this was her column a few days ago.
Op-Ed Columnist
Gandhi Wuz Robbed
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: October 10, 2009
When he heard the Nobel Peace Prize shocker on Friday, Bill Clinton went into one of his purple rages. He picked up the phone and dialed the one person on earth who would be as steamed as he was.
Skip to next paragraph
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Maureen Dowd
CLINTON: Hey, man, it?s me. This thing is plumb crazy. Can you believe it?
W: No way, Jose!
CLINTON: First that prig Carter. Then that prig Gore. And now President Paris Hilton. The guy?s in office three days and he gets the peace prize? He should have gotten the Nobel in chemistry, because chemistry?s all he?s got. Talk about a fairy tale. This ... is ... just ... wrong! It?s killing me, man. I feel like my head?s explodin?. First I had the vast right-wing conspiracy, and now I have the vast left-wing conspiracy.
W.: I hear ya, 42. As if his head wasn?t big enough. This cat is all cage, no bird. He doesn?t have a clue.
CLINTON: Heck no.
W.: See, I?m the one who should be mad. Let me tell you, this Norwegia thing has nothing to do with him. It?s just another way for the pinkos of the world to drop a cow patty on my legacy. All that garbage in the prize statement about how special La Bamba is for bringing back wimpy multilateral diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations, the kind my dad and Scowcroft loved. Those Nobel ninnies are so lulu left they make the U.N. look like a Fox jamboree. The rookie already got rewarded once for not being me when he got elected. Gosh, what would he do without me?
CLINTON: Fine, but you never expected to win this prize. You were the quote-unquote war president and proud of it. I had to put up with a gazillion hours of Arafat?s insanity, but I guess that still wasn?t enough for those Oslo ice queens. I guess ending ethnic cleansing in Bosnia wasn?t enough, or bringing peace to Northern Ireland. And I guess my work with the Clinton Global Initiative saving lives in Africa and hanging with Bono and Barbra wasn?t enough.
W.: Calm down, bro. You gotta take care of that ticker.
CLINTON: It was a case of premature adulation.
W.: Heh-heh-heh. Yeah, very pre-emptive, sort of like Cheney?s pre-emptive war policy.
CLINTON: If they weren?t going to give it to me, they should at least have given it to the Chinese human rights movement or the Iranian protesters or AIDS workers in the Congo. Or even Bono.
W.: Yeah, man. Bono.
CLINTON: That would have helped make life better for the good guys and harder for the bad guys. Once again, action loses out to talk, just like with Hillary and Obama in the campaign. Nobel Prize for blah-blah-blah. Heck, I used to be considered a pretty good talker myself.
W.: It?s aggravating, I agree. But look at it this way, 42. Everybody?s laughing at La Bamba. He gets a Nobel for nada. Being loved by Europeans isn?t gonna do him any good here in the U.S. of A. I whupped that Frenchy Kerry, didn?t I?
CLINTON: The only peace Obama has made is bringing together the Taliban, Rush Limbaugh, the Palestinians and the Israelis to agree the guy is undeserving. It just confirms everyone?s suspicion that all this dude knows how to do is dazzle.
W.: He doesn?t want to be a Decider. He wants to be a Transformer. He transformed, all right ? from Miss America to Miss Universe. He?s a five-spiral crash, and getting the gold is just a reminder of all he hasn?t done. He?s going to have to look over and see that big medallion hanging up there in the Oval, mocking him as an empty suit, a pretty boy beloved by the Blame-America-First crowd, whenever he has to send more troops to Afghanistan, or the Taliban act up, or Iran fires up for nukes.
CLINTON: Maybe you?re right, George. Some winners think the Nobel?s the kiss of death. Any peace prize that goes to Henry Kissinger but not Gandhi ain?t worth a can of Alpo. Heck, if Gandhi had known he was going to lose out to Henry the K, he could have had more time to eat french fries and chase girls.
W.: And finish getting dressed. Heh-heh-heh.
CLINTON: Barack?s going to give that $1.4 million away to charity. I got a charity. How ?bout he just signs it over to me? Speaking of money, we need to do another of those joint lecture things.
W.: I?m fairly footloose. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Go choke on a herring, Norwegia!
Op-Ed Columnist
Gandhi Wuz Robbed
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: October 10, 2009
When he heard the Nobel Peace Prize shocker on Friday, Bill Clinton went into one of his purple rages. He picked up the phone and dialed the one person on earth who would be as steamed as he was.
Skip to next paragraph
Maureen Dowd
CLINTON: Hey, man, it?s me. This thing is plumb crazy. Can you believe it?
W: No way, Jose!
CLINTON: First that prig Carter. Then that prig Gore. And now President Paris Hilton. The guy?s in office three days and he gets the peace prize? He should have gotten the Nobel in chemistry, because chemistry?s all he?s got. Talk about a fairy tale. This ... is ... just ... wrong! It?s killing me, man. I feel like my head?s explodin?. First I had the vast right-wing conspiracy, and now I have the vast left-wing conspiracy.
W.: I hear ya, 42. As if his head wasn?t big enough. This cat is all cage, no bird. He doesn?t have a clue.
CLINTON: Heck no.
W.: See, I?m the one who should be mad. Let me tell you, this Norwegia thing has nothing to do with him. It?s just another way for the pinkos of the world to drop a cow patty on my legacy. All that garbage in the prize statement about how special La Bamba is for bringing back wimpy multilateral diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations, the kind my dad and Scowcroft loved. Those Nobel ninnies are so lulu left they make the U.N. look like a Fox jamboree. The rookie already got rewarded once for not being me when he got elected. Gosh, what would he do without me?
CLINTON: Fine, but you never expected to win this prize. You were the quote-unquote war president and proud of it. I had to put up with a gazillion hours of Arafat?s insanity, but I guess that still wasn?t enough for those Oslo ice queens. I guess ending ethnic cleansing in Bosnia wasn?t enough, or bringing peace to Northern Ireland. And I guess my work with the Clinton Global Initiative saving lives in Africa and hanging with Bono and Barbra wasn?t enough.
W.: Calm down, bro. You gotta take care of that ticker.
CLINTON: It was a case of premature adulation.
W.: Heh-heh-heh. Yeah, very pre-emptive, sort of like Cheney?s pre-emptive war policy.
CLINTON: If they weren?t going to give it to me, they should at least have given it to the Chinese human rights movement or the Iranian protesters or AIDS workers in the Congo. Or even Bono.
W.: Yeah, man. Bono.
CLINTON: That would have helped make life better for the good guys and harder for the bad guys. Once again, action loses out to talk, just like with Hillary and Obama in the campaign. Nobel Prize for blah-blah-blah. Heck, I used to be considered a pretty good talker myself.
W.: It?s aggravating, I agree. But look at it this way, 42. Everybody?s laughing at La Bamba. He gets a Nobel for nada. Being loved by Europeans isn?t gonna do him any good here in the U.S. of A. I whupped that Frenchy Kerry, didn?t I?
CLINTON: The only peace Obama has made is bringing together the Taliban, Rush Limbaugh, the Palestinians and the Israelis to agree the guy is undeserving. It just confirms everyone?s suspicion that all this dude knows how to do is dazzle.
W.: He doesn?t want to be a Decider. He wants to be a Transformer. He transformed, all right ? from Miss America to Miss Universe. He?s a five-spiral crash, and getting the gold is just a reminder of all he hasn?t done. He?s going to have to look over and see that big medallion hanging up there in the Oval, mocking him as an empty suit, a pretty boy beloved by the Blame-America-First crowd, whenever he has to send more troops to Afghanistan, or the Taliban act up, or Iran fires up for nukes.
CLINTON: Maybe you?re right, George. Some winners think the Nobel?s the kiss of death. Any peace prize that goes to Henry Kissinger but not Gandhi ain?t worth a can of Alpo. Heck, if Gandhi had known he was going to lose out to Henry the K, he could have had more time to eat french fries and chase girls.
W.: And finish getting dressed. Heh-heh-heh.
CLINTON: Barack?s going to give that $1.4 million away to charity. I got a charity. How ?bout he just signs it over to me? Speaking of money, we need to do another of those joint lecture things.
W.: I?m fairly footloose. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Go choke on a herring, Norwegia!
Poppy, I respect your opinion, but the people I know, rep, dem independent, foreign national do NOT want this man OR this country to fail.
Differing opinions on either side or in the middle do not mean the others are less patriotic and/or hope for failure.
Everyone I know who did not vote for Obama (except for one person and admittedly, he has his own set of issues), stands behind President Obama because they want to see America unified and stable, increasing GDP and methodically climbing out of this recession.....among other things as well. ;-) Yes, there is ridicule and disdain - you can see that even on Saturnday Night Live in parody. Every President experiences this. I honestly do not think the cast on SNL want Obama to fail. And, I personally sincerely hope he is our greatest President ever!
Poppy, I respect your opinion, but the people I know, rep, dem independent, foreign national do NOT want this man OR this country to fail.
Differing opinions on either side or in the middle do not mean the others are less patriotic and/or hope for failure.
Everyone I know who did not vote for Obama (except for one person and admittedly, he has his own set of issues), stands behind President Obama because they want to see America unified and stable, increasing GDP and methodically climbing out of this recession.....among other things as well. ;-) Yes, there is ridicule and disdain - you can see that even on Saturnday Night Live in parody. Every President experiences this. I honestly do not think the cast on SNL want Obama to fail. And, I personally sincerely hope he is our greatest President ever!
Right you are so I edited my post to read "many conservatives."