Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize: A Waiting Game

On Twitter, some are proud and hopeful.

“Congrats to our President Obama for winning the Nobel peace prize!!! Change is starting to happen for real ya’ll!” – starlettdenise

“President [Obama’s] Nobel Peace Prize is well deserved. Americans should embrace our President’s agenda and work towards peace & harmony.” – StreetwiseSD

Some skeptical.

“So, not to take anything away from the man, but, basically President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for not being George W. Bush, right?” – DASteinberg

Others downright vicious.

Not just a secret Kenyan Muslim, but also apparently has relatives in the Norwegian Parliament. Must. Impeach. Now.” – cntweet

Responses to President Barack Obama’s 2009 Nobel Peace Prize win elicited an online frenzy of mixed reviews around the globe. Online social networks, Facebook and Twitter, are all abuzz, and CNN’s Web site is full of commentary, blog entries and public opinions on the event. The array of people’s views range from congratulatory praise to shock and disappointment.

Reacting in surprise to the announcement is understandable since Obama is still green in his political experience, and he has not yet completed a year in office. He even admits he was “very surprised and deeply humbled” upon receiving such a prestigious award that only two sitting U.S. presidents had the honor before him.

“I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership…I will accept this award as a call to action,”

Obama said at the White House.

“To be honest, I feel that I do not deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize.” See video of Nobel Peace Prize announcement here

Obama is exactly right in that statement, for he really has only just begun his efforts of creating international peace and diplomacy. Plus, he’s involved in two wars that are not ending any time soon, and his country is split over health care reform. Time will tell whether his efforts will come to fruition, and right now, it’s still too early to tell. Several online posts agreed, saying the decision to award Obama was “premature.”

On the CNN Web site “Sound Off” section, Teacher Claudio wrote, “I think it is far too premature to award him a Nobel Peace Prize. They should have awarded it on the basis of achievements.”

_KristinT_ posted on Twitter: “To me, it’s premature and based on empty and foolish promises.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee continues to stand by its unanimous decision to honor Obama and the plans he hopes to achieve. In an interview with CNN, Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, said the committee “wanted to promote what [Obama] stands for.

An individual or organization who was already making peaceful relations or actively dealing with poverty and climate change would have been a more appropriate choice. However, I can see the reasoning behind the Nobel committee’s actions. Obama promised “change,” and now, he has to follow through. It could also inspire others to make their own efforts to better the world.

Jagland said this was not the committee’s first time to award the prize to someone who started working toward peace. He cited Mikhail Gorbachev as an example, the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, who was just beginning his plan to open the Soviet Union to the world and building close ties with other nations. It is possible for Obama to accomplish what he promised since others did in the past; it may take several years to witness the result.

The individuals who vehemently expressed their objection to Obama’s win – saying he should give up the prize or even be impeached – are looking at the situation in an entirely wrong way. Now, the world will see if, like Gorbachev, Obama can truly live up to being a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Everyone’s entitled to their opinions, but face it, the deed has been done. Obama won. Move on. Hopefully, he will not bend under the pressure and do what he set out to do. Obama’s still our president, and he still has the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Let the waiting game begin.

Read CNN Political Contributor Robin Oakley’s analysis here

Read The Washington Note’s Steve Clemons’ Commentary here