No, the Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst were not known for being eager to facilitate demonstrations of liberal internationalism.

“Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Liz Cheney attacked President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize. “Well, I think what the committee believes is they’d like to live in a world in which America is not dominant. And I think if you look at the language of the citation, you can see that they talk about, you know, President Obama ruling in a way that makes sense to the majority of the people of the world,” said Cheney. “You know, Americans don’t elect a president to do that. We elect a president to defend our national interests. And so I think that, you know, they may believe that President Obama also doesn’t agree with American dominance, and they may have been trying to affirm that belief with the prize. I think, unfortunately, they may be right, and I think it’s a concern.” ”

She’s right more or less, even if few of you have figured out the obvious.
It’s republicans vs the world, or it should be. Obama is the best we’re going to get, so give him some credit.
But to the degree he’s not what Cheney fears, so much the worse for all of us.

end of lecture

Salient, This dailykos diary has a Rachel Maddow clip wherein she makes the case for Obama’s prize for 11 minutes. The case consists of campaign rhetoric, immediate post-election rhetoric and beating McCain: other than beating McCain, it is all rhetoric, much of it unremarkable in substance (though not delivery) for a liberal and much of it undermined by subsequent actions. Well, OK, he’s taking to Iran. I do not think Maddow is joking. The author of the kos diary said this brought him almost to tears. There is a lot of this around.

America understands that there’s one party in this country that’s in favor of health care reform, and one party that’s against it, and they know why. They understand that if Barack Obama were somehow able to cure hunger in the world, Republicans would blame him for overpopulation. They understand that if Barack Obama could somehow bring about world peace, they’d blame him for destroying the defense industry. In fact, they understand that if Barack Obama has a BLT sandwich tomorrow for lunch, they will try to ban bacon.

Alan Grayson Obliquely Predicts Nobel Peace Prize, Tells Bacon Joke

And here’s the follow-up, in which Grayson again expends whatever admiration he had accumulated by wishing for Barack Obama to win another couple Nobel Peace Prizes for Iraq and Afghanistan.

I wish we lived in a world where this guy was categorically out of line…

• Acceptable and probably the consensus opinion, if I have any ability to gauge these things. Actually, I think the consensus privately-held liberal opinion probably vacillates between what you expressed and what akatsuki expressed.

• Nobody seriously believes Obama deserves the prize for beating McCain; it’s a joke.

• In real life, I have been more critical of this prize award than any hard-line conservative website ever could be (after all, exactly what about escalation of war in the Middle East, continuance of policies which violate human rights and human dignity, and intensified drone attacks on civilians would bother those folks?), but I stand by my jokes here.

• Man, whatever happened to Lincoln Chafee?

” Could not help but notice that the Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded during 1939-1943. Was there no “hope and change” person available. Perhaps it was to the benefit of Norway that some nations remained capable of waging war to purchase freedom for others less capable.
Perhaps, respectfully, the awarding committee members should be asked their opinions.”

Oh, so you’re a WWII vet? And if American, one who went to the UK in 1939 or so, volunteering to fight against fascism (i.e., not waiting for two years).

On the lesser of two evils I’ll take someone who understands war and peace and might have been “caught taking a bribe…” over someone who rolls over for a belly rub from 5 Norwegians and basically looks like he cowers from anyone threatening him with a rolled newspaper. Besides, pot/kettle wise, ANYONE who came up through the political machine in Chicago has at least an understanding – if not an outright friendship – with corruption in politics.

It’s time to grow up and come back to this planet. POTUS has done jack squat with his domestic agenda besides bankrupt my great grandchildren and “nationalize” the auto industry and immediately hand ownership over to the UAW. Stimulus package? Viagra or soft core porn are both more stimulating than his $878 billion gift to who knows who (certainly the government doesn’t know). His attempted gift to the trial lawyers? The big bad insurance industry MUST be put in their place but keep away from tort reform!

Because of the Bush43 administration, the choice of Palin as a running mate, and a few other misadventures on McCain’s part my dead uncle Ernie could have won the election if he was the Democratic nominee.

But, the bottom line is; whether or not you like or agree with Obama, there is no way he has accomplished anywhere near enough of a “portfolio of work” to have truly earned the Peace Prize.

Your pal McCain also knows what hell it is to get caught taking a bribe…

Your pal McCain also know what hell it is to get caught taking a bribe…

So, I’m not sure if the claim “too early to make judgements” really holds up on their part.

As for all those who think Obama deserves the prize simply for beating McCain, give me a break. Had Obama not run, Hillary Clinton would be in the White House now, pursuing very similar policies, probably with some of the same staff. She campaigned as well as he did, but didn’t strategize as well and was overconfident early on. Obama significantly underperformed the Democratic average this election, and McCain made serious blunders like suspending his campaign and nominating Palin. It would’ve been very hard for any competent Democrat to lose this election, and Obama probably should have done better.

Besides which, winning the election was his self-interest and his job. Had his opponent been a reasonable Republican like Linc Chafee, he would have campaigned just as hard and rightly so. Johnson didn’t get a Noble for beating Goldwater, nor Humphrey for beating Wallace, nor Edwards for beating Duke, all of whom were worse than McCain. The whole notion is preposterous.

PARITY FOR ALL guarantees nothing but chaos!