Hacker News Reader

Comment by ajju | Hacker News Reader

Pres. Obama pushed for diplomacy with enemies when it was politically risky for him. I think this was both right and courageous. But they should have waited till his diplomatic efforts bore some fruit to give him a Nobel. Awarding it now shows remarkable lack of faith in him AND diplomacy.

Way to jump the shark, Nobel peace prize committee!

View on HN

They jumped the shark when they gave the prize to a boastfully-amoral purveyor of warmongering realpolitik in 1973, an unrepentant terrorist in 1994, an ineffective cronyist international kleptocrat in 2001, a self-aggrandizing bigoted apologist for dictators in 2002, and a scientifically-illiterate shill in 2007. Jumping the shark is what they do.

I'm not sure its a club the President wants to join, at least not this early in a first term.

Well in his defense it's not like he asked for it. Gibbs first response to the news was "Wow". I think they are smart enough to know that far from being a feather in their cap this is a potential PR crisis on their hands.

in his defense it's not like he asked for it

Let's see if he turns it down. Either way, it's a win-win of him and he'll get plenty of adulation.

> an unrepentant terrorist in 1994

It's either 3 of them or none. Be fair.

Was it really politically risky? Everyone I know didn't like the Bush administration foreign policy. The only places he'd alienate by his policy were places that were going against anyways, but he picked up a lot of swing voters who care about America's international reputation.

Saying "We should seek everyone's support in the iraq war" is not politically risky but saying "We should talk with Iran no matter what" really is risky in the US.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com