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[smjjames]

Yes, but they want their own guy to have one, they don’t care that a past Republican did, they want their own tribe to get one because tribalism.

Still, the whole thing is certainly nobel prize worthy if it achieves lasting progress and isn’t ephemeral like the previous deals. Despite Trumps character and unorthodox methods.

[redwallzyl]

Well, it was called an apology tour because he was trying to patch things up after the whole diplomatic downturn during the Bush years. I suppose Norway and the rest of the world was just happy the US patched up relations.

Nah, it was just the hype. Just another reason we should retract the peace prize awardings to their proper handler.

Not as good a reason as them having celebrity hosts at the ceremonies though. That's reason enough for three nobel prize awarder retractions.

No wonder it feels like Obama got it for not doing much noteworthy and that Trump thinks it’s trivially easy to get it. I suppose conservatives are jealous that a conservative President hasn’t gotten one yet.

Theodore Roosevelt did, though

I think Teddy would be called a communist by todays Republicans. Mister trust buster would be the antichrist to all the neoliberals. He was even a conservationist.

[Folly]

The Mexican caravan finally arrived at the border wall. It worked about as well as everybody expected.



Your tax dollars hard at work people.

[Max™]

Your tax dollars go to city/state stuff, the government issues currency, federal taxes are theirs in the first place and in any event there is no magic pipeline that has a big funnel to catch (actual physical paper) tax dollars and shoot them off to be spent, fuck!

[Kagus]

The thing about the 2009 Peace Prize awards was that Obama was competing with people like Piedad Córdoba, Greg Mortenson, and Denis Mukwege. People who repeatedly put themselves directly in the path of physical harm in order to promote peace and an improvement of life for those around them.

Not that I'm denouncing Obama's diplomatic campaign to patch up relations around the world (something that the US desperately needed), but it's a lot easier to say things that are potentially controversial in areas that are potentially high-risk when you've got a squad of secret service agents and an entire country's worth of intelligence and bargaining chips standing behind you.

And, arguably, he was just doing his job. The president is specifically supposed to foster and manage relationships with other countries. Sure, Obama may have been the first in a long line to really do something about that, but it's still well within what could be expected of someone in that position.

Again, not to downplay the ties he helped foster and things like reconnecting with Cuba, that's all great. Does it mean he deserved an award specifically about going above and beyond the call of duty? Eh.


Also on the list of competing nominees was "No gods, no masters" Wei Jingsheng, a guy who published a call to democracy written on toilet paper during part of his 18 years in prison for dissention. I mean, controversial or not, that's pretty hardcore.

Really though, the Peace Prize has been kind of a shitshow for ages, we can't blame Obama for that. ...or can we?

Thanks, Obama.

[martinuzz]

Mental image of Nobel Peace Prize turned into a spectacle competition, coming soon somewhere in a dystopia near you.
"And in this corner, weighing at way too many pounds, Mr. Donald 'My Missile Is Too Big For My Hands' Trump."

[Shazbot]

Trump supporters at his rally last night were chanting 'Nobel', implying that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for bringing about peace with North Korea.

As if hurling childish insults at the leader of foreign countries over twitter is what constitutes 'making peace'.

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-deserves-nobel-peace-prize-for-north-korea-work-sks-moon-2018-4

President Moon thinks so.

[Max™]

Xi Jinping telling fatboy to fuck off made the difference in how he approaches things, but if you want to be symbolic and shit, give it to Moon and fatboy.

Also fun seeing people call Wolf a bully, saw that destroyed in a simple way: bullying operates along a power gradient, and a former Daily Show correspondent doesn't somehow outmuscle the person who shows up regularly and tells rooms full of reporters that reality is bullshit and they're liars and to fuck off. Wolf doesn't even qualify to gain access to that room to be told to fuck off if Stewart or Colbert didn't.

Wolf cannot bully someone with the access and influence to Trump that Sanders has, Trump could.

Me calling Trump a vile pissloving bitchbaby isn't bullying, I can't bully him unless we're somewhere the secret service isn't around to keep him from getting slapped around until he shits himself.

[Kagus]

It's bullying because she made fun of Sanders' appearance, since Sanders is a woman. And yes "she burns facts and uses the ashes to do her smokey eye" is, of course, focused on the aspect that the target uses a particular style when applying makeup, not the aspect of burning facts to get the raw materials to do so.

Yeah, that whole kerfuffle is completely ridiculous and should really just be ignored and avoided.

[Dunamisdeos]

Neither of them deserve a Nobel Prize, because Nobel Prizes go to people whose lasting, historic legacy is of peace.

Giving speeches in other countries because you are the President does not bring you on par with the likes of MLK and Mother Teresa. Obama was given one because he was the first black president and that was romantic, and frankly that's not a reason to be given this award. It doesn't mean he didn't promote peace, or that his Presidency or legacy are somehow invalid, or that being the first black President isn't significant in and of itself, it just means that not what the award was ever meant for. He was in office for what turned out to be less than 1/8 of his presidency at the time. Noone had any idea how he was going to turn out yet. Also, he was king of civilian drone strikes.

The 542 drone strikes that Obama authorized killed an estimated 3,797 people, including 324 civilians. As he reportedly told senior aides in 2011: “Turns out I’m really good at killing people. Didn’t know that was gonna be a strong suit of mine.”

The Bureau [of Investigative Journalism], based on extensive research in mid-2011, claims that at least 385 civilians were among the dead, including more than 160 children.

Ladies and gentlemen, the harbinger of peace.

Anyway, Trump doesn't deserve one because he is a vile pissloving bitchbaby, quoth the Max. Also, his role in bringing about peace was to threaten actual Armageddon.

[sluissa]

From a certain perspective, threatening armageddon through MAD doctrine has kept peace for about 60 years. But if anyone deserved a peace prize for that sort of strategy it should probably be Robert McNamara. And that particular thought would be just about the only thing more absurd than Trump getting one.

[Shazbot]

I dunno, if Chamberlain threatened to bomb Germany to cinders if they annexed the Sudetenland prevented WWII, would that deserve a peace prize? De-nuclearizing North Korea, getting a peace treaty ending a sixty year war, and preventing a nuclear and conventional arms race between North Korea, China, Japan and South Korea which could conceivably conflate to a regional or global war is kind of a yuuuuuge deal.

If Obama managed this, I'd have said he earned peace prize. Now people are saying Obama didn't earn his peace prize and neither should Trump because the award is silly anyway and only people who prevent lasting, historic legacies (or write essays on toilet paper) deserve it. Its not a very consistent way to dismiss Moon's recommendation.

[sluissa]

Except Trump hasn't DONE anything. Correlation does not imply causation and all that.

[Max™]

It's bullying because she made fun of Sanders' appearance, since Sanders is a woman. And yes "she burns facts and uses the ashes to do her smokey eye" is, of course, focused on the aspect that the target uses a particular style when applying makeup, not the aspect of burning facts to get the raw materials to do so.

Yeah, that whole kerfuffle is completely ridiculous and should really just be ignored and avoided.

Well, the bullying dilution bit is all I really care about--though watching people jump to decry her for insulting Sanders physically only to be told it was a backhanded compliment is a hilarious sort of Xanatos level shit: "Well of course we think it, but you said it!" '...uh, I didn't say that, but nice to know where you stand now.' "...wat"--the important thing here is to remind people that someone being mean to you isn't bullying unless you can't realistically defend yourself or expect any sort of help doing so.

Sanders is a big girl (no, not that way), she can take care of herself just fine I think, she doesn't need daddy jumping to call out the comedian for making jokes at a press event about someone who spends most of her time in the public eye attacking the press.

What's next, calling Colbert--a tv personality--a bully because he zinged a man who could literally end the world at another of these events?

Fuck that shit, the only ones who benefit from diluting the definition like that are actual bullies.

[Shazbot]

If a sixty year war ends because Trump ate chocolate cake with Xi Jinping while Tomahawking Syria and suggesting China be more strict with Rocketman...

Well, he did say winning would be easy.