Peace

I was washing the dishes this morning while listening to NPR and said aloud myself "did he say Obama?" and as the next stories--all about the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize--rolled my astonished suspicion was confirmed. Then I went to work with a bunch of Brits and made travel plans with a Swede and checked facebook. A lot of criticism. And strangely enough it was for Obama, not for the committee. Most of the Obama jokes lately are focused on the lack of check marks next to his to do list. Fair enough. But those are tactics. What Obama is is a charismatic leader. We've had several charismatic leaders in world history--many of them also Nobel Peace Prize winners. And what they have in common is an ability to persuade people, an ability to change things at a cultural level, not a policy level. But charisma isn't enough. Hitler was a charismatic leader but deeply flawed and scarred and mislead. I think giving Obama the prize at this point in his presidency is a signal of his immense potential to effect change. And the prize helps to guide him toward the right path. It is a recognition of his strong record of good judgment and leadership and encourages him to continue on that path. We also have to remember that his nomination was made only 2 weeks after he took office. It wasn't made because of his great accomplishments. We all agree on that (although if you compare him to normal humans his accomplishments are actually pretty impressive). He is a human being who still shows enormous potential. He convinced Indiana, a state that hasn't voted democrat in over 40 years to vote for someone who was billed as a lefty democrat. He's got great power and, like Spiderman's uncle Ben, the prize committee is telling him that with great power comes great responsibility. Our last president abused that. With the right influences, I think Obama has the great opportunity to show how leadership should be done. I applaud this award.