Who Knew It Was So Easy?

President Obama, today, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, that's right. The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize today for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." It seems as if the criteria for winning the prize have changed. No longer must one actually accomplish anything so long as a person exerts "extraordinary efforts" to do something.

Tomorrow, I start work on my teleportation machine, an instant food multiplying laser to feed the hungry and a cure for cancer! I will work extraordinarily hard over the next year, harder than anyone else, to ensure that I win the Nobel Prize in something next year. It shouldn't matter that I have a degree in marketing, no physics or medical background whatsoever and I work in the advertising industry. President Obama has shown us that all that is needed to win the Noble Prize is "extraordinary efforts," and that's what I will give.

I really try hard to stay away from the satirical and stick to the facts, but I just can't help it right now, because this is so laughable. The man has accomplished nothing! No, I am not just being an "Obama hater" or a "racist" by saying that. It's true, and I can back it up. On to the facts....

January 22, 2009: Obama's signs an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Is it closed? No. Failure #1.

February 17, 2009: Obama signs the "stimulus package" into law. Obama promised that, with the stimulus package, the unemployment rate would not rise above 8%. The unemployment rate now stands at 9.8%. Failure #2.

April 5, 2009: North Korea conducts a ballistic missile test despite the pleadings of world leaders, including President Obama, not to do so. Failure #3.

June 2009: Iran conducts fraudulent elections, attempts to silence protestors and takes other oppresive measures against its own people. President Obama stands by and largely does nothing save the utterance of a few words telling Iran to stop. Did this "strengthen international diplomacy"? No. Failure #4.

June 2009: The Honduran Supreme Court orders the military to arrest Honduran President Manuel Zelaya for attempting to undermine democracy and violate their nation's constitution. President Obama, and his administration has continually backed Zelaya ever since, working to get him reinstated as president of Honduras. Meanwhile, the Honduran Congress is busy setting up democratic elections to elect their next president, per their constitution. Failure #5.

Summer 2009: President Obama attempts to get health care legislation passed before the August Congressional recess. It's October, and the legislation still hasn't passed. Failure #6.

I could go on, but this is getting boring. The man has not accomplished anything, domestically or internationally. Kudos to him for winning the prize and giving some nice speeches, but there are a lot of people out there who can give speeches. There are very few who can actually back them up and accomplish things. President Obama is yet to prove that he is one of these few individuals. The world is full of great intentions. However, if intention equals accomplishment then our world should be free of war, hunger, disease, murder, abuse, etc. There is one key thing missing from this equation: reality.

One cannot ignore reality, and it seems as if the Nobel Committee is trying to do just that. The intentions are great, for sure. Few people, if any, want war, hunger, disease etc. The reality of the situation is that they exist. Evil exists in the world, and it must be dealt with accordingly.

Oh, and one little known fact is that the nominations for the Nobel Prize are due on February 1st of each year. President Obama had been in office for eleven days at that point. What had he accomplished before February 1, 2009? What had he done to "to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," at that point? The answer is absolutely nothing. He was a community organizer in Chicago, an Illinois state legislator and a United States Senator. I cannot think of a single international accomplishment that could have been put on his application for nomination prior to February 1, 2009.

According to Nobelprize.org, the Nobel Prizes have been "honoring men and women from all corners of the globe for outstanding achievements." No longer is the award about achievement. President Obama has clearly demonstrated this. Anyone who receives the award from this point forward must live with the reality that this prestegious award now requires nothing but setting aside reality and thinking good thoughts. Maybe we should just rename it the Nobel Good Intentions Prize.