President Obama did something none of the Nobel Peace Prize winners did in the past. He did something none of the Nobel Price winners of any category did in the past.
Obama disrespected King Haral V by turning down the customary invitation for lunch with the king, a usual practice followed by any Nobel Prize winner historically. Obama turned down the request for a news conference at Oslo’s Grand Hotel, another customary tradition followed historically by all Nobel Prize winners. He also refused to attend the “save the Children” benefit concert, and the organizers of the concert had to replace him with a cardboard cutout. All Nobel Prize winners in the past attended the subsequent Friday’s Nobel concert. Obama refused to attend this too, a decision which shocked Norwegians.
The Norwegians are not happy. People on the streets of Norway are left with feeling that Obama has been very impolite and arrogant in refusing to follow the customary traditions followed by any Nobel Prize winner.
Ref: http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/nobel_obama_oslo/2009/12/10/297195.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/09/obama-nobel-peace-prize-snub
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/12/10/obama-snubs-kids-event-oslo-cardboard-cutout-put-his-place
Comments
I think you should first find out if the Royals were first approached and accepted President Obama's leave of absence before blowing this all out of proportion. Pres. Obama no doubt feels the need to carry on business regarding the U.S. economy and the Global Warming conference. He can't win - people are angry if he is out of the U.S. (seen as not taking care of business) or if he risks offending by not staying to party. As Americans we should all be proud, he was elected out of 205 nominees and he won "For his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." If the pollsters had included that in their polls instead of the generic Did he deserve to win the numbers would have been much higher. Keep up the good work President Obama.
I think that Obama is committed to change and change is not an easy thing to accept. In moving forward I can see that there will be many changes that Obama will make, some of them seemingly impolite. Maybe we should focus our own minds, on change and address global issues as both individuals and as part of a globe that stands against violence, war and so forth.
People should stop complaining about things that do not matter and concentrate on what does.
It was probably too early for Obama to recieve the Peace Prize but it does acknowledge the fact that he is taking a stand against those who cause tragedies, create mayhem and stand against world peace.
We also have to remember that Obama as President of the United States of America is a testemont to people moving forward, making a stand against everything past and being united in peace amongst american people.
I'm English and have faith in Obama, in the things he will change for the better, for the future, for all nation.
If Obama respects a non-American tradition, he gets dinged for it in the right-wing media (like this person's articles), and if he doesn't, he still gets dinged for it. It is damned if you do and damned if you don't!
For one thing, I've looked at some other articles this person writes and they are all extremely biased. This is the kind of inane rhetoric that is all too common in the media these days.
I don't agree myself that Obama should have been given the Nobel prize yet, but with everything that the author points out here, he sounds to me like a person waiting for something - anything, really - to smear the president with.
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