Friday, December 10, 2010

Obama's Nobel Understatement

As Liu Xiaobo was bestowed with the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia, President Obama issued a statement that Liu "is far more deserving of the award than I was."

That is the understatement of the year.

While it may have been an attempt at modesty on the part of the President it is only a further indication of how undeserving he was of the honor in the first place. Granted, the Nobel Committee was guilty of poor judgment and should have exercised greater prudence in its deliberation. But President Obama should have had the good sense to politely decline the award and declare it should go to an individual "far more deserving."

Like Liu Xiaobo.

2 comments:

Chris said...

I'm sorry, but I don't see Obama declining anything. In fact, IMHO, giving him that award actually stopped him from making a timely decision regarding an Afghan surge, since he didn't want it to look bad on him: sending troops so soon after getting a Peace Prize. It's a joke.

Aaron Goldstein said...

Hence the reason I said Obama "should" have declined the award. I, of course, have no illusions Obama "would" have said it should go to someone more deserving when the Nobel Committee announced they had given him the Prize. It's just interesting that he says all this now.

You are quite right to say getting the Nobel impeded him from making a decision on Afghanistan.