Today Barack Obama is the man (again)
October 10, 2009, 1:58 am
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warThough much of the “honeymoon period” of Obama’s presidency has ended and we are finally realizing that it will take much effort and time to undo all the wrongs and injustices that George W. Bush’s eight years, today Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
This is wonderful. However, what is even better is President Obama’s reaction to winning the prize.
To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said that his Nobel Peace Prize was “also a commission — a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for ‘the brotherhood of man.’”
Dr. King’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech is worth reading.
Dr. King was right when he said, “Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
Barack Obama acknowledges that the prize is not so much a reward for a completed effort but rather a reminder, almost a burden, that there is still work to be done. That we shall overcome. That we are all part of the effort for a peaceful world. Barack Obama is being honored for his work in international diplomacy and efforts for a world free of nuclear weapons even though the we are still on the journey.
Fill in the blanks
I read what Condoleezza Rice had to say about Robert Mugabe and her words reminded me of another country…see if you can fill in the blanks:
This is what I was thinking (the highlighted words are mine):
“It’s well past time for George W. Bush to leave. I think that’s now obvious. The fact is that there was a sham election in 2000. There then has been a sham process of war, corruption, and manufactured crises. And now, we are seeing not only the political and economic toll that is being taken on the people of the world.”
This is what she really said:
“It’s well past time for Robert Mugabe to leave. I think that’s now obvious,” Rice said during a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark. “The fact is that there was a sham election. There then has been a sham process of power-sharing talks. And now, we are seeing not only the political and economic toll that is being taken on the people of Zimbabwe, but the toll in the humanitarian dimension as this cholera epidemic has broken out.”
It works out pretty nicely doesn’t it?
You too can fill in the blanks! just leave a comment with your words inserted!
Give it a try:
“It’s well past time for 1._________ to leave. I think that’s now obvious,” Rice said during a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark. “The fact is that there was a sham election. There then has been a sham process of 2._________. And now, we are seeing not only the political and economic toll that is being taken on the people of 3.________, but the toll in the humanitarian dimension as this 4.___________.”
The situation in Zimbabwe is awful and it has been awful for years. Maybe the Bush administration has only now realized that Zimbabwe is a real country and not just a cool word.
