Barack Obama: Nobel Laureate 2009

I do not agree with his stance on many issues. I question some of his tactics. I worry about his vision for our future. All things considered, I am not a fan of Barack Obama’s politics. I am, however, a fan of Barack Obama.

Today our President was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The announcement caused quite a stir around the globe. “Did he deserve it?” being the number one question asked by his biggest objectors.

The Nobel Peace prize is a very prestigious honor. It has been awarded to great humanitarians such as Theodore Roosevelt, The Organization of the Red Cross, Mother Teresa, and Nelson Mandela.

According to NobelPrize.org, the Peace prize should be awarded to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

I read a TimesOnline article that tried to explain why Barack Hussein Obama was awarded this high honor. The article quoted the committee as saying that Obama deserved the award for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The committee went on to say that he has, in a very short time, made a “change in the international climate.” The committee praised Obama in saying, “Very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future.”

I do not sit on the committee that doles out these prizes, so I cannot speak for these people. But I will agree that Obama deserves some sort of award. Even I, the staunchest of right-wing fiscal conservatives, found myself hoping for a better tomorrow whenever I listened to his campaign speeches. Even I, the most devout of W. supporters, found it difficult to vote for the “same old, same old” that John McCain seemed to be offering when compared to a young, handsome, energetic candidate.

I do not know what criteria it takes to be a Nobel Peace prize winner, so I do not know if Obama really deserved the award. I do not know much about the Nobel Peace prize, honestly. I mean, did Al Gore deserve it? Yasser Arafat? Or any of the other 115 or so Laureates? I do not know.

What I do know is that Obama is the first ever black man to win the votes of the majority of the American people. What I do believe is that he has the best of intentions in mind for this country and for the American people. Regardless of whether or not I agree with his solutions to our problems (or even what the actual problems are), I am willing to give the Commander in Chief the respect he deserves. I will never insult his intelligence or mine by siding against him merely because he is a Democrat.

I have never lived with a single parent, I have barely seen my grandparents, I do not have any daughters, and I do not like dogs. But Obama and I do have one thing in common – we both want what is best for America and its people. Even though some refuse to even give him that much credit, I am mature enough, fair enough and wise enough to give credit where credit is due.

If I refuse to even entertain anything he has to offer, than I am no better than the W. bashers that I find to be so offensive. If I refuse to listen to Obama’s suggestions for a better tomorrow, then I MUST ask myself, “Do I care about being a Republican, or do I care about the future of this country I adore?”