Too much praise, not enough substance

The announcement sent shockwaves around the planet: President Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his ‘extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.’

While it cannot be disputed that President Obama has run a fantastic campaign based on hope, change and peaceful co-existence, very little has been translated from campaign rhetoric into real and lasting change on the ground.

There are those in ultra left-leaning circles who firmly believe that President Obama is deserving of this magnanimous award. President Obama was nominated barely several weeks into his presidency – hardly a substantial period within which to evaluate his performance for this tremendous honour to be bestowed upon him.

There are problems in his being nominated – namely that he is as yet an undeserving recipient and secondly the title may come back to bite him in the near future. When the world was searching for hope, they found a Democrat who promised change, so it made sense to heap as much praise and encouragement on the new commander-in-chief as possible. But a Nobel Peace Prize? This is simply heaping praise on a man who is grossly unworthy of it.

If one were to measure his achievements to date – there are sadly none to speak of. President Obama has promised to open dialogue with a largely skeptical Muslim world. We are yet to see real change in the mindset of everyday Americans in this regard and in the largely disillusioned Arab world. Sure Obama has cultivated the seeds of hope, but the Peace Prize is awarded for actual results achieved, not silky smooth words born of nothing.

We are witnessing the continuing intransigence by both sides in the Mid-East peace process. Indeed in this matter, President Obama’s myopia has gotten the better of him. Israel was not born out of the suffering of the Jewish people from the time of the Holocaust as he so incorrectly alluded at his historic address in Cairo earlier this year. Israel has been the Jewish ancestral homeland since the time of Joshua, several thousand years ago.

Before President Obama can talk peace in the Mid-East (as he is only learning now) there needs to be a unified Palestinian leadership, a denouncement of all terror-related activities against the State of Israel by Palestinians across the board and an acceptance of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. Likewise there must be tenable security and a complete freeze on settlement building.

At home, Americans are yet to witness the long-term ill-effects of the massive spending that the Obama Presidency put into effect to arrest the economic crisis of 2008/9 in respect of the stimulus packages. Future generations of Americans are going to be saddled with unprecedented national debt, the likes of which will result in inflationary pressures and more job losses.

The most contentious domestic issue for Americans is the ongoing health care debacle. Obama is trying to deconstruct the very essence of capitalism – the heartbeat of America. By providing healthcare to everyone in the USA at the expense of the taxpayer – like it or not – this goes against the very fabric of the American way. Many Americans – Democrats included – are more than a little uptight about Obama’s drastic moves to ‘right the wrongs’ in society.

But the issue that will put egg on the face of President Obama is one that he would rather not deal with – Iran. Now that the US President is a Nobel Laureate – will that embolden the tyrannical Iranian leadership further? Indeed it seems unlikely that a Peace Prize winner would do anything against an intransigent, terror-sponsoring entity like Iran. If Iran chooses to weaponize its nuclear program, will President Obama have the gumption to unilaterally stand up to the greatest threat the world has ever known?