Playing Politics
Anyone who doesn't understand that the Nobel Peace Prize is political is deluded. Hell, the Literature prize is political. (Who's the last American who won that? Toni Morrison? And her body of work is superior to Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike? Think about why she got it.) So picking Obama this year as for the Prize Committee to exert influence in the world isn't new, isn't really surprising, and probably isn't worth of the wroth and derision it's getting some places. ZOMG, what next? Professional athletes in the Olympics? Steroids in the Tour de France? Save the confected outrage and recognise that the current President of the U.S. may not have saved the world and can't, but he has changed the terms and tone of the debate about America and international relations in ways you haven't and won't, and hasn't even been in office for a year. Congratulations, Mr. President; along with the Committee, I hope you live up to it, even just a little.
ContinuedRemarkable how many people think they know better than the administrators of the prize what the prize "has to be" awarded for, what rules should apply, and who is or isn't an eligible recipient.
10 October 2009
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2 comments:
"Even just a little" is a good thing. At least people in other countries can now hope the US will live up to its own image of itself. And we can pray and vote for that.
I think your examples need tweaking. Everyone has read one thing by Oates, few have read three. Updike is fine for what he was, but what he was basically a deft writer of short fiction for The New Yorker. I'd say that Roth is the American that is being slighted, and it surprises me every year.
The Lit prize is quirky, no doubt about it, but the Norwegians seem to take the Peace Prize pretty seriously, and if you run down the list (after the unfortunate '73 award) the winners are a solid bunch. I think what the commentary about this year's award mainly reflects is a lack of awareness on the part of most Americans about exactly how badly the US' reputation has declined-- and generalized partisan derangement.
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