Friday, October 9, 2009

An Historic Moment: President Obama Wins the Nobel Peace Prize

I woke up to the most extraordinary news this morning -- our president is the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The committee cited his work toward making the world a more peaceful place.

The AP has an interesting article about global reaction to this news. Past Nobel winner Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said that Obama has already provided outstanding leadership in the effort to prevent nuclear proliferation.
"In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself," ElBaradei said. "He has shown an unshakable commitment to diplomacy, mutual respect and dialogue as the best means of resolving conflicts. He has reached out across divides and made clear that he sees the world as one human family, regardless of religion, race or ethnicity."

Read the article. Read the full Nobel citation. It's so easy to be cynical and assume that Mr. Obama hasn't done enough to earn this honor. I disagree. He has brought honor back to the United States. He has shown our brothers and sisters around the globe that we can discuss important matters in a respectful, adult manner. We are a great nation once again, and I am proud to be an American today.

Congratulations, Mr. President. And thank you.

2 comments:

ScottE. said...

woo hoo!

DancerInDC said...

Amen, sister.

Add onto all that he has done how much he has had to UNDO from 8 years of the Bush administration. That's a lot of fixing and healing in less than a year.