This kind of thing is one of the many reasons I like Barack Obama as a person. I do. I’ve studied up on him and read a couple of his books and a lot of the things he does and the way he thinks of the world and of human beings and many of the things he believes strongly resonate with me.

Many people are claiming that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize simply for not being George W. Bush. To be fair, it would be completely hypocritical to deny the truth of this, at least to some degree. However, this isn’t something that should reflect poorly on Obama, as many are implying it does because he “ain’t done nothin’ yet” and simply won it, as right-wing wit Erick Erickson from RedState.org expressed it, as an “affirmative action quota.”

As far as I’m concerned, such a lens is badly skewed. When you step back and rationally regard those two presidents, those two human beings, whatever part Obama’s not being George W. Bush played in the final decision by the Nobel committee in awarding the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize is not a denigration of the prize itself or an indictment of Obama but rather a devastating, profound statement on exactly how deep the incredible damage our 43rd president wreaked upon the entirety of humanity ran.

Are there other people who deserve the Nobel Peace Prize far more for what they are actually doing in the world? This is such an obvious truth that why it’s even brought up as an argument is beyond me. Of course there are. It’s probably safe to say that every single one of the candidates deserved the Nobel Peace Prize more than Obama did, if you look at it from the perspective of worthy action and not simply words and ideas.

That being said, I’m very proud of and happy for Barack Obama for his win. As my president and fellow countryman I am proud of the way he comports himself and of the many things he has done so far in his life of service and dedication to his fellow humans. I, for one, believe him when he says he will work to deserve the honour of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I have no doubts that someday, he will deserve it for his deeds as well as for his words and ideas.

However, the main complaint regarding the Nobel panel’s decision is over the fact that they awarded the Peace Prize to someone who has not, by his own admission, achieved anything of substance yet. Detractors claim with some truth that traditionally it has usually been actions and not words that have merited the award, which comes not just with the honours of being a recipient in and of itself but with a substantial monetary prize that provides often badly-needed funds to recipients, most of whom put it to good use in furthering their specific cause.

So if we’re talking about action then I’d be a hypocrite myself if I didn’t agree that no, Barack Obama does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. I have to admit that I’ll be far, far prouder and happier that Barack Obama is my president when he starts doing things, such as putting the public option for healthcare not just back on the table but reintroducing it as flatly nonnegotiable, and when he starts doing things like finally moving forward on various gay rights issues, making gay marriage legal, repealing DOMA and DADT and so forth.

Frankly, it’s astounding that he hasn’t done these things yet. I was and am willing to give him time and I recognize the immensity of the mess he voluntarily inherited, but it shouldn’t have taken this much time now for real action on such agendas as gay rights, and there are still no signs of his moving on it, either.

I’ll be a lot more satisfied when the bailout moves beyond Wall Street shrubs and hedges to Main Street roots and soil, when he starts helping people he knows for a fact are the ones in real life-and-death need of assistance. I want to see him start holding the leaders of big corporate accountable for the escalating abuses they perpetrate. I want to see an end to “too big to fail.”

I want to see him start reforming our government, rooting out corruption, holding elected officials who act like schoolyard thugs accountable for their reprehensible behaviour, and this includes forcing Bush 43 and Dick Cheney and their criminal cohorts to face justice. I don’t care what side of the aisle they’re on, I want to see corrupt politicians punished in meaningful ways. I’d like to see some real forward movement on the environmental front, ecological and conservation initiatives put into place to save our atmosphere, our water, our wild places. I could go on and on.

Barack Obama has already put some important legislation into play and made some important decisions, but not enough and he’s taking far too long to see the forest for the trees. People are hurting. Every aspect of life is hurting in this country for 99 percent of the living things who inhabit it.

So from the street level I have to say that big business can go bugger itself off a cliff for all I care and so can the Nobel Peace Prize – I want to see my president do what he promised he would do. I want to see him making the change I voted for. I want to see him start actually helping the country as a whole, not just big corporate.

I want the everyday, ordinary people to get some assistance, some help. The majority of his promises, some of which he could absolutely have kept by now, are one by one falling to the wayside. For most of the really big issues, yes, he needs a LOT more time. But for many of the smaller things, too much time has gone by for him to have not made changes by now. He has shown that in the face of strong opposition within his own government, he instantly, shockingly capitulates.

I still have great hopes in Barack Obama. I believe in him. Right now, though, he has displayed a marked lack of action and I’m starting to get worried about what the next round of elections will hold in store because of it, and all the ideals in the world will not change that without action being taken that will prevent it.

There’s still time for him to stand up and at long last accept the fact that this insanely marginalized and extremist GOP will never, ever, ever willingly work with him in any way. There is still time to move swiftly past them and actually get some things done with or without them, but he has to act now. He has to act. He has to do. He has to move.

However, I would argue that while yes, actions do speak much louder than words and words without eventual action mean little, it’s vitally important that we remember that it is frequently words and ideas that ultimately motivate people to action in the first place. Often, no action can occur without the right words being spoken at the right times.

The Nobel committee, in explaining their decision, said, “Only 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. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”

Let’s ask the glaring question: Why has this man been so ineffective in so many areas when he has in all the other aspects of his life achieved such impossible goals? Why now, when it is most important, does he seem to be falling down on the job? I don’t believe it’s because he doesn’t have the capacity and I don’t believe that he lied to achieve his goals. These are nonsensical notions. The man has literally spent his life in service to others. For him to make that radical an about-face flies in the face of every single fact about the guy. It’s the last thing I’d believe about him.

The reality is that really, the only significant character flaw Barack Obama possesses is that he’s so focused on equality and bipartisanship, that reasonableness and cooperation are so ingrained in him, he can’t seem to comprehend he will never achieve it or that some people really are completely immune to being decent human beings.

I will never forget what the world felt like between 4 November 2008 and 20 January 2009. The change in the air was profound. The change on the planet was profound. It was very, very similar to the way the world felt to me in the three or four days after the events of September 11, 2001 unfolded, but where that was the most somber and wretched of times, the period between the 2008 U.S. presidential election and the 2009 presidential inauguration was utterly joyous.

The way Barack Obama changed the world just by standing up, just by communicating with others, just by expressing his visions of the future of not just his own country but the world at large, is something I had never before experienced in my lifetime. I drank it in like I’d never drunk anything before. It’s a time and a living, pulsing passion whose end I never wanted to see; it was wrenchingly poignant because I knew it was inevitable that it would end far too soon.

For myself, I do think that actions are almost always more significant than words, but I also deeply believe that the right words, spoken at the right moments – the way Obama’s were – can literally shake the world. He did exactly that. The planet glowed with hope and people everywhere – everywhere - were united in the spirit of hope and peace and community.

His impact was vast and his words, those glorious words, resounded from the highest skyscrapers to the lowliest villages. That is a rare and wondrous and shining achievement, and other factors, whatever they may be, should not detract from our recognition of that, most especially since this is a genuinely good man. There are no atrocities to have to somehow look beyond, there is no guilt involved in having to temporarily turn a blind eye to monstrosities he has perpetrated, because these things do not exist. Barack Obama, whatever else he may be, is a good man, and he has dedicated his life to making the entire world a better place for everyone who lives in it.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot since the prize was awarded and absorbing the world’s various reactions to it. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that it may actually be more important than anything else to make sure that we do, in fact, stop in our tracks and focus sharply and with great reverence on the moments like these which occur in human history precisely because they are so rare, because they do move the world so, because they do inspire people to strive to achieve those ideals, and because the promise and desire such moments hold are truly our only hope for survival as a species.

What makes Obama’s words so remarkable is that they enflamed the hearts of so many people from every conceivable walk of life, all of whom were revealed to hold deeply in themselves the same passions, the same desires, the same dreams: equality, peace, and freedom. This is what Barack Obama’s words achieved – a global, simultaneous insight that laid bare the fact that fundamentally, we’re really not so different after all. That we have to join together to defeat those who would keep and worsen the status quo.

We need to learn how to get along. We really, really do. This man? He’s all about that. That’s who he is. That’s the essence of his humanity. The fact that his tolerance, his willingness to cooperate and compromise, his inability to believe that people can be that inhumane and selfish and uncaring about the entire rest of the world are attributes widely considered to be his greatest failings as an effective politician doesn’t speak badly of him, but of everybody else.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee saw this, recognized this, and chose to celebrate him. After slowly grinding my own cerebral wheels for a while, I have to say that I agree with them. I am grateful for their acumen, especially since it’s apparent that much of the rest of the world lacks it, thereby proving that we have a long, long road ahead of us as a species.

For his words and his ideals and for generating a mighty resonance so palpable that you could taste it on your tongue, something so extraordinarily rarely felt on such a scale, Barack Obama is really the only choice for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize that makes sense. I can think of nobody else who has had the kind of impact he’s had during the same time period. Whether or not he can deliver these heartfelt, soul-fed passions to fruition is another thing entirely, but the principles, the ethics, the values, the integrity, the credo, the chorus – they must be recognized. Not to do so would be a monstrous disservice to the spirit of humanity as a whole.

In one exchange, which apparently took place after MTV News’ allotted hour was up (media outlets were only allowed to remain at the Q&A for a specified hour), Rowling told the audience that Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore was gay and had fallen in love with fellow wizard and erstwhile friend, Gellert Grindelwald, according to the Associated Press and Potter fan site the Leaky Caudron. The crowd cheered, leading Rowling to say:

“If I had known this would have made you this happy, I would have told you years ago.”

I cheered when I read it, too. I knew it, I knew it! How TOTALLY awesome is this!? And he was outed at Carnegie Hall, too. Fantastic.

Man, I love Jo Rowling. :) And now I’m even more pissed off at her for killing him off. :P

MTV Article from whence the above quote came.

Link to Google news cache for topic.

I’m not sure if the Congressional Gold Medal is even worth anything at all when this president is the one awarding it; furthermore, the Dalai Lama is so far and above the token that it’s like he has to stoop to accept it.

But being the gracious man that he is – he’s certainly a better human being than I could ever hope to be even in my wildest fantasies – the Dalai Lama will accept it with that incredible smile that lights up the world and that giggle that sounds like the stars themselves are laughing, so it’ll be okay, because he’s really not above or below anything, really; that’s the whole point, I suppose.

Still, though, it rankles me that this president, of all presidents, is the one to do the honours. I should let the Dalai Lama be my inspiration and rise above that kind of feeling – he of all people understands what having to deal with a corrupt and abusive government is all about, especially when you put it into perspective – but being the base, grubby dirtbag that I am, it’s just too close and the emotions are too raw for me to do it.

I’d say congratulations, but I just wouldn’t mean it. The “honour” is worthless to me, and the gesture is mystifying. My first thought was “hmm, I wonder what Shrub is up to now behind the cover of this gesture?” I just dont believe he’d do anything at all without a despicable ulterior motive. I wish the Dalai Lama would refuse it, to be honest. I really do. But he won’t, because he’s just not that kind of guy. That’s why he’s the Dalai Lama and I’m just some fat schmuck in LA.

Oh, and fuck China.

Dalai Lama brushes off China’s ire – CNN.com

Gore shares Nobel Peace Prize with U.N. panel – CNN.com

I am looking at trees
they may be one of the things I will miss
most from the earth
though many of the ones I have seen
already I cannot remember
and though I seldom embrace the ones I see
and have never been able to speak
with one
I listen to them tenderly
their names have never touched them
they have stood round my sleep
and when it was forbidden to climb them
they have carried me in their branches

– W. S. Merwin
“The Compass Flower”

I love the Writer’s Almanac. :)

Dear Friends,
Thank you for your words of appreciations and for your encouragements.
Anything in this world will not be able to slow down my pain of losing a so
good husband, a so great friend.
I am wishing you all the very best, Marilena Librescu