Obama wins the Peace Prize *UPDATED — FREQUENTLY*
Bookworm on Oct 09 2009 at 7:15 am | Filed under: Barack Obama
By now you all know that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. After deciding that the Nobel Committee probably didn’t award it as a consolation prize for Obama’s having lost before the International Olympic Committee, I tried to figure out what “peace” the Nobel Committee meant. After all, this is a guy so ineffectual that even Saturday Night Live points out that he does absolutely nothing.
I’ve decided that this is a preemptive prize, because the Committee looked ahead to the insane nuclear winter and global Muslim/non-Muslim war Obama’s fecklessness is bringing into being and they knew: he makes a desert, and calls it peace. Since the Committee can confidently expect that, once Obama does what he does best, there will be no more prizes, now was the time for a preemptive award.
UPDATE: I dashed the above off pre-carpool. I’ve now had a chance to think more. This sets the seal on the Peace Prize’s irrelevancy. People of various political stripes could defend some of the more disgusting awards (Arafat springs to mind), because they liked the effect these winners had on their chosen field. In other words, Arafat may have been a disgusting, murderous warmonger, but he’d at least done something. As I noted above, even Obama’s staunchest defenders can’t pretend he’s done anything at all, and certainly not in nine months. The only thing he’s done is to be elected.
And that’s really what this is all about: He is the change that anti-American Europe has been waiting for. By being elected, he’s decimated America, and that’s what they want. Because they view America as an aggressor nation, ion their minds having a non-aggressor in the White House — and, even better, a black(ish) non-aggressor — means America is disarmed, which itself is a form of peace. They are too short-sighted, of course, to realize that America has been the guardian, not the aggressor. With America gone, they’ll have they peace of the Muslim grave.
UPDATE II: Obama was nominated on February 1 — 11 days after he took office. That simply proves my point, that Europe recognizes him as the emasculator of America, which in itself is sufficient, to their stunted minds, to mean world peace.
UPDATE III: We know anti-Americans have viewed Obama as a Messiah. But if I remember the last Messiah who came along, say about 2000 years ago, there was some sacrifice involved. This is the “Messiah-Lite” program, which in itself is an outrageously creepy idea.
UPDATE IV: Some have suggested that Obama refuse the prize, which would make him less of a laughingstock. A headline at BNO News, however, has Obama accepting the award “as a call to action.” In other words, Obama fully agrees with the Europeans. He too believes that, just by being Obama, he has conferred some sort of celestial blessing on the world. He is, in his own mind, the embodiment of Hope. In other words, he is a megalomaniac. It will be interesting to see what he does with the prize money.
One other thing: with few exceptions, both the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Literature Prize are given only to people who are anti-American. It’s interesting that the Nobel Peace Prize Committee seized Obama up and concluded that he, too, is anti-American.
UPDATE V: Apropos Obama’s decision to accept — there’s good reason to believe that he needs to tamp that ego down and put his acceptance on hold until the end of January 2013. It seems that it’s unconstitutional for him to accept. Although, the Constitution hasn’t stopped Obama before, so why should it stop him now?
UPDATE VI: Even Jennifer Loven, who is probably the single most partisan AP reporter in the history of partisan AP reporters, can’t figure this one out.
UPDATE VII: The Nobel Prize Committee was explicit that this prize is because Obama creates the hope of peace, rather than peace itself. Certainly there’s been no peace since Obama’s become president and, in fact, things are worse, rather than better under his watch. Given Obama’s failures, his goals and his limited number of actions, what’s really interesting is the type of peace the Committee envisions. Recall that just the other day, the Obama administration cut funding to a group the monitors human rights in Iran. This reminds us that peace isn’t always lion sleeping with the lamb, which is what most people envision. To the Left, peace simply means the world under the thumb of a strong man — or, in the post Obama world, under the thumb of a strong religion.
UPDATE VIII: Obama has announced that he will give the prize money to charity. I have a suggestion: Since the only thing Obama did to earn this prize was to get elected, why don’t we give the money to the people who actually created the election outcome, namely the American voters. Turn the money over to the IRS, President Obama.
UPDATE IX: I just checked my “real me” facebook account, which is liberal land. Those few who have commented on it have expressed the same theme: “I really like Obama, but this makes no sense.” While many are very concerned that this move puts pressure on Obama to withdraw from Afghanistan (because he’s got to make the desert of peace in that country too, Cambodia-style), I wonder if this won’t make average Americans sit up and wonder what’s really going on with this president. (See Big Lizard’s too, for suspicion about the timing vis a vis Afghanistan.)
UPDATE X: Have you noticed that libs are more upset than conservatives? We conservatives realized years ago that the Nobel Peace Prize was a joke and this is just more proof, as if we needed anyway. To liberals, though, this is an “Emperor has no clothes” moment. They truly respect the Nobel Prize and think it is a prestigious and meaningful award, never mind some of the yahoos to whom it’s been awarded. Having it awarded to someone who has done nothing at all is frightening to them, because it might hint at the fact that conservative disdain for the Prize is rooted in reality.
****************************************************
Also blogging (a list I’ll add to during the day)
The crowd at Commentary’s Contentions (and this is a global link to the blog, not to a specific post)
Power Line, which provides a useful list of prior winners, showing that Obama comes at the bottom of a steeply declining slope
National Review Online’s Corner (and again, this is a global link)
And Discover the Networks helps explain what’s really going on (h/t Sweetness and Light)
Richard Cohen (a liberal who makes a nasty swipe at Palin, but still makes a good point about the insanity of the award)
Even the New York Times is bewildered (although approving)
The London Times savages the decision to award the prize
Radio Patriot has the ultimate reductio ad absurdum
Even Time Magazine, one of Obama’s biggest cheerleaders, thinks this is a bad idea
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Which means the Nobel committee still messed up as they should have awarded the prize to the American voters or at least those who voted for the committee’s favored son.
I’m not sure this doesn’t do more harm than good to Obama. Americans generally reward accomplishment and this award highlights Obama’s lack of the same.
When I heard this, I thought the Norwegian legislature was just following good parenting practice–reward the behavior you want to see more of.
So what could it be? Apologizing to the world? Getting smoked by the Russians and Iranians? Abandoning democratic and humanitarian principles? Starting trade wars? Bowing to tyrants? There’s so much to chose from, it sort of dilutes the message the Norwegians are trying to send.
A few people have questioned whether a Nobel Peace Laureate can dispatch 40,000 troops to Afghanistan. This is not just a ridiculous act; it is quite possibly done with pernicious intent.
One can hope that it will bring scorn from the American people. The danger is that it will encourage this fool.
As if Obama needed anything more to pump up his narcissism.
By the way, I studied really, really, really hard for my finance MBA and my heart is in the right place. Could one of you dear souls please nominate me for a Nobel Prize in finance? Just askin’. It would look nice on my shelf and I sure could use the cash.
With America gone, they’ll have they peace of the Muslim grave.
they=the
Because they view America as an aggressor nation, ion their minds having a non-aggressor in the White House
ion=in
[...] about Michelle Malkin as of October 9, 2009 Obama wins the Peace Prize *UPDATED* – bookwormroom.com 10/09/2009 By now you all know that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize . [...]
Long ago, I dismissed the committee as having any credibility when choosing the ‘intangible’ peace prize. This year, it’s just as valid as an MTV Music Award following Obama’s European Traveling Minstrel show last year.
snip/Wikipedia
The Committee keeps the nominations secret and asks that nominators do the same. Over time many individuals have become known as “Nobel Peace Prize Nominees”, but this designation has no official standing. Nominations from 1901 to 1955, however, have been released in a database. When the past nominations were released it was discovered that Adolf Hitler was nominated in 1939 by Erik Brandt, a member of the Swedish Parliament. Brandt retracted the nomination after a few days. Other infamous nominees included Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini.
One Wag suggested that he should win the NPrize for Chemistry, since he has so much personal chemistry.
I wonder if there will be a future NPize for BS. That would be a tough competition. Let’s see, N. Pelosi, B. Clinton, H. Clinton, J. Carter, M. Amadinejad, M. Gaddafi. And the winner is . . . The ONE.
Seems the world gets what right-wingers don’t even want to get. LOL
Helen, it seems that Chicago got what nobody wanted to get either – killed.
If only he wasn’t so busy looking east for the ‘job’, Eric Holder’s trip could have been canceled.
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/aug/06/local/chi-chicago-murders-upaug07
>>Norwegian legislature
. . . sorry about that, it’s raining here, and it’s depressing my thought processes–the Norwegian Parliament nominates the committee, it doesn’t award the prize.
Seems the world gets what right-wingers don’t even want to get. LOL
We see the world as 6.2 billion plus individual men and women. You see the world as a group of elite, non-elected and non-accountable crooks, con artists, and race baiting plantation slavemasters.
Your world is not our world. And we will do everything to free the people of the world from your corrupt oligarchy.
Gore, Carter, Arafat – what sterling recent company BHO joins as recipient of the NPP. Obama did say in his speech that he ‘doesn’t deserve the prize’. So for what she has contributed on this blog to the understanding and coming together of those who see the world as it is, and those who see the world as it isn’t, I suggest Obama give the award to Helen.
Exactly, who is this “we” he speaks of and will it include the Norwegians on the front line.
Mr. Obama acknowledged Friday that, while accepting an award for peace, he was commander in chief of a country engaged in wars. “We have to confront the world as we know it,” he said.
I think Obama is being given more and more rope with which to hang himself.
Hopefully we all won’t hang with him.
Deana
Danny Lemieux
You obviously worked too hard for the MBA – all you had to do was ‘promise’ and ‘hope’…seems like you are just too decisive. As to your heart being in the right place – well, that may be a deficit.
How are you at bowing and staging local and global events?
Do you own a white lab coat?
Do you have at least one radical family member (two is always better).
Maybe, we can take up a collection plate here and find you a nice bowling trophy.
from Politico…
snip/
DNC official: GOP siding with terrorists
A top Democratic National Committee official reacted furiously to a statement from Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele mocking — and describing as “unfortunate” — President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize.
“The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists – the Taliban and Hamas this morning – in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize,” DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse told POLITICO.
It’s official, DNC communications has finally declared that Hamas and the Taliban are terrorists!!!
reader’s quote:
For extraordinary diplomacy at the Gates-Crowley “Beer Summit”
[...] blogging: The Anchoress Brutally Honest Bookworm Room Print This Post This entry was posted on Friday, October 9th, 2009 at 9:40 am and is filed [...]
Did anyone ever figure out what percentage–if any–of Obama’s campaign money came from overseas?
SADIE:
Answers to your questions: Can do; yes; yes.
Now, since that should qualify my for the PRIZE, I would now like to be magnanimous and thank everyone for boosting my self esteem even higher than it was. In turn, I will follow Marguerite’s very excellent suggestion and donate the award to Helen, as a token of appreciation for for openly sharing the firmament of her moral fiber (or is it “fibber”…I’ll have to spell-check that) with us.
So, I can now congratulate myself for being a true Liberal of high moral standing in granting to others what was never mine in the first place and at absolutely no cost to myself. I am truly wonderful.
You will all either have to speak up, though, or tone it down: your applause is deafening.
Two slight slivers of hope:
I’m driving to the vet this morning with my wife. We’re taking our boxer, Lily, in for an eye exam. I tell her that Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Without thinking (remember, she’s a yellow dog Demo), she blurts out, “For what?”
Twenty minutes later at the vet’s office, I overhear one of the doctors and a dog owner talking about Obama’s prize. We’re in the deepest heart of liberal darkness, Mill Valley. One says to the other, “What’s he done to deserve it?” The other one says, “I like the guy, but this is too much.”
Wow, when denizens of the highest plane of liberalism openly engage in an Obama smackdown, can total nudity (“The Imp has no clothes!”) be far behind?
Did anyone ever figure out what percentage–if any–of Obama’s campaign money came from overseas?
Given that they disabled the credit card fraud protections, can’t really say. Another blackhole for the Won.
Charles, what exactly is a yellow dog Demo? Someone halfway along the spectrum to red?
kali, it’s an old expression used to describe a Democrat who is so diehard that if you ran a yellow dog as the Democratic candidate for office he would vote for it.
“he makes a desert, and calls it peace”
Bookworm, I really like that literary reference. Vivid all on its own, but doubly so when you know that it was said by Tacitus.
I was born in America, and grew up in America, but now I live in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Farce.
And a blue dog Democrat is a yellow dog Democrat that’s choked so hard on a bill that he’ll turn blue before he votes for it…
(as I understand it)
Declining – the prize…
Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace Imagine – by John Lennon born 10/09/1940 In an era when our destiny is shared, power is no longer a zero-sum g…
I may nøt be the best of show here, but I think I got first last night at 2 in the morning. At least I beat the New York Times by 30 minutes.
Danny Lemieux
You will all either have to speak up, though, or tone it down: your applause is deafening.
It’s not the applause you’ve been hearing, it’s me building your pedestal.
Zhombre & suek: You’ve tied for best zingers.
Marguerite: Don’t forget to add el baradei to that list of losse’s (not a typo).
Jagland can obviously speak more than one language, but his command of bullshit is simply stunning!
[...] has the committee transcript. Really. Ron Radosh – will Ayers write the acceptance speech? Bookworm Room has more updates than [...]
In addition to Jagland and the Nobel Committee, let us remember famous Norwegians of the past:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidkun_Quisling
Check out TFMo’s take on it with his political cartoons…he’s truly on a roll.
http://www.christmasghost.com
Feel free to swipe!
The land of quislings now boasts (not really) a Jewish population of…drum roll please, 1,500.
http://www.amscan.org/benkow.html
snip/wikipedia
In December 2008, a Norwegian Jew filed a complaint against a comedian who mocked the Holocaust, but fellow comedians and his TV station have backed the controversial performer. Otto Jespersen joked on national television in his weekly routine of holding an infamous monologue, that “I would like to take the opportunity to remember all the billions of fleas and lice that lost their lives in German gas chambers, without having done anything wrong other than settling on persons of Jewish background.” Jespersen also presented a satirical monologue on anti-Semitism that ended with, “Finally, I would like to wish all Norwegian Jews a Merry Christmas – no, what am I saying! You don’t celebrate Christmas, do you!? It was you who crucified Jesus”, on December 4. Jespersen has received criticism for several of his attacks on social and ethnic groups as well as royalty, politicians and celebrities, and in defence of the monologue TV2 noted that Jespersen attacks in all directions, and that “if you should take [the monologue] seriously, there are more than just the Jews that should feel offended.”
There’s a punch line here or is it the turd in the punch bowl I am thinking of
I’m sure it’s been said in one of those links somewhere (I just don’t feel like reading any of them right now – This Obamanation is really turning into a Kafka novel!); I think they “awarded” the prize to Obama, not so much because his is the “messiah” in their minds; but, more precisely because he is not Bush.
I really do think that they would have like to have given an “unpeace” award to Bush; the only problem is no such thing exists. So, the next best thing is to give this one to Obama.
Terminology.
In class, Murray Gell-Mann (winner of Nobel Prize in Physics–inventor of the word quark) invariably referred to his prize as the “Swedish Prize”—not out of any false modesty, but, I think, to get people to think about what the prize meant and what it did not mean. The idea of the “Nobel Prize” has established an ascendancy in the popular mind well beyond any rational evaluation of it.
What is an appropriate term to refer to the award–colloquially called the “Nobel Peace Prize”–given by five Norwegian politicians to support their political ends? Perhaps the “Norwegian Politicians’ Prize”? The “Norwegian Political Popularity Prize”?
I’m open for suggestions, and intend to use whatever fits best.
It’s more of the same, I’ve figured out: the Nobel Peace Prize is the same as Obama winning the Presidency, winning his Illinois Senate seat (having no serious opponent, and before that a career in state politics notably absent of opponents), graduating from Harvard Law School and becoming editor of the Law Review (without a single signed article to his credit); the cursus honorum achieved despite lack of experience or actual accomplishment. As Richard Epstein has pointed out, Obama is not an intellectual: ‘He is an activist merely mimicking the mannerisms of an intellectual.” And then an activist mimicking the mannerisms of a politician and of a President of the United States, and his mimickry is amply rewarded.
I think I’ve found a new anthem for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Farce.
It starts:
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
colorless.blue.ideas
I’m open for suggestions, and intend to use whatever fits best.
In the words of Archie Bunker: Meat Head
I’d be curious knowing what Mr. Bookworm thinks of this great honor bestowed on our President, especially since the nominations for the prize were made in February when he’d been in office less than a month and the short list is completed in March, well before Obama’s Cairo speech.
The fix was in?
I wonder whether this gives Obama cover to deny McChrystal’s request for an additional 40,000 troops, makes it harder for him to make that decision were he so inclined, or whether the American people will think Obama caved to Norwegian Nobel committee meddling when he denies the request.
A thoughtful interpretation of Obama’s actions and the peace prize committee’s take on it…
http://westernrifleshooters.blogspot.com/2009/10/paul-rahe-obamas-agenda.html
The fix was in?
In my post #7 I explored this a bit. His Summer Tour de Farce on the European stage and months prior to the election was the clincher.
If you think about Chicag’O’ … he represents what no country in the EU has – a man of color at the helm. It let’s them off the hook and they are using him as a distraction of their overwhelming Arab population. It’s their version of show n’ tell. SEE…look what we did, we gave a prize to not only a man of color, but he has the street cred of an arab as well and now we don’t have to really deal with the odds on this side of the pond. If he helps take the political pressures off of the EU – great and if he fails – it’s America’s fault. It’s a win-win from their perspective.
suek ….back to you with Mark Steyn
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=508591
I’ve always been a sci-fi buff and when I was a kid I was quite taken by Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series, which chronicled the fall of a great galactic civilzation—a fall so awful that it was going to take 30,000 years to recover.
However, a genius named Hari Seldon found a way to whittle the interregnum down to 1,000 years, creating a foundation that would preserve knowledge and create a drastic shortcut to the emergence of a second empire. (Although Asimov was an atheist, Seldon’s foundation was an obvious tip of the hat to the Catholic monks who kept the West on life support during the early Middle Ages.)
The news out in the world is awful, which is why Asimov’s books come to mind. If our country survives in recognizable form, Obama and his coterie will someday be regarded as traitors or near traitors. In the meantime, we have to put up with ever increasing delusional thinking among our elites and deal with the real possibility that the academy and the media have stolen our children. We may have better arguments than the left and be more heavily armed, but that doesn’t mean we are going to win this war.
In short, I think we are heading for a civilizational collapse. The Nobel dimwits, Eurostatists and Jew haters are helping it along as best they can, as well as our own homegrown Yankee versions. If America falls (still a reasonably big if), the West is done. Islam and Marxism’s savagery will rule the world in an extended dark ages.
So, who is our Hari Seldon? What is our Foundation? How do we plan to preserve learning, hope, freedom and a view of man that doesn’t enslave him to a despotic god or a despotic state?
Heh. Mark Steyn is _so_ good. He has truly become an American, but he still retains that zip that comes with the Brits.
Have you noticed how _many_ Englishmen there are in our society these days? And one of the things I thought was especially interesting was that when there was a big todo about the “racial” bias in the discussions about illegal immigrants, the “proof” was that there was no objection to the number of illegal Irish that were in the country. Illegal Irish? maybe illegal Brits? who knew!!
And of course..that bias isn’t “racial”…it’s simply that the Irish and the Brits can coast along without being noticed. That language thing is a dead giveaway, folks. Duh.
Charles Martel
From:
Two slight slivers of hope
To:
Who is our Hari Seldon
Feel like you’ve had the wind knocked out of you – join my club.
We’ve all had a lot to absorb and not just Chicag’O'bama. The world tilted on its’ axis September 11, 2001 (again). Eight years later, evil continues to plot and we continue to thwart their attempts. I often wondered, when I was child, how Europe sat and stared at the evil that was coming their way – an accident waiting to happen. Many actually deluded themselves into believing that were only going to be witnesses to the ultimate train wreck.
I contend (hope) there is a real and large silent majority, who will not be so silent when push comes to shove.
As to the Haris and Harriets …
They’re navigating between the slivers of hope and the shards of glass before them.
Zhombre:
These days President Sarkozy makes a lot more sense than our own Nobel Peace Prize winner. Helen: are you aware of what the President of France has said about Obama? I doubt that Helen will peruse the foreign press to test her claim.
Titles without accomplishments. Contrary to what Helen implies, peoples outside the US have also taken note of this, at least now with his being awarded the Peace Prize.
It is rather fitting that Hopey Changey gets awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on the hope that he would achieve something, not on his actually having achieved it.
Which reminds me of the reason why Obama wasn’t awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He actually wrote two books. If it can be proved that Billy Boy wrote Dreams From My Father, then that will be sufficient reason to also award Obama the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Bruce Bawer, in his book While Europe Slept, has some rather pungent statements about his experience living in Norway. Bawer is a gay liberal.
Helen said,
> Seems the world gets what right-wingers don’t even want to get. LOL
One-Shot Helen takes her potshot and exits quickly.
I don’t take her self-parody act seriously anymore. Heck, each of these one-liners over these last few months always ends with an LOL. Laughing at us… or subconsciously at herself. Before she regressed to one-liners, I used to think she had something. Maybe back then, she did.
Helen has been doing her version of Mohamed Allen (taking shots) and driving away.
Allen was a serial killer – Helen shoots blanks.
Those LOL’s and happy faces are a puff of smoke.
I came to this site about 2.5 years ago, while recovering from a nasty ankle break. Nasty enough that I could not walk or drive for 6 months. She tried ambushing me with unannounced ‘snark’ the very first time I entered this room. I think it was suek that came to my rescue and scolded Helen.
suek….if it was you, if I remembered correctly – A belated Thank You.
If it was someone else, please stand up and remind me.
Helen: QUACK! I don’t shoot blanks.
I just got back 10 minutes ago from our local hardware store where I went to buy a doormat.
On my way out, the owner began riffing on Rush Limbaugh, to nobody in particular, repeating the usual slanders about his weight, drug addiction and dissing of The One. The guy was actually emitting spittle as I was exiting.
I walked back in, caught his eye and asked him if he had ever read “1984.” He smiled, probably because he was thinking I was going to hand him a compliment. He said yes. I told him, “Look up the phrase ‘duckspeak.’ You, sir, are a doubleplusgood duckspeaker. And once you realize what that means, you’ll also realize that this is the last time I will ever enter your store.”
Speaking as only a leftist “businessman” can, he said, “Good! Don’t come back!”
Are these people nuts?
Dont’ answer that—rhetorical question.
From something bad, something good. This true tale should bright some light.
STORY NUMBER ONE
Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago .. Capone
wasn’t famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the
windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.
Capone had a lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie.” He was Capone’s lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie’s skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.
To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.
Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him. Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars,
and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.
Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn’t give his son; he couldn’t pass on a good name or a goof example. One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done. He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al “Scarface” Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. So, he testified. Within the year, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street . But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine..
The poem read..
“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.”
STORY NUMBER TWO
World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant
Commander Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft
carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.
One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.
He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.
His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet. As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.
The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn’t reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.
Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber’s blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.
Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.
Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction. Deeply relieved, Butch O’Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier. Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch’s daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft.
This took place on February 20, 1942 , and for that action Butch became the Navy’s first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Medal of Honor.
A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home
town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today,
O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.
So, the next time you find yourself at O’Hare International, give some
thought to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It’s located between Terminals 1 and 2.
SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?
Butch O’Hare was “Easy Eddie’s” son.
Charles M #45,
Great commntary, Charles, and awesome writing. What if we are on the cusp?
Everything believes that America must decline slowly, like the Roman Empire, or like Victorian England. But why must that be the case? The decline could just as easily be swift.
I ran across a great line in today’s Mark Steyn article. The whole thing is very good, but here’s a few paragraphs, with the money line at the end:
As the historian Robert Dallek told Obama recently, “War kills off great reform movements.” As the Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne reminded the president, his supporters voted for him not to win a war but to win a victory on health care and other domestic issues.
Obama’s priorities lie not in the Hindu Kush but in America: Why squander your presidency on trying to turn an economically moribund feudal backwater into a functioning nation state when you can turn a functioning nation state into an economically moribund feudal backwater?
Charles Martel #51:
> just got back 10 minutes ago from our local hardware store where I went to buy a doormat.
I knew Obama could be purchased by George Soros and his ilk, but I wasn’t aware he was available at the local hardware store.
Mike Devx…not only is it possible, but the owner insures that while you are buying a dormat, he makes you feel like one.
It’s called: Liberal Hostiltality.
Re Sadie (#52):
The surprise ending to the stories Sadie told sounded too good to be true. I’ve had lots of emails with those kind of surprises, and they’re always false. So I checked this one. Not that I doubted Sadie, of course, but we’ve all been fooled. What amazed me is that the story is absolutely and completely true. I found each story on its own inspiring. The two stories together knocked my socks off. If you haven’t read #52, please do.
Barefoot Bookworm, so glad you found the stories as inspiring as I did. I was going to plant it your open thread, but I thought since we were all here, it would serve the greater good.
An excerpt from J.R. Dunn’s article over at American Thinker concerning Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize:
This is now a permanent part of his persona, something he will need to work at to overcome. Can he overcome it? He didn’t do so this weekend. The sole mature choice when confronted with the Norwegian parliament’s damnfoolery would have been to politely reject the award. This would have earned him far greater public accolades and even reluctant respect from the likes of me. But Obama failed that test. He always will.
Obama has been in office for eight months, and there is not one peace accord that hostile actors have signed. He’s mouthed some pretty speeches while overseas that they went ga-ga over. Is *THAT* enough to win a Nobel Peace Prize? Pretty speeches?
Apparently.
And Obama accepted it. Thus can you distinguish the wise from the foolish.
Enjoy this moment! It’s right up there with Joe The Plumber, and the “bitter clingers” speech in California made about the Pennsylvanians. And the American DVDs submitted as a high gift in England – DVDs which they can’t play. This is another classic insert-foot-in-mouth moment by Obama. Indeed by the Committee too. As can be seen by the dismay by many on the left, this is not subtle either! The left is never happy when their Leaders commit glaring faux pas.
So enjoy the moment! There will be more! Don’t forget the image of the policeman helping Henry Gates down the steps while Obama, full of himself and grinning as he headed towards his moment on the Cameras, ignored the elderly
man’s difficulty.
Obama cannot help himself! There will be more. Enjoy them all! Every single one.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
Where’s the Congressional bill, vote, or approval of this award?
But if I remember the last Messiah who came along, say about 2000 years ago, there was some sacrifice involved.
There’ll be plenty of sacrifice involved, Book, Aztec style.
Obama will slip around the constitutional ban by noting that the Nobel Committee is not a sovereign.
Charles Martel
GOOD ONE!
Go to my post #31 and add your name to the ‘zinger list’.
I know we’ve all been doing our due diligence, but one more read couldn’t hurt.
Three snips to entice you.
snip/
They have just awarded him a peace prize which Obama himself suggests was extended on credit …
snip/
What, more specifically, might they be expecting of Obama? For starters, Norway, along with neighboring Sweden and Denmark, has been banging the drum for America to hand over to the United Nations….
snip/
The real hope is that Obama will remember he took an oath (twice) not to serve as global spokesman for the Norwegian Nobel Committee, but “to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Read the rest here.
http://pajamasmedia.com/claudiarosett/what-price-for-obamas-nobel-prize/#comments
Charles – how did the other two presidential recipients (Wilson, Roosevelt??) go around that provision?
Marguerite, good question. They probably went with the same argument.
I don’t have any problems with The One accepting the prize on constitutional grounds. My objections center on merit and good form, which makes me a. . . .racist.
The Nobel Committee is an arm of the Norwegian Parliament, appointed by them, for them. That is a foreign state.
TR did not actually pick up the prize money (or the prize itself) until 1910, when he visited Europe after his African Safari. He did not feel right accepting the prize while he was in office. TR wore an old fashioned suit with a top hat when he went to get the award. He picked up the prize in Christiania, Norway, on May 5, 1910 and part of his speech to the Nobel Prize Committee is as follows:
As for Wilson, he was never against sweeping people he didn’t like under the river with military power at the domestic front.
Charles, I object on constitutional and merit grounds, so that puts me in really deep do-do. What can be worse in 21st century America than racist – I tremble.
[...] accepted the award, gushing with false humility. His ego wouldn’t have allowed otherwise, regardless of any question of constitutionality, propriety, or just good-ol’-American-common-sense. Did [...]