Thanks for writing this article Elaine. I couldn't agree with you more!! I am sad for all of the people who deserved this award for recognition of their courage and their actions. And although you are right in everything you say about President Obama, I am sad that he missed yet another opportunity to recognize a woman's accomplishments in his response to winning this Nobel. The Obama administration is tone deaf to women.

great article

Obama did not campaign for this award. I think the hope that he instilled in millions of people has some value.

Like I said before, if a Repuke president had won the Nobel Prize, all the conservative hacks and trolls would now be saying it was the greatest thing since Wonderbread. Only when Obama won it do his enemies all say the Nobel Prize is really a piece of junk that no one wants anyway, instead of an honor that many scientists and academics would run over their grandmother's to get.

And FYI Ms. Lafferty, one of the reasons I was a big Obama supporter in the primaries to the tune of $4,600 was not so much that I was voting against Hillary but against Bill. I didn't want eight more years of HIM, his personal baggage, NAFTA, the DLC and so on. I still have hopes that Obama will be better than all that. I have to....

I was just thinking the other day that there must not have been much competition if Obama won the prize for instilling hope and promises for the future. Thanks to your article I know that he wasn't the most worthy. Just one thing, did you really need to add that crap about Palin at the start?

"It was the same feeling we had in snowy Iowa in December 2007 when we realized that Barack Obama, the state senator from Illinois and the one-term U.S. senator with no discernible accomplishments, could very well wrest the nomination away from the woman we believed would be an extraordinary president and whose record of accomplishment was indisputable and lengthy."
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You mean her HUSBAND'S record of lengthy accomplishment? I love how "feminists" love to use Bill Clinton's resume as Hillary's. What happened to supporting independent women who accomplish things outside of their husband?
There is no doubt that Hillary Clinton is a very smart woman and can accomplish much on her own but most of the things people attribute to her is called "resume stuffing".

Sorry but even Palin (whom I hate) had a better resume to HER NAME than Hillary. She is dumber but at least she made it on her own instead of using her husband's name. That's not feminism.
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Many women have won the Nobel Peace Prize in the past and they will continue to win it, the Nobel committee is not made up of sexist pigs. This is just another anti-Obama article and REALLY demeans the credibility of this writer and whatever other points she may have had. Obama didn't ask for nor lobby for the prize, get over it. These Kanye West type articles are just lame.

It hurts to see Obama accept an affirmative action nobel.
And your point is well taken, that women have to work much harder in life to prove their worth.
This reminds me of the whiny Rev. Wright, who said, unlike blacks, women never had to work twice as hard to get the prize.
Sexism is exactly the topic here. Good article!

Nice article. Thanks

Take it up with the Nobel Committee but first it looks like folks need to hit up wikipedia to understand the process.

The people paying get to pick the recipient Until you put your money where your mouth is, its all just sour grapes.

"I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build -- a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action -- a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.

These challenges can't be met by any one leader or any one nation. And that's why my administration has worked to establish a new era of engagement in which all nations must take responsibility for the world we seek. We cannot tolerate a world in which nuclear weapons spread to more nations and in which the terror of a nuclear holocaust endangers more people. And that's why we've begun to take concrete steps to pursue a world without nuclear weapons, because all nations have the right to pursue peaceful nuclear power, but all nations have the responsibility to demonstrate their peaceful intentions.

We cannot accept the growing threat posed by climate change, which could forever damage the world that we pass on to our children -- sowing conflict and famine; destroying coastlines and emptying cities. And that's why all nations must now accept their share of responsibility for transforming the way that we use energy.

We can't allow the differences between peoples to define the way that we see one another, and that's why we must pursue a new beginning among people of different faiths and races and religions; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.

And we must all do our part to resolve those conflicts that have caused so much pain and hardship over so many years, and that effort must include an unwavering commitment that finally realizes that the rights of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security in nations of their own.

We can't accept a world in which more people are denied opportunity and dignity that all people yearn for -- the ability to get an education and make a decent living; the security that you won't have to live in fear of disease or violence without hope for the future.

And even as we strive to seek a world in which conflicts are resolved peacefully and prosperity is widely shared, we have to confront the world as we know it today. I am the Commander-in-Chief of a country that's responsible for ending a war and working in another theater to confront a ruthless adversary that directly threatens the American people and our allies. I'm also aware that we are dealing with the impact of a global economic crisis that has left millions of Americans looking for work. These are concerns that I confront every day on behalf of the American people.

Some of the work confronting us will not be completed during my presidency. Some, like the elimination of nuclear weapons, may not be completed in my lifetime. But I know these challenges can be met so long as it's recognized that they will not be met by one person or one nation alone. This award is not simply about the efforts of my administration -- it's about the courageous efforts of people around the world.

And that's why this award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity -- for the young woman who marches silently in the streets on behalf of her right to be heard even in the face of beatings and bullets; for the leader imprisoned in her own home because she refuses to abandon her commitment to democracy; for the soldier who sacrificed through tour after tour of duty on behalf of someone half a world away; and for all those men and women across the world who sacrifice their safety and their freedom and sometime their lives for the cause of peace.

That has always been the cause of America. That's why the world has always looked to America. And that's why I believe America will continue to lead."

-President Obama in response to the Nobel Peace Prize

From Wiki:

"Elaine Lafferty former editor of Ms. magazine, a Hillary Clinton supporter who advised the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008."

So, there you have it. Fortunately, the Nobel Peace Prize is an honor given in good faith by people of good faith.

It is a recognition of an individual or group, devoid of winners and losers. People do not work towards the Peace Prize and there is no campaign or "favorites" to win it. People that complain and there are more complainers than one would expect, have no graciousness in them in this particular instance.

The Nobel Peace Prize is not dimished because of this. The people proffering their misgivings are the ones diminishing themselves and the cause they embrace.

It would be useful if people bemoaming President Obama's award realized this is their Kanye West moment.

I don't think it was particularly a stroke of genius on the voting panel's choice. But Lafferty is a total joke, and for her to criticize anything basically just lends it more legitimacy.

Get over it - there are billions of people in the world and many would probably be good candidates for the Peace Prize. But only the committee designated to award it can decide who gets it. They decided on Barack Obama - congratulations to him.

You don't agree - get yourself on the Committee!

I mentioned on another thread that extreme conservative politics is more about bitter, angry, resentful, unhappy, and ungrateful people than it is about politics.

Lafferty proves my point.

I'm terribly sorry that Sarah Palin didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize, but don't take it out on Obama.

I stopped paying attention to the Nobels when they gave one to Arafat. Big frickin deal, so Obama got one too.

The committee consisted of one conservative, one libertarian and 3 socialists. 62% of Norwegians (as per Aftenposten) disagree with giviing the award to Obama and their have been calls for the chairman to resign from the committee.The Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland has already been involved in a few scandals in Norway when he was Prime Minister and eventually resigned.

Another socialist member of the committee, "Sissel Marie Roenbeck who in 2003 told an AP reporter doing a piece on the Nobel Committee's regret with awarding the 1994 prize to Shimon Peres (the Nobel Committee jointly awarded the Peace Prize to Peres and Arafat, but regretted Peres' receipt only) that, "the Israeli government (is) largely responsible for the conflict". "

"In 2003, the Norwegian daily Aftenposten quoted Chair Thorbjoern Jagland, "If anything is a threat against world peace, it is the Israeli occupation." Not to be outdone, committee member Aagot Valle has advocated boycotts against Israel for building its security fence"

Mohatma Ghandi was nominated 3 times but always denied. However, the organization saw fit to award Rigoberta Menchu who was later proven to be a complete fraud.

The 2004 prize went to Wangari Maathai who alleges that "some sadistic white scientists" created the AIDS virus "to wipe out the black race". And let's not forget Arafat.

The Nobel Peace Prize has increasingly become a joke. Let Obama have it.

thank you elaine for another perspective-great piece that i am certain will ruffle a few feathers-as you always seem to do!!

You are right on target, what a great article.

Was the head line "Here We Go Again" a reference to the author's gynocentric point of view?

I couldn't agree more with this article. There are plenty of people on this planet that have done more for the cause and creation of peace. Even rock stars, Bono is an example- how much money has Bono caused to be diverted and focused toward peaceful relief of the "crushing poverty" many people live in? He even entered the "evil" (shudder and moan now, libtards) GW Cheney White House and talked those supposedly unfeeling free market capitalists into contributing even more than they already did to relief programs, especially in Africa. obama has done NOTHING and is going to do even less.....

First off, I don't think Obama deserved the Nobel. But I find Lafferty's conclusions tinged with ideology and bitterness.

Hillary Clinton's record of achievement was far from "lengthy and indisputable." Sitting on the board of Wal-Mart, voting "yes" on the Iraq War, supporting NAFTA and happening to be married to the president are not indisputable achievements for a progressive politician. Also, her lack of ability to state her positions substantively, her reckless threat to "obliterate" Iran, and her generally erratic behavior and message didn't help.

This woman Lafferty profiles seems like an amazing person, but I think she is being exploited by Lafferty to vent her own bitterness over Hillary Clinton's loss in 2008, by trying to twist Barack Obama's historic election into the product of sexism instead of a victory over racism.

Women in America will need to outgrow this immaturity before they'll ever have a chance at the presidency.

crymeariver -
have you considered anger management? every time you make a cogent argument, your vitriol destroys whatever credibility you've spent an entire day trying to establish.

great article, elaine. keep on stirring.

Wow, so of all the people who got the prize this year, to my understanding all of them white, the only African American who got it was Barack, the first black president of the United States, son of an African whose people were enslaved by the ancestors of those who presently live in America. His wife Michele, being the great great granddaughter of a slave girl who was sold at six years old and sent away from her family at eight years to be the paramour of a white slave owner who fathered her first child the great grandmother of Mrs. Obama. So for this accomplishment, supposedly fulfilling the dream of Dr. King, supposedly what white Americans claimed they were all for when this nation was being torn apart by riots and civil strife during the 60's, for this he doesn't deserve it but a white woman who died "fighting for her country" does? They can't BOTH deserve it, he doesn't, she does?....While I may have differences with some things Barack does, who doesn't have differences with each other at times. Husbands and wives, parents and kids, all people have differences about issues, some radically at times. Does that mean he isn't worthy of respect for achieving the one thing we Americans said we wanted: peace between the races or the hope that their could be? What this says is that for many but of course not all, of these white Americans, it was a lie. They are hypocrites, and for any of you black people reading this crap, you should be angry and look up who they are, and make note. So you will know in the future who you can trust and who you can't. Make note of these liars who smile in your face and pretend that "some of my best friends are black" while knifing you in the back. Trust them at your own peril. If they will disrespect a president under guise of "political differences" what will they do to you under guise of "nothing personal." They did it before, they'll do it again. A leopard can't change his spots.