ObamaHawk

President Obama finally stood up for America in his Peace Prize acceptance speech.  I think some self-interest was involved.  Life can't be easy for a man whose checklist includes "threaten political opponents," "send more troops to Afghanistan," "bomb Pakistan, " and "pick up Nobel Peace Prize."

Still, I've gotta give credit where credit is due
Paul at Powerline gives props to President Obama for finally standing up for our values in his Nobel acceptance speech.

But fundamentally I think Obama delivered a mostly thoughtful discussion (as these things go) of how to reconcile our lofty ideals with the existence of evil, and how to reconcile the occasional need to go to war (including at times for humanitarian reasons) with the tragic nature of any actual war.

Michael Ledeen at NRO also gave it a thumbs up, saying some parts were "downright neoconnish."  Here's the part of the speech Ledeen liked best:

America will always be a voice for those aspirations that are universal. We will bear witness to the quiet dignity of reformers like Aung Sang Suu Kyi; to the bravery of Zimbabweans who cast their ballots in the face of beatings; to the hundreds of thousands who have marched silently through the streets of Iran.

It is telling that the leaders of these governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation. And it is the responsibility of all free people and free nations to make clear that these movements — these movements of hope and history — they have us on their side.

He should have said this months ago, but at least he finally said it.

Jake Tapper provides a comprehensive review of the speech and the "Obama Doctrine" that emerges from it (It looks a lot like the Bush Doctrine, but shhhh!, don't tell anybody!)

From the speech:

"There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified. As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence.

Nonviolence Doesn't Work Against Nihilists
Yes.  Nonviolence works against American citizens stubbornly clinging to a racist past, or a British empire steeped in the values of Western Christendom.  But it will NEVER work against those who are hell bent on imposing their illiberal dystopian ideas by force of death and destruction. 

We don't need revolutions and armed insurrections in the US; we have constitutional freedoms and the ballot box.

We conservatives should support our president when he defends freedom, and that's what he did in Oslo.  Was it Reaganesque?  Hell no!  But it was a start.