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.

American President Wins Peace Prize, Bombs Moon in Celebration

President Obama won an anticipatory Nobel Peace Prize

American liberals are celebrating because "The World" loves us again.

Jennifer Rubin throws a bucket of cold water on that notion:

No, it’s a bad thing, a very bad thing, because he got it — as one must to snag a Nobel Peace Prize — by denigrating American values and exceptionialism, demonstrating an aversion to moral clarity, refusing to call out despotic regimes (the Iranian students will be thrilled to know that they give prizes to leaders who think of them as an annoyance), disarming America, repeatedly distorting history to fit false narratives, refusing to stand up to international bullies (excuse me, members in good standing in the international community), and spinning a great deal of hooey about global wealth-sharing and environmental extremism.

And here’s the thing: these regimes don’t like America any more than they used to. They love a U.S. president who shares their disdain for America’s role in the world. So they gave him a prize. “America Isn’t That Great” Man of the Year isn’t something to cheer. Well, unless you work at the White House.

I also like Peggy Noonan's observation that this may give our international superstar president pause:

Assuming the White House did nothing to encourage or lobby for the award, it is not Barack Obama's fault that he has been embarrassed by this honor. And it may possibly hold for him an unanticipated benefit. It may give him pause:

"Look what idiots my biggest international supporters are. I may have to rethink a few things."

The Incredible Barackness of Being, or Things that Make You Go "WTF?"

US President Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

Is this some kind of international joke, a spoof played on America?  C'mon guys!  We all got a good laugh...  OK, who won, really?

The Nobel Peace Prize has been a joke for years, but this is real.  President Obama joins the esteemed ranks of terrorist Yassir Arafat, failed president and now senile embarrassment Jimmy Carter, and Reverend Al Gore of the International Church of Gaia.

The Nobel Committee's explanation is a Master's level course in how the left thinks:

The Nobel Committee said he won it for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".

"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," the Norwegian committee said in a statement.

"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."

This is the left's repudiation of George Bush

George Bush freed millions of poor Muslims, giving them a shot at making a better life for themselves, but that's no good.  He didn't have international goodwill in his heart when he did it.

Let's see... What has Obama accomplished?  He wrote two books about himself!  He got elected president!

But what has he done for peace?

He sent 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and his bombing the crap out of Pakistan makes Bush look like a pacifist.  Dictators everywhere are applauding him (literally at the UN) and now he gets the cherry on the cake...

The Prize is a Trojan Horse
The left doesn't hate America...  they hate the fact that we won't do what they say.  But Barack has given them hope!

This prize is a prod to get America to do the international community's will, especially in light of the global warming conclave of potentates coming up later this year.  The international left will be expecting much from their President, he's a made man now.

I guess they had to do something to make it up to him for the whole Olympics embarrassment thing...

* Obamawagen courtesy of Chicago Ray