#1 he doesnt deserve the award
#2 see above

Yay! I am so happy about this. He TOTALLY deserves it.

Um, for what? (Bearing in mind that the nominations cut off was February 1... when he had been President for 10 days.)

On the bright side, I feel like my odds of winning a Grammy just rose exponentially. I don't actually *make* music, mind you, but I do *talk* about it an awful lot....

I think this is great. He's certainly fostered a spirit of internationalism that was missing in the Bush years.

The right wing hates Obama more than they love America. They don't care that America has just garnered prestige in the world, and that our leader is respected again. They're like the Oceana citizens in 1984, sexually repressed and rabidly hating whoever they're told to hate.

The blatant right-wing bashing is getting old, spacekatgal. Obama himself admitted that he doesn't feel he deserves the award.

I don't doubt that President Obama is ever capable of achieving this award... IN THE FUTURE!!! But he was nominated for this within the first 2 weeks of his presidential term. He basically won this because he isn't Bush. It's an "encouragement for him to persevere." WTF?!?!? At one point people actually had to do great things to be awarded this. In my opinion, it just degraded the award into a complete political show. Mother Teresa is rolling over in her grave. And don't think that I'm an Obama hater by writing this, I like the man, just think maybe he should have won for something he can be respected for, he deserves that and so does America. Hey, at least Ahmadinejad didn't win. Apparently he was nominated. HA!

Oh and a little more light-hearted... The Office last night was sooo good! I laughed and cried. Definitely need to find me a Jim haha!

agreed mix tape and mermei...I dont dislike Obama, its just that he hasnt really done very much since he got into office and this award was decided on after he had only been in office for 2 weeks...

The DNC said it better than I could.

"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. Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize.The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It's no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore - it's an embarrassing label to claim."

The Obama bashing is getting old too, Anonymous #5. I do agree with conservatives on issues that make sense. However, If extreme conservatives want to be heard, they need to give him a chance and make logical arguments against his decisions. Isn't it funny how every move he makes is more heavily scrutinized than any other president? I think he definitely deserves to be recognized for the positive impact he has made on not only our nation, but our world, as well.

And I thought Democrats were supposed to be above partisan politics! (At least that's what I've heard many of them claim.)

So, the DNC made a whole bunch of claims and didn't back them up. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anyone cheering when Chicago wasn't awarded the Olympics, nor do I see anyone criticizing Obama for receiving the Peace Prize.

I agree with a lot of the anonymous comments.

Also, I'd like to know what poll the DNC is using, because the latest Gallup poll shows 40% of Americans identifying as Republican or Republican-leaning and 45% identifying as Democratic or Democratic-leaning.

If you take out the independents who lean one way, it's 28% Republican, 34% Democrat. I'd hardly call that a solid margin.

I don't criticize the President for receiving the award - he wasn't on the committee that awarded it - but I do have some concerns about the way the award is given out, if it could be awarded only ten days into his presidency.

Were it the 2010 prize, having been in office a full year, he would absolutely deserve it. If it had been decided even a couple weeks or a month ago, he would absolutely have deserved it. But what could he possibly have accomplished between inauguration day and February 1st? I seriously question the judgment of the committee that would make so hasty a decision to laud someone who wasn't proven yet..

For the record, I'm not anti-Obama. I voted for him and think he IS doing a good job in office - but as of February 1st, there is no way he could possibly have been more qualified to receive this award then all 204 other nominees.

You've got to look at the prize in context. It's meant to encourage momentum, not just to honor work that has already been done. As Obama said, "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."

I agree with mixtape and xxstardust.

I'd love to see The President of the US (or any President for that matter) win the Nobel Peace Prize, but not as a political movement to help build momentum behind his initiatives.

He ...didnt.....do....anything..... and even he knows that!

Just because he says that the prize is awarded to encourage momentum does not make it true. I would like to know how many times in the past this was awarded to someone for what they ARE GOING TO do, not what they have done. Please don't question my patriotism because I do not think that he should win this award. It's the same crap that the Republicans started saying when Liberals had concerns about and spoke out against the war and other policies during the Bush years. Everyone wants to claim that the other side is anti-American, when in most cases that is not true.

After thinking about for a little while....even though this achievement produces momentum for a good set of causes, it may have been a better idea to give him the award a few years into his presidency, to avoid scrutiny by the public (on the changes that have actually been manifested). On the other hand, there would probably be a lot of skepticism anyway, no matter when he received it. It seems that this will be the case throughout his presidency, unfortunately.

Yeah, Obama definitely does not deserve this yet. Perhaps in the future, but so far he certainly isn't worthy. And it is NOT unpatriotic to disagree with him winning this award!

while I might not always agree with her points of view, at least spacekatgal will express her views publicly instead of logging out and being anonymous.

Yeah, that's one of the things I hate about anonymous comments!

Although, I'm not sure why you brought that up here. I usually feel like the comments that reflect someone who has done that are the ones that really attack someone.

congrats to the President,but he really doesn't deserve this award,none of us know the future,so for them to award for something he says he's going to do without even seeing the results is crazy...there are a lot of deserving people for this award,and he was not one of them....i'm not anti-Obama,i just don't think that this was his award to hold.

Thanks Mamasita. I have never logged out to leave an anonymous comment and never will. If you're going to have a strong opinion you've got to stand by it.

It's also always my intention to criticize the idea and never my person - though I have sometimes realized I've fallen short of that after the fact. I really wish others would do the same.

I can't stand anonymous comments, since they're primarily used for catty swipes.

I don't hate Obama, not at all, but I was surprised too.
The first reaction I had was, "For...what? What did he do?" And knowing that he was nominated 2 weeks into his presidency and to win this just surprised me.

Sure, he can achieve one, one day, but this soon just surprised the heck out of me. But good for him.

Just FYI- I'm anonymous, because I just recently stumbled onto this cool website. I will sign up. I just don't want to miss out on this post! If it makes anyone feel better, my name is Naomi.

Also, I agree with mamasitamail, spacekatgal is awesome for freely expressing her views, despite opposing opinion. That takes a bit of courage.

Mamasita and spacekat, you ladies should come over to Citizen 4.0! It's a group that's focused on news stories; T S made it after the demise of Citizen Sugar. Part of what I like about the groups is the fact that you can't comment anonymously over there! (That I know of; I've never seen an anonymous comment, at least.)

Hey guys! You can all vote on our poll: Obama's Nobel Peace Prize: Deserved or Premature?

http://www.tressugar.com/5534238

I dont log out either, i have no problem stating my Opinions!

I'm going to have agree that there are far more deserving individuals than Obama and they usually are the forefront of a specific movements. Founders of Doctors without Borders, Amnesty International, Peace One Day, for example.

Way to go, Spacekatgal. I agree with you - about Obama and about catty comments. I have mixed feelings on this. I'm happy for Obama, and I think he does deserve this. I think it's important to emphasize that he won it not for a specific achievement, but to encourage and help further his cause. But, I kind of wish he'd won this next year - this year, the Republican party is going to just go to town over it and really tarnish it for him. (Also, Spacekatgal, thanks for posting that DNC quote. It's awesome.)

I'm genuinely curious, because I can't seem to find anything. Has anyone read/heard a quote by a Republican official actually criticizing Obama for receiving the award? I've seen comments saying he shouldn't have gotten it at this point/didn't deserve it yet (from both sides of the aisle), but nothing actually saying it's his fault. Does that make sense?

And in reference to the DNC quote, again, I'm serious asking, can anyone find a recent (in the past month or so) poll wherein only 20% of Americans admit to being Republican? Because I looked for a while and I honestly can't.

"Serious" should be "seriously"...I'm trying to do too many things at once!

Lil I also havent found one person who criticized the president for winning. Must be hidden somewhere.

while I still have faith in Obama, and agree that this award is far too premature, I could only find one solid reason for Obama getting this now. I can't site the source, but "President Obama won the election and thus prevented Failin' Palin from being one heart attack away from the nuclear launch codes. If that's not a reason to give him the Nobel Peace Prize, I don't know what is."

OMG this is ridiculous. He must be embarrassed getting this award (not bc its the Nobel but bc he has done NOTHING to achieve such a high honor.) This is laughable and really dummies the award down significantly.

SPACEKATEGIRL - Your comment #4 is despicable. Your just as bad as the right wingers you hate so much.

Funny how the same people who *likely* scowled and criticized conservatives' viewpoints during the last administration sure do not like it when the tables are turned.

This is terrible. He must feel like a fool.

According to the will of Alferd Nobel the noble peace prize should be awarded to "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." And well, Obama didn't do that. Not in the two weeks after becoming president or since.

And spacekatgal, I thought the left was supposed to be open to people and their differences. You are just as close minded as you claim the right you bash are.

Oopps Alfred Nobel.

AMEN, tvjunkie

I am a big supporter of Obama but I did not feel that he was the best choice for this award. When I heard this on the news this morning, I thought - for what? He hasn't been in office long enough yet to have really made any difference or impact. Don't get me wrong - his foreign diplomacy is way better than Bush's (at least IMO) but it hasn't accomplished enough yet to warrant this - and especially when you consider he was nominated less than a month after he took office.

There were other individuals who deserved it more. I would rather it was awarded for efforts already put forth than as a means to provide momentum for future efforts. The only thing I could possibly think of that would have got him nominated was the efforts he was making once he was elected and before he took office, but I don't think those are Nobel Peace Prize worthy.

Sadly, the committee didn't give an award.. it used the award as an encouragement to do something about peace in the middle east..

kind of pathetic on the Nobels part

I feel for Obama.. this was probably the LAST thing he needed in the midst of all of his promises that have yet to come true. Actions speak louder than words.. Unfortunately, Obama followers are blind but not deaf.

Lilkimbo - It's a little dated, but here is the Washington Post article saying that 21% of people identify as republicans. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/parsing-the-polls/21-percent.htm...

Is the DNC quote recent? Because that data certainly isn't.

I have to agree with TVJunkie... Sorry SpaceyKat

But thanks for providing the link anyway.

Mohondas Ghandi was nominated for the award five times but never received it. Nelson Mandela was awarded the prize DECADES after his efforts began only to share it with another recipient in 1993.