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Palin Pulls in Big Bucks
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|NEXT STORY »

Most of Nobel Panel Objected to Obama Pick

Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland talked fellow voters into selection

By Kevin Spak| Posted Oct 15, 09 2:00 PM CDT|

(Newser) – President Obama's Nobel Prize was a tough sell for the chairman of the committee that awarded the honor, with three of the five members initially opposing his selection, anonymous sources tell a Norwegian newspaper. They were persuaded mainly by chairman Thorbjoern Jagland, who strongly backed Obama from the beginning. The members agreed that Obama had solid nuclear disarmament and reconciliation initiatives in place, but some questioned whether he’d accomplished enough.

One newly elected committee member was especially skeptical of the pick. “I had expected a debate, especially around the issues I find problematic, the war in Afghanistan,” Aagot Valle told a Norwegian paper earlier this week. But when announcing the prize, Jagland said the decision was unanimous. A former PM of Norway, Jagland is known for his grand gestures and frequent gaffes.

Photographers and reporters gather around Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjoern Jagland in Oslo, Oct. 9, 2009, as he announces that Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo / Jon-Michael Josefsen, Scanpix)

Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Committee, holds a picture of President Barack Obama, in Oslo, Norway, after the announcement of Obama as winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Jon-Michael Josefsen, Scanpix)

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49 comments

VIEWING:

Jayster999
Oct 15, 09 2:01 PM CDT

This smells of setup. I wonder how much Jagland (Jagoff) was paid to sell this turkey. Reply

-16

IN RESPONSE:

onebadc20
Oct 15, 09 2:04 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community. You must be logged in to view this comment.

-13

IN RESPONSE:

onebadc20
Oct 15, 09 2:07 PM CDT

This comment has been removed by Newser’s community. You must be logged in to view this comment.

-11

IN RESPONSE:

Les
Oct 15, 09 2:08 PM CDT

"paid to sell this turkey"... What the hell are you talking about? Do you think this hasn't caused Obama more problems than it was worth?

+13

IN RESPONSE:

Jayster999
Oct 15, 09 2:10 PM CDT

Bribery would finally explain this ridiculous pick.

-18

IN RESPONSE:

davjc09
Oct 15, 09 2:39 PM CDT

@Jayster: A lack of education would explain why you jump to conclusions without any proof. It makes plenty of sense, but I don't assume you're uneducated. What happens when you assume? You invade countries and occupy them for years, adding to the deficits despite your "fiscal respsonsible" platform. You damage your party's credibility for at least 8 years, if not longer.

IN RESPONSE:

jamerican
Oct 15, 09 2:43 PM CDT

It cheapens the prize to the point that no one trusts the judges or the procsss anymore because anyone with any brains knows nobama does not deserve it.

-1

IN RESPONSE:

UrUndertaker
Oct 15, 09 2:46 PM CDT

Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 16, 09 12:15 AM CDT

lmfao at "Les." Hahahahaha!!! Ooo, you're starting to smack, aren't you? Ouchie, ouchie, your Omessiah is cut by the lack of worship and has to set up a fake question from a NINE year old to try to stem the bleeding. The funniest part of this is how that loudmouth from the Prize committee who crammed this bogus award on the rest of them was WHINING about how Zerobama didn't look happy. Hahahaha. They probably planned it as the cherry on top of the Olympics sundae, but ---ruh-roh! That didn't pan out, did it? Too too funny.

-1

| 0 minutes ago

kokuaguy
Oct 15, 09 2:15 PM CDT

Please share your evidence for such a charge -- without it this is clearly a slanderous statement. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 16, 09 12:17 AM CDT

lmfao!!!! Yeah, that's slander! Ouchie, ouchie, you Obots are soooooo hypersensitive these days. Let me guess! Hopium hangover hurtling like hell?? LOLOLOLOLOL

-1

| 0 minutes ago

kokuaguy
Oct 15, 09 2:23 PM CDT

Michael Moore has reconsidered his initial skeptical reaction and published the following yesterday: "So, yeah, at precisely 11:00pm ET on November 4, 2008, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. And the 66 million people who voted for him won it, too. By the time he took the stage at midnight ET in the Grant Park Historic Hippie Battlefield in downtown Chicago, billions of people around the globe were already breathing a huge sigh of relief. It was as if, in that instant, one man did bring the promise of peace to the world -- and most were ready to go wherever he wanted to go to achieve that end. Never before had the election of one man made every other nation feel like they had won, too. When you've got billions of people ready, willing and able to join a cause like this, well, a prize in Oslo is the least that you deserve." Reply

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 15, 09 2:33 PM CDT

oh well since Micheal Moore changed his mind I guess that means he did deserve it.

-5

IN RESPONSE:

Jayster999
Oct 15, 09 2:38 PM CDT

Moore's only qualification for anything is that he can spice together pieces of film in an amusing, if often misleading manner, kind of like Sasha Baron. Other that that, he is a ridiculous man altogether: So fat that he cannot find his own weenie with the light on; so disingenuous that he wouldn't recognize the unadulterated truth if it bit him on said weenie; and his anti-American/anti-capitalist rhetoric is laughable given that fact that he hands money over to "greedy" bankers by the sack-full (in a greasy McDonalds bag, no doubt). In short, Moore is an ignorant hypocrite and hardly qualified to comment on behalf of the rest of us who work for a living.

-5

IN RESPONSE:

kokuaguy
Oct 15, 09 2:42 PM CDT

Jester. your ubiquitous presence on the newser site makes me a bit curious about what exactly you do to "work for a living." Are you getting paid for each piece of recycled "wisdom" that you post here?

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 16, 09 12:19 AM CDT

damn, damn, rotflmfao!!!!!! Stop it, you guys are killing me! Ohhhhhh, yeah Michael Moore has been brought back in line. Nice try!!! lololol. Tell it to Code Pink. Protesting Zero's lame ass because he's escalating Bush's war. How's that Hopium Hangover working for alllllllll those 66 million morons? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 16, 09 12:20 AM CDT

So, Obot, kookoo guy, you first. You STEALING from your employers to post here nonstop? Or, let me guess! Down in your parents' basement?

| 0 minutes ago

davjc09
Oct 15, 09 2:26 PM CDT

I do question his insistence that Obama wins, but I am not going to speculate that he was bought off. I think Obama could have played this so well. I'm surprised his advisors didn't tell him to not accept it. If he did that, he could have made a powerful speech about how its a great honor but he still has plenty to do. It would have shut up the crazy side of the right-wingers(notice I didn't say that all right-wingers are crazy) for at least a few days. I think it would have also strengthened his legitimacy in foreign AND domestic policies. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

kokuaguy
Oct 15, 09 2:38 PM CDT

The POTUS can still make the "powerful speech" about how the US still has plenty to do to earn this great honor -- in Oslo, Norway on the world stage in December. To pander to the right wingers and pundits by turning down the prize would have been a slap in the face, not only to the Nobel Committee, but to all those who worked for his election (as I did) and felt that all Americans of good faith who believe in world peace were awarded a shared Nobel Peace Prize (as I do.)

IN RESPONSE:

davjc09
Oct 15, 09 2:49 PM CDT

@Koku: You make great articulate points. I don't think it would be pandering to the right, however. I think it would be denying oneself a pat-on-the-back, which is what the deserving actually do to earn the Peace prize. He could have endorsed another nominee and their cause, while those who gave him the prize would think he deserved it even more. And the Obama supporters at home would be even more recepient to him. It would have given him a lot of clout with the rest of the World. Because although Obama has changed some foreign perception about America, we still have a long way to go.

IN RESPONSE:

kokuaguy
Oct 15, 09 2:55 PM CDT

Mahalo for your kind words, dav. This is a great topic for a debate because there are very good arguments that can be made on both sides of the issue (yours are definitely persuasive) and unlike the debates over Iraq and healthcare, this is not the kind of life and death question that inflames our passions and leads to the sort of name calling etc. which we have too much of here on newser. ; ^)

IN RESPONSE:

davjc09
Oct 15, 09 3:07 PM CDT

I think you can calmly debate most issues including Iraq and healthcare. People, however, take them to heart and villify anyone who has slightly opposing views. Meaningful healthcare reform is doomed because the politicians on the left think they know what's best for everyone and the right hollers "No" without any substantial alternative to the problem. The overseas wars are just simply Vietnam: The Sequel. We need REAL change. I think we need some term limits on all government positions. No more career politicians so that they do what's good for the people and not their own careers.

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 16, 09 12:24 AM CDT

You two should get a room. Please. Zerobama is the worst of both worlds. An inexperienced career politician. Term limits is a joke which would not have protected us from this fraud. There is no substitute for involved, informed voters, which, unfortunately, the frenzied cult followers of Zerobama who sucked up the sloganeering like koolaid, were not.

| 0 minutes ago

peoriaindependent
Oct 15, 09 2:28 PM CDT

What an absolute joke to award this to someone two weeks' into the presidency. The committee has lost ALL credibility. Reply

-1

IN RESPONSE:

QueenAlli
Oct 15, 09 3:30 PM CDT

He wasn't selected in the first two weeks - what stupidity.

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 15, 09 4:16 PM CDT

@queen your right he wasn't selected he was nominated in the first two weeks.

IN RESPONSE:

Shannonals
Oct 16, 09 12:39 AM CDT

Perhaps if you read the article versus just looking at the brief you would understand the President wasn't awarded anything, he was selected, and it was for his actions during 2008, not 2009. It amazes me that so many people are complaining because someone wins an award. The GOP is echoing comments made by our enemies, people are whinning because the President was even selected, not so much even awarded the prize. So tired of people flip flopping on issues, one minute they want the world to love us, the next they want everyone to fear us, and not a one of those people have ever served their country.

| 0 minutes ago

Silverbow7
Oct 15, 09 2:30 PM CDT

kokuaguy, Thanks for the Michael Moore quote. Well said, Michael. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

Stasis
Oct 15, 09 2:36 PM CDT

The Falling Man. Reply

-1

| 0 minutes ago

freethemall
Oct 15, 09 3:09 PM CDT

The only thing that I see posted here, that makes a lick of sense, Is Les's response to Jayster. As Les points out, this has caused Obama more problems than it was worth. Obama, himself has said that he doesn't think he deserves it. And it would only cause more problems if he refused to accept it, as some have proposed. It makes absolutely no since to blame Obama for receiving an award he doesn't deserve. This reminds me of the accusations of racism that are leveled at those who oppose Obama's policies. Obama gets blamed for this also, even though he is quick to assert his believe that most of those who oppose him are NOT racists. I think Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" is apropos to Obama's predicament: "If you can keep your head, when those about you / Are losing theirs and blaming it on you". Reply

IN RESPONSE:

Doctor_Zaius
Oct 15, 09 3:22 PM CDT

Exactly!

IN RESPONSE:

davjc09
Oct 15, 09 3:23 PM CDT

What problems do you think it would cause by not accepting the award?

IN RESPONSE:

Fondue
Oct 15, 09 3:45 PM CDT

Look, we all know no matter whether Obama deserved it, won legitimately or not, the Jagoffsters and onebraincells of the internet are going to come up with something to counter. Personally, I agree with UrUndertaker. Yawn, snore.

IN RESPONSE:

freethemall
Oct 15, 09 3:50 PM CDT

a refusal to accept it would be very disrespectful to the committee who awarded it. It would cause a huge brouhaha, making matters worse. Obama's markedly humble acceptance of it, was the wisest course.

IN RESPONSE:

davjc09
Oct 15, 09 4:22 PM CDT

So you think keeping the committee of what 5 people happy is a better outcome than silencing some crazed right-wingers (which would be conducive to his own domestic policies), legitamizing his own efforts in foreign policy, giving back something he admits he didn't deserved.

| 0 minutes ago

Adapt-Overcome
Oct 15, 09 3:20 PM CDT

You all are such haters. The Republican party is notorious for spewing hate, separationist agendas, more so today than in the past. I doubt that anyone tied to this party will ever win a prize for willing to work with others for peace. The party of No solutions is an arogant party that believes America's word is golden and it should not be questioned, but strictly obeyed. We are but one part of the world and it takes EVERYONE working together to have it succeed. When we don't we have what Barack Obama is trying to fix---foreign relations and our economy. What solutions has your party had....NONE. So, quit being a bunch of haters and following the lunatic fringe. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

glassa
Oct 15, 09 3:29 PM CDT

They must be racist. Reply

-2

| 0 minutes ago

polstroad
Oct 15, 09 3:32 PM CDT

we now learn from an unamed source that some (also unnamed) did not want to vote for Obama but they did, finally. Same thing happens with juries. Finally (for better or worse) it is the fianl; count that matters and not the deliberations that took place. Reply

| 0 minutes ago

QueenAlli
Oct 15, 09 3:32 PM CDT

HE WON IT, GET OVER IT!!!!! Reply

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 15, 09 4:18 PM CDT

caps lock get stuck?

-1

| 0 minutes ago

odowd80
Oct 15, 09 4:15 PM CDT

Why is it automatically suspicious that the Chairman wanted Obama to win? Everyone at that table had an idea of who should win when they sat down. The chairman must have had the most convincing arguments to get a unanimous vote. Its all part of the process of selecting the winner. Reply

IN RESPONSE:

godawgs
Oct 15, 09 4:20 PM CDT

In the end the chairman did have the most compelling argument but the summary states that at least one member of the board was surprised to see that it was announced as unanimous. I guess that could me that he didn't vote that way, don't know but it's in the last paragraph.

| 0 minutes ago

TimInKansasCIty
Oct 15, 09 6:13 PM CDT

What the hell happened to conservatives in this country? For christ's sake...since when do y'all care about what foreigners think? Reply

-2

IN RESPONSE:

divetrader
Oct 15, 09 6:42 PM CDT

Although I am definitely not a conservative Timy, I am more than just the "me" society that you appear to be. As a country, we have had a long history of waging wars with other countries...usually much smaller ones. So when our country overwhelmingly votes to place a man in office who gives us and the world a glare of "hope" instead of a warmonger wanna be for Prez as well as a blathering blabber mouth for VP, how can we not think of our foreign brethren and what they think of us or who are leader is? The planet in this information age, is not nearly as big as it used to be.

IN RESPONSE:

TimInKansasCIty
Oct 15, 09 7:07 PM CDT

1.) There are two m's in 'Timmy' 2.) I'm glad you are more than just the "me" society (???) 3.) Sarcasm clearly escapes you. 4.) 'Glare' of hope? 5.) whereas you accurately described our former president as a warmonger wanna be, it seems as though your description of the former VP is a bit off (he was, at least during the administration's reign, clearly operating as out of sight as possible, and not babbling blatheringly).

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 16, 09 12:31 AM CDT

Hahaha, well played, Tim. Geez, dive, please clarify. Is the warmonger wannabe and blathering blabbermouth, Obama and Biden? It's not clear, and I have to admit, after "glare of hope" I was laughing too hard to concentrate on the difficult to parse comment.

| 0 minutes ago

Derni
Oct 15, 09 7:54 PM CDT

Even if a member talked up Obama-as if others don't talk up other names-people! but remember: You had to vote and if you voted for him-you voted and no one else-so maybe you should look into holding to your guns and supporting the person you want and not saying..but he told us-me.. to vote Reply

| 0 minutes ago

MarkFL
Oct 15, 09 8:52 PM CDT

Jayster would have voted for Glenn Beck! Reply

-1

IN RESPONSE:

prowlerzee
Oct 16, 09 12:32 AM CDT

Yawn. Flagged as off-topic and pointlessly piss-con-testy.

-1

| 0 minutes ago

View all 49 comments »

Barack Obama • Norway • Nobel Prize • Nobel Peace Prize • President Obama • Thornbjoern Jagland • Aagot Valle

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Limbaugh's Wrong: Gallup's Obama Approval Below 50%

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