politics

Everyone acknowledges that Obama's Nobel Prize was a mistake -- even committee members.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/obama-peace-prize-1.3231064

I couldn't find a definitive link, but I remember that Obama was seriously considering declining the prize, or not traveling to accept it. In the end, he decided it was better diplomatically to accept it rather than snub the committee.

but Obama shouldn’t have either.

Fair, but I still love that it annoys Taco and his widdle fanboiz that the Blah guy got a prize their golden god-emperor will not get.

OK, so what would your policy be to address the situation of US citizens joining with non-state groups and actively attacking the US? Like, say, Al-Qaida? International law of war is weak on non-state actors, classifying them as "irregulars" or bandits and relying on their host states to deal with them, which is unrealistic in many cases, and which fails to anticipate the rise of such groups with global reach. And the notion of adjudicating matters like this in the courts in advance makes no sense either.

Because I wouldn't shed a tear for anyone like that who got killed, whether by aerial bombardment, a drone strike, an artillery shell or a bullet. Al-Awlaki, the poster child for the drone-strike handwringers, was in an AQ camp in Yemen at the time his propagandistic ass was blown up. If ridding the world of him and his fellow jihadis means no Peace Prize, fine. Small price to pay.

And why is it that the same hand-wringers act as if drone strikes are somehow different than any other way of the military killing someone? The meme reeks of emotional manipulation. Dead's dead.

To declare an interest and give some context, I vocally and publicly opposed the second Gulf War and am against the US's habit of heavyhanded, ineffectual military interventions. But if someone's actually coming for you and you have the means to send them on to the afterlife, you're worse than a fool if you don't do it.

He “lost” the Nobel Peace Prize the same way I “lost” an academy award, is what you’re saying.

Personally I approve of any publicity that calls out Trump as a loser.

Nominated by who and when? Nominations ended in January.

It's important, and also the best kind of correct, though.

Trump lost. He's a loser.

Henry Kissinger has entered the chat

No, there was a real chance he'd wind up being awarded this prize. It's always been the most politically manipulated of the Nobel prizes (some might say inherently), and trump's undeniably massive influence through the global alt-right had a nonzero chance of swaying the prize to him, be it as an act of capitulation, bribery or simply that the prize committee had been infiltrated by his sycophants.

That it wasn't, and was instead awarded to a candidate who is both incredibly deserving of being honored and an incidentally-I'm-sure slap in the fat orange bastard's face, is a deeply refreshing sign.

Loses to opposition leader from Venezuela.

I believe she thanked him for bombing those boats.