I haven't seen a vast amount of comment on Obama's Nobel prize. Most commentators I have read seem to have been reserved. Not being effusive in their congratulations but not expressing too much doubt too. It's all been a bit neutral from what I can gather.
I think it's a poor do. He seems to have got it on a promise. A promise of what he might do based on the aims he has spoken about.
He hasn't achieved anything yet. A lot could happen during his remaining term of office.
If we got all rewarded on our promises rather than our achievements we would all be smothered with awards.
He got it because he is black. He got it because he wasn't George Bush. He got it because he was photogenic and could talk the talk......you know, those big portentous sounding speeches that sound great until you listen to the words and realise that they are full of the platitudes that all politicians use; especially the dishonest ones.
When he was elected I was shocked by the attitude of many of his supporters. It came over to me as racist at times. If he'd been white and white people had behaved in such a way it would have been seen as shocking.
Or if he'd been a Muslim?
He represents what politics has become. Image with no substance. Even if the man has substance that is not important any more. He got the Nobel not for substance but for image.
The substance of our lives is no longer governed by those with a political vision. There are no Churchills. There are no Hitlers either.
The people who influence our lives are in the boardrooms now. That is where the power lies. In the media too.
We have seen how they can affect our lives in a way that politicians can only dream of.
3 comments:
Bear in mind that there is NO COMMENT MODERATION here. Once posted you cannot delete or edit. I have found I don't need it, so polite are you all. If, like me, you have ten thumbs and end up posting some gobbledigook drop me a line.