Upon reflection, I think all the mockery will cease when Barack Obama walks across the Atlantic Ocean to accept His prize.
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Samizdata quote of the dayOctober 10th, 2009 |
 15 comments to Samizdata quote of the day |
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Focus, people! Focus. The goal is simple — Barack Obama as the first President of All the Europes. This prize shows he has the Norwegian vote tied up. Now all we have to do is get the Norwegians to join the EU in time to support Obama’s candidacy. Hey, if Norwegians are dumb enough to give Obama the Peace Prize, they are dumb enough to join the EU.
President Joe Biden. Now there is hope for change!
Scary thing is that Biden would probably do a better job of it.
Wouldn’t it be more impressive if he called Oslo to him?
This is not farce but blatant bribery of the President of the US to manipulate him in certain policy directions amenable to the collectivist elitists who awarded the prize.
What are the most pressing international issues for the US right now?
Whether to enlarge or scale back the effort in Afghanistan.
What to do about Iran’s nuclear aspirations?
What to do about N Korea’s similar desires?
What to do about Honduras specifically, and the Cuban-Chavez plus disciples problem in general?
The nobel people are clearly trying to push the US’s leadership into a box which would preclude any military response no matter what the provocation.
This is a bribe of the only coin Obama would respond to—adulation from the chattering internationalists he longs to impress.
And the good news is —-
This may be unconstitutional(Link).
Constitution? What Constitution?
It appears that Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson (though not Jimmy Carter) were awarded the Prize during their tenures as President; were their acceptances subjected to congressional approval?
If congressional approval is all that’s required, then no problem, although Pelosi and Reid will probably demand a percentage of the money.
As to walking across the Atlantic, he’ll probably do some pacing aboard Air Force One on the trip and try to claim he walked “all the way across”.
Did you see the commentator on PJM who said
A prize named for the inventor of dynamite goes to a friend of Bill Ayers .
I love this, Mr. Sunshine is going to be the greatest joke in the history of the Presidency.
The Constitutional argument is a thin beef. While the Nobel Committe is appointed by the Norwegian parliament, they no more represent the Norwegian government than the trustees of the Smithsonian Museum represent the U.S. government.
So the Nobel prize is not the same as a “foreign title” or award, and I’m surprised that Volokh is even considering it — proof that lawyers will argue about anything.
Anyway, as pointed out above, Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson won the award while in office, at a time when the Constitution was a lot more observed than it is today. And Henry Kissinger won the Peace Prize when likewise in office (as Secretary of State) and nobody worried about it then, either.
There are many instances to go after Obama’s disregard for the Constitution, but this isn’t one of them.
Kim, two of the five current members of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee are present members of the Storting (one is its President), and the other three are prior members with extensive political resumes. It’s not hard to argue that this is a de facto action of the Norwegian government. (I have no idea if that was true for the previous awards you mentioned.)
Anyway, isn’t it fun to make an issue of this, to try to force Congress to at least go through the motions of approving it? Especially for something so monumentally unimportant? The Obama Administration isn’t going to be toppled by this, but then it’s not likely to be toppled by any single issue. It will be the accumulation of many matters, small and large, of which this is just one.
“Death by paper cuts” should be our watchword!
A million Dollars sound like a “present” to me – and the Norwegian Parliament is a “foreign state” (Article One, Section Nine, paragraph eight).
As for “other people have committed this crime so it is O.K.” – that is a form of, modern, Common Law reasoning that I have never “got my head round” (perhaps I am a Roman Law man at heart).
As for the judgement to grant the award:
Well if Stiglitz and Krugman (two men who do not even understand the first principles of economics) can be awarded the prize for economics, then Obama can be awarded the prize for peace.
It is consistent.
It really is very clear – no present “of any kind whatever” without the consent of Congress.
So every time a President (or any other government employee) accepts a present from a “foreign state” without the consent of Congress, they are breaking the Constitution.
“But that means they have all broken the Constitution” – yes most likely.
Of course in their working lives they break the Consitution every day anyway (in a vast number of different ways).
This is a natural follow up to proposed health care reform where he heals the sick and does with the federal budget his own version of the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
Writing as a Republican social and fiscal conservative living in the heart of Texas, if Obama does walk across the Atlantic to claim his Nobel Peace Prize, I will say, “It is obvious he can’t swim!”