Al Gore - Nobel Peace Prize

[Sonny]

Discuss.

[Jana]

Hey it's their award, they pick the selectors, who pick the winners. It is nice to see the Nobel winners as the top story on MSNBC instead of Nicole Richie or Britney Spears this week.

[Beta]

For serial!

[StrykerFSU]

Will he put the medal in a lockbox?

[Madlax16]

excelsior!

[SLUDoubleDeuce]

yep he certainly is more deserving than his closest competition...just a woman who risked her life and saved more than 2500 jewish children from a Warsaw ghetto by hiding them from the Nazis and providing them with false paperwork. Yep, making a movie about the temperature rising .7 degrees celcius over the last 100 years is much more important.

But what do you expect from an organization who awarded the prize to Jimmy Carter as "a kick in the leg to the Bush Administration" Yasser Arafat, and Mohamed El-Baridei. In case you were wondering Stalin, Hitler and Moussolini have been nominated as well. But Ghandi and Pope John Paul II were never awarded the peace prize.

[byualum]

I would have thought that he would have won something back when he invented the internet...

[Dan Wishengrad]

I recognize that in our polarized, political society that if you are a Republican and/or conservative you may be inclined to ridicule this Nobel Prize award for Big Al. Some of that has already started here on this thread, and predictably. I for one applaud it, and not because I am a Democrat.

Whatever one's views are on the former V.P., at least recognize that he he didn't just retire from public office and then live a life of leisure and wealth accumulation like so many others. I believe that people like Gore and (especially) Jimmy Carter, who work for issues that they truly believe in after office rather than just playing golf and earning six figure stipends for one-hour speaking engagements in front of like-minded, sympathetic interest groups should be honored and recognized for public service in the purest sense.

Does anyone -- even his most ardent supporters -- believe that our current President will spend the rest of his life after leaving office in Jan. '09 volunteering or working on behalf of an issue or issues that he believes passionately about (whatever they might be), like Jimmy Carter has done? Carter may have been considered a poor President, but his tireless efforts on behalf of global human rights, election monitoring in third-world nations and for Habitat for Humanity have made him our best EX-president ever.

Question Gore's ulterior motives, or debate whether he is right about the coming planetary effects of global warming. That is fair. But if Gore really DOESN'T use this new-found fame and increased celebrity to make another run for office, credit him for what he has accomplished since leaving office in 2000, and applaud him for winning one of the world's most prestigious awards.

Just my personal two cents...

[Beta]

Half man, Half Bear, Half Pig.

[Sonny]

one of the world's most prestigious awards

I think they Nobel "Peace" Prize lost tons of credibility when they started giving out the award to folks like Yassar Arafat. Is Fidel Castro next?

[Beta]

one of the world's most prestigious awards

I think they Nobel "Peace" Prize lost tons of credibility when they started giving out the award to folks like Yassar Arafat. Is Fidel Castro next?

Considering Arafat's Fatah group had a branch known as "Black September" that just so happened hold up the friggin' Olympics and kidnap/murder innocent people. What else? I think there's a box of kittens somewhere that he could have kicked.

I wonder if the Noble Prize mailer that gets sent out goes to an Israeli address since there is no actual country of Palestine...I bet that drove the terrorist organization crazy...oops did I say "terrorist organization"? My mistake, I meant to say kitten-kickers.

(sidenote, Arafat won the Nobel award for the Oslo Accords....which basically said "The Palestinian people acknowledge Israel's right to live. How sweet of them.)

[Dan Wishengrad]

I know I will get attacked for my post above, and I can handle it.

But slightly off-topic, why is it that people (of all political persuasions) claim to love America while truly hating those who simply disagree with them on an issue or issues? What has Hillary done, for instance, to make so many otherwise decent Americans hate her SO vehemently? She may not be my first choice for President and may not even get my vote, but I certainly don't despise her. And I really don't get the depth of pure hatred that seems to exist out there in "Red" America towards her.

I will go on record, so as to not be accused of hypocrisy, as saying I don't HATE most of those I disagree with. I may hate what Bush and Cheney have done in office, and I simply believe their administration has been a disaster for America. But I don't hate either one of them. I just think they have a warped view of what is best for this nation and a fatally-flawed decision-making process for how they have ruled while in office. But I DO believe that they are Americans, that they have acted in what they (mistakenly) thought was our national best interest. I'll fight them with my last dying breath, but not as fellow Americans -- just as Executives for their ACTIONS.

Of the current field of GOP Presidential hopefuls, I have always greatly admired John McCain and respect him as a man of integrity, a true war hero, and someone who is in politics for all the right reasons. I just disagree with many of his views. Ditto Gov. Huckabee, perhaps the truest conservative in the field. I like the guy personally, admire his ethics and life story, how he is a "regular guy" who lost 100 lbs and likes to rock out with his band. I'll admit I don't respect Mitt Romney, who I think is WAY worse than John Kerry as a flip-flopper and a man with no principles, who will say and do ANYHTING to be elected, even if he said the exact opposite 15 minutes ago. Still, I recognize he is a bright guy and has a track record as an efficient businessman and manager. I even admire ol Rudy, who is at least brave enough to stick to his pro-choice and pro-gay-rights positions despite condemnation for this from the core of the party whose nomination he is seeking.

Anybody who disagrees with me please go on record and explain why you HATE so strongly. I honestly would like to understand.-

[Sonny]

You won't get "attacked" Dan. Folks can debate your post, but I won't allow personal attacks on any poster. Even those I disagree with!

I'm not sure what "hating Hillary" has to do with Gore being awarded the Nobel Prize.

[dgr01002]

like Jimmy Carter has done? Carter may have been considered a poor President, but his tireless efforts on behalf of global human rights, election monitoring in third-world nations and for Habitat for Humanity have made him our best EX-president ever.

I have to chime in here, Carter and his monitoring of thrid-world nations elections? Are you kidding? Like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela? That was about as legit an "election" of an oppressive marxist/socialist dictator regime as I can ever think of outside of maybe Iran's "elections". And nobody sells out Israel more than Jimmy Carter and his brother Billy. Just read his last book for "tireless human rights" work. What you meant is every nation's human rights except the US and Israel, as far as Carter is concerned.

As for Gore - gimme a break. You want to talk about - to quote Gore himself - "playing on people's fears"? That movie had more inaccuracies and blantant falsehoods that should be allowed. Yes, there is "global warming" but man made 100% to blame? How about maybe the ever-expanding and contracting sun...solar heat? It was the great coming "Ice Age" in the 1970's - when the US was actually viciously polluting with factories and cars. That didn't work, so, now it's the coming "Warming Age." But don't any of you dare question the pious new "green" religion with facts! This is the grubbing racket of federal grant money at stake here - millions of lobbyist dollars and the eco-mooching industry that cannot make billions doing hypothetical "research" without Global Warming as an issue and the federal dollars that come with it. Fear-mongering at its finest.

The Right has The War on Terror.
The Left has Global Warming.

[StrykerFSU]

I believe that people like Gore and (especially) Jimmy Carter, who work for issues that they truly believe in after office rather than just playing golf and earning six figure stipends for one-hour speaking engagements in front of like-minded, sympathetic interest groups should be honored and recognized for public service in the purest sense

Why didn't Gore do anything about climate change while he had some power? He wrote a book before his 8 years in power and then made a movie afterwards...if he feels so strongly, then why did he do nothing?

It's very easy to tell people what they "have" to do when you don't bear any of the responsibility for the consequences. I haven't seen the movie because I feel that he tainted the scietific community with the stench of politics and harmed his cause. It kills me that our environment has become a politcal football. Not to mention that he is no expert on the matter and resorts to scare tactics. I'm becoming more and more convinced that his whole lobby really believes that the ends justify the means...but I digress.

Like was said before, it's their prize and they can do what they want with it. Watch out though, I heard that there have been calls for a recount.