The world celebrated when then Sen. Barack Obama became President Barack Obama. His win could very well be one of the reasons why he was selected to by this year's Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
By Gregory Moore
There has been a lot of controversy swirling around President Barack Obama’s nomination for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize and some of that criticism is with merit and can be duly noted.
By the same token there is the rancor, resentment or discourse about this award being given to someone who is only eight months into his presidency. Much of that discourse can be charted in the Arab world where Hamas, the Taliban and other splinters do not want to see this president (or the world for that matter) strive for a peaceful resolve. In other camps, mainly in this country, you have the political war mongering of the losing side of the 2008 election saying that this award is a farce or a sham.
As one poster put it on a social network, this nomination “is all sham without the ‘wow'”.
If you are having a difficult time trying to understand why the selection committee would unanimously select this sitting president, you have a couple help aids that can put this in perspective for you. The first help aid is to take a look at the picture that accompanies this op/ed.
The second?
Understanding the paradigm that follows.
For those who still see no connection of Obama’s win in November 2008, the picture of the world celebrating and this honor that is bestowed upon him, then maybe you will understand that for many in this country, Obama is their first round pick, the top pick if you will, and they want their rookie to thrive.
THE TOP PICK GETS TOP BILLING
Whether you will agree or not, the mere fact that Obama won the election says more about ‘Generation Next” than it does about this country’s social landscape.
For them, Obama represents everything that they have grown up on, heard about in classrooms, read about in study groups and dreamed about the moment they figured out that Dr. Martin Luther’s King dream could indeed come true; it just took a generation that understood it to make it come to fruition.
And so Obama is Gen X’s top choice and he is getting top billing.
Like Mark Sanchez of the NY Jets or LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, all eyes are on him.
That means getting the phat contract (the presidency) and getting the phat endorsements (in this case, the Nobel Prize). And like all rookies, much of this success comes at a time when little or no effort has been made in a career.
For Generation X, Obama receiving this award is validation of what they see in him; not what he has already done for them.
Does that mean that Obama will get a free pass because he is their first pick in this political sports arena?
No.
Like all rookies, he is going to stumble, fall and screw up.
But the great ones who are their franchise’s ‘savior’ not only make mistakes, they overcome them and become the ‘player’ that everyone knew he would turn out to be.
That is why Obama has received the Nobel Peace Prize.
It wasn’t for work he’s done but for the promise of great work he will do.
And so this is just the latest hardware that Obama is receiving from a world stage.
All eyes are on this president to see if he can deliver a change in political climate overseas. Everyone is waiting to see if his first term will live up to the hype that it is receiving early.
As long as President Obama keeps what is important to him in front of him, he may indeed turn naysayers into believers and as the presidential gods will proclaim, “On the seventh month of the eighth year, Barry wrote his memoir.”
Until then this president will indeed have to show that he is more than just a flash in the pan and quiet his critics.
While Generation X may have fully endorsed him, picked him, and made him their star player, we all have a stake in how well he performs.
And that, meaning actions, is more important than any award or prize right now.
Greg's Views On The State of The Nation 
When you’re the first round draft pick, everyone wants you to perform
The world celebrated when then Sen. Barack Obama became President Barack Obama. His win could very well be one of the reasons why he was selected to by this year's Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
By Gregory Moore
There has been a lot of controversy swirling around President Barack Obama’s nomination for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize and some of that criticism is with merit and can be duly noted.
By the same token there is the rancor, resentment or discourse about this award being given to someone who is only eight months into his presidency. Much of that discourse can be charted in the Arab world where Hamas, the Taliban and other splinters do not want to see this president (or the world for that matter) strive for a peaceful resolve. In other camps, mainly in this country, you have the political war mongering of the losing side of the 2008 election saying that this award is a farce or a sham.
As one poster put it on a social network, this nomination “is all sham without the ‘wow'”.
If you are having a difficult time trying to understand why the selection committee would unanimously select this sitting president, you have a couple help aids that can put this in perspective for you. The first help aid is to take a look at the picture that accompanies this op/ed.
The second?
Understanding the paradigm that follows.
For those who still see no connection of Obama’s win in November 2008, the picture of the world celebrating and this honor that is bestowed upon him, then maybe you will understand that for many in this country, Obama is their first round pick, the top pick if you will, and they want their rookie to thrive.
THE TOP PICK GETS TOP BILLING
Whether you will agree or not, the mere fact that Obama won the election says more about ‘Generation Next” than it does about this country’s social landscape.
For them, Obama represents everything that they have grown up on, heard about in classrooms, read about in study groups and dreamed about the moment they figured out that Dr. Martin Luther’s King dream could indeed come true; it just took a generation that understood it to make it come to fruition.
And so Obama is Gen X’s top choice and he is getting top billing.
Like Mark Sanchez of the NY Jets or LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, all eyes are on him.
That means getting the phat contract (the presidency) and getting the phat endorsements (in this case, the Nobel Prize). And like all rookies, much of this success comes at a time when little or no effort has been made in a career.
For Generation X, Obama receiving this award is validation of what they see in him; not what he has already done for them.
Does that mean that Obama will get a free pass because he is their first pick in this political sports arena?
No.
Like all rookies, he is going to stumble, fall and screw up.
But the great ones who are their franchise’s ‘savior’ not only make mistakes, they overcome them and become the ‘player’ that everyone knew he would turn out to be.
That is why Obama has received the Nobel Peace Prize.
It wasn’t for work he’s done but for the promise of great work he will do.
And so this is just the latest hardware that Obama is receiving from a world stage.
All eyes are on this president to see if he can deliver a change in political climate overseas. Everyone is waiting to see if his first term will live up to the hype that it is receiving early.
As long as President Obama keeps what is important to him in front of him, he may indeed turn naysayers into believers and as the presidential gods will proclaim, “On the seventh month of the eighth year, Barry wrote his memoir.”
Until then this president will indeed have to show that he is more than just a flash in the pan and quiet his critics.
While Generation X may have fully endorsed him, picked him, and made him their star player, we all have a stake in how well he performs.
And that, meaning actions, is more important than any award or prize right now.
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Posted in Commentary, Politics, Race Relations, Social issues, World views