weird news

[kenllama]

What an odd news morning -- two items that I'm not sure how much to like:

1. Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Does this seem a little pre-mature to anyone else? I like him, I respect him, I voted for him, and I really, really hope he lives up to this lofty prize. But what weird timing. Does this just represent a collective sigh of relief from the

Comments

[starrthinks]

It is weird! The first one bothers me more.... are we rewarding talk now instead of action?

[pumaviking]

Apparently we're rewarding the giving of "hope." So, campaign promises, then. I don't know. I hope he lives up to it. Dr Turtle suggested it might give him more clout, altho the llama's slightly more cynical interpretation resonates... *shrug*

[starrthinks]

I say whether or not he rises to the occasion of receiving this honor, it is off putting to see an honor like this given without any action --- rewarding campaign promises... bleccckkk!

[mlerules]

It's also possible that they're trying to boost the chances of the Prez accomplishing even more and shift some of the focus away from BS 'bout birth certificates &c. I doubt many folks have paid much attention to what he HAS done as the focus tends to be on all the stuff that remains to be done.

Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and a former prime minister of Norway: “We are not awarding the prize for what may happen in the future, but for what he has done in the previous year,” and “We would hope this will enhance what he is trying to do.”

[pumaviking]

I'm ambivalent about the second one, even before it's attached to the defense bill. I guess if we're going to have hate crimes legislation i'd rather have these categories included, but i'd rather not have it at all.

[kenllama]

i feel about hate crime legislation the same way i feel about affirmative action -- it would be unnecessary in a just world, but until there is justice can we at least have some tools to balance out systemic injustice?

[mlerules]

Amen. ;-)

[starrthinks]

I use to be a big fan of hate crimes bills until my criminology class... we talked about how hate crimes legislation adds punishment for intention/thought in a system (American justice system as it was created to function) that is supposedly only to punish illegal *action* Now I feel confused about where to stand on the issue. It feels to complex to simply say "oh good" or "darn"