Mikhail Gorbachev won it -- but Ronald Reagan never did.
Yasser Arafat won it.
Jimmy Carter won it.
And now, Barack Obama has won it. For launching a grand US apology tour.
Face it. The people who hand this thing out aren't big proponents of American power in the world. They like weak American presidents who are critical of their own country -- which is why they've chosen to reward the two men who (the way things are shaping up now) appear to be the weakest defenders of American interests in the past half-century.
There's no question Obama is liked on the world stage -- in large part, because he isn't much respected or feared there. As an insightful Weekly Standard piece (titled "President No" -- sorry, links aren't working) recently put it,
Friends and enemies--they all say no to Obama. He demanded that Israel put a freeze on West Bank settlements. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said no. Obama relented and called for Israeli-Palestinian talks. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said no. Meanwhile, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said no when Obama personally asked him to make a friendly gesture toward Israel if settlements were curtailed.
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NATO allies in Europe said no when Obama asked them to take some of the terrorists held in Guant?namo off his hands. They said no when he requested they send more troops to Afghanistan. France and Germany said no when Obama urged them to boost economic stimulus spending. An official in Scotland said no when asked to halt the release of the Libyan convicted of killing 190 Americans, and 80 other nationals, in the airline bombing over Lockerbie.
Remember when Obama urged Cuba to soften its dictatorship?
That's right -- no to that, as well.
And all that weakness, my friends, is what can win an American president the Nobel Peace Prize. Just ask our friends the Poles, the Czechs, the Israelis and the peace-loving Afghans about all the improvements in their lives this prize winner has wrought.
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