Obama Wins Nobel Prize...

Some folks are wondering, why?  Some of these people plucked from the masses of the all-knowing are 82-year old English professors who've probably never lived a day of their lives in the real world.  What's an 82-year old professor of English hope for other than to "hear a (hermetic) fly buzz when she dies..."?

I suppose that over-weight blow-hard who makes the enlightening videos about McDonald's should have received it?  Or what about Rush Limbaugh, who with his sagging chops, blasts everything in his path with stale air and redneck demeanor?  He's a good one for a noteworthy critique.  While we're on that subject, maybe his big binky FOX News should have received it for their toothless insight and neverending pukey stream of "journalism" about people and the world?  And of course, there are a slew of other potential candidates for such a noteworthy prize like David Letterman and his secret bedroom or what's-her-trout face from Alaska. 

I'd venture to say that an alien could land on the white house, step out of his spaceship with a bible strapped to his waist and an American flag for a loincloth, and we'd give him a nobel peace prize -- never asking why.

I hate excuses like, "It's because he's black".  "It's political".  So, if a white guy gets it, what reason do we use for him, if any?  Well, a white guy is likely a man who risked his life in the war, lost his marbles and is here wearing the armor of God to tell us about it.  He's a good 'ol rogue proud to sit down with the meat and potatoes of this great country with a six-pac, handshake, and cowboy punch.  He understands what God means to this land of the freedom shield and opportunity sword. 

What irks me about the kinds of depthless reactions pinched from the public is that they rarely exemplify the real reasons.  Barack Obama is a rare kind of individual -- I'm not talking about skin color or the fact that he's the first black American president.  I'm talking about the fact that it shouldn't be news that his unique quality springs out of the practice of doing things like they aren't usually done.  One can hardly say this is strictly a political agenda.  I feel like he is proving to be the kind of person who makes a honest and serious effort to reach across dividing lines (that includes within political parties) and he's hardly wavered from that practice since before he took office.  Wouldn't you agree?  He didn't just ride the coattails of a slogan -- he is and does what he says he is.  

Do most of us really know what the president is doing, ever?  Some of us failed to smell the crap around here when it counted.  We get to sit on our judgmental haunches as Obama tries to wipe away the tears and change all the filthy diapers from the Bush era, while at the same time work to settle dust around the world. While we sit, we should be asking ourselves what sort of person wins a Nobel Prize?  How many average Americans even know what a Nobel Prize is?  How many of us are reading books of note in the evenings?  Do any of us read?  Do we make the effort to discern what is news by weeding through the propaganda and sensationalism that is constantly being slapped across our faces and called news? 

What are the real day to day events here and around the world?  I know, we don't have time.  But we don't hesitate to waste time with our complaining.  It's a good thing that time isn't everyone's excuse.  Many of us are content to go about life the lazy way:  We don't do anything except complain about everything that is affecting us, on a personal level, without any thought to any person within out peripheral vision let alone issues, persons of other races, and countries.  We complain when someone else gets something we don't have, even when we don't know what it is much less even want it for ourselves.

It seems that the only thing Americans can do these days is begrudge others of what they've earned and harp about what they deserve even after all this time, we've been all about giving ourselves things we've never earned.  The question we should be asking ourselves is, what are we doing for anyone on a day to day basis?  Just think of the positive change in everyone's lives if we were looking out for each other!  It would make us more sensitive to what it is that people like Obama are trying to do.  Whew!  I'm preaching to the choir here, and I've stepped over the cliff I'm afraid.

I think if we can sincerely discuss and answer the kinds of questions surrounding such a thing as a Nobel Peace Prize, then it would seem acceptable to point our fingers and scratch our heads when someone of note gets honored for their ongoing attempts for making peace.  After all, when dealing with the human race, peace-making isn't an easy job.