Sorry for the double post, I rarely do it, but this is separate from my above comment.
Do I think Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize? Probably not. And as some of you claimed, it's less prestigious than it used to be and we won't know who the competition is. But I'm sick of people claiming he has done nothing while in office. So here is a handy list of some of his accomplishments so far in these last 8 months:
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* On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed his first bill into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which overruled the Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and so eased the requirements for filing employment discrimination lawsuits.
Only affects the United States, has nothing to do with the advancement of mankind.
* Five days later, he signed the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover an additional 4 million children currently uninsured.
The key word here is reauthorization. He deserves credit for someone else's plan?
* In March 2009, Obama repealed a Bush-era policy that prevented federal tax dollars from being used to fund research on new lines of embryonic stem cells.
And a significant portion of Americans, nonetheless the rest of the world, would consider this a crime and immoral.
* On May 26, 2009, Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter. Sotomayor was confirmed on August 6, 2009 by a vote of 68-31 becoming the first Hispanic to be a Supreme Court Justice.
He nominated a racist woman who is praised only for being Hispanic, not for her rulings in court?
* On September 30, 2009, the Obama administration announced new regulations on power plants, factories and oil refineries in an attempt to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to curb global warming. According to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, “We are not going to continue with business as usual. We have the tools and the technology to move forward today, and we are using them.”
One would say that one Mr. David Suzuki has done more on the "climate change" standpoint. Not a world frontrunner.
* In February and March, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made separate overseas trips to announce a "new era" in U.S. foreign relations with Russia and Europe, using the terms "break" and "reset" to signal major changes from the policies of the preceding administration. Obama's granting of his first television interview as President to an Arabic cable network, Al Arabiya, was seen as an attempt to reach out to Arab leaders.
Was also criticized heavily for these moves and was been called out for making the US seem like apologists. After that he's drawn a "hard line" with Iran and has creeped along the lines of war with that nation.
* Helped negotiate hostage releases with Iran and sent Bill Clinton to NK to do the same.
North Korea specifically requested Bubba, and Bubba they got. Bill Clinton will NEVER come home empty handed if going for women.
* On June 4, 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Cairo University in Egypt calling for "a new beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States and promoting Middle East peace.
See my other response to him and the middle east.
* On September 24, 2009, Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to preside over a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
So?
* On February 27, Obama declared that combat operations would end in Iraq within 18 months. His remarks were made to a group of Marines preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. Obama said, "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end."
His timetable for this keep changing, once it's set in stone and happens this will matter.
* Lifting travel and remittance restrictions for Cuban Americans who seek to travel more frequently to the island and send more US currency to their immediate family.
Long overdue, I will not discredit this but it alone is very small.
* Engaging world leaders in Europe, Turkey, Latin American and the Caribbean with "strength and humility."
So he backed down to them? Said I'm sorry? What did he
change?
* Diminishing the role of lobbyists in the White House
You have got to be fucking kidding me. How many of his cabinet members stepped down for being
publically ridiculed for being lobbyists?
* Ordering the closing of Guantanamo Bay military detention facility and abolishing "enhanced interrogation techniques."
Stil open for business!
* Restoring the respect of the rest of the world for the United States
You work for Time Magazine, don't you? Last I checked, yep, still have Europeans ridiculing us and Middle Easterners hating us!
* Changed the nature of the foreign policy of the world's only superpower from one of xenophobic belligerence to multilateral negotiation and compromise.
I'm sure that's what's happened.
* On September 18, 2009, he scrapped Bush's plan for a European missile defense shield, relieving some of the strain on US/Russian relations.
Cuz this plan wasn't heavily scrutinized by the media even in our OWN nation.
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Yeah he's done nothing. He's Jimmy Carter...
Fix'd for accuracy.
