Dr. Sima Samar risked her life for decades by providing schools and medical care for Afghan women and girls. She defied the Taliban and even her own family to bring even a small sliver of light to women who were beaten or killed for the crime of showing a bit of ankle. In a place where oppression and hopelessness seemed eternal, she gave these women and girls something greater than some abstract concept of "hope". In a country where they still struggle, my guess is these women woke up the morning the nobel prize was handed out feeling a renewed sense of joy because a man with absolutely no track record promised the world "hope and change", especially since they could actually read the news story themselves.
Dr. Mukwege stayed in the Congo when other doctors fled because he felt a sense of duty to the people of his county. He does what he can to repair the lives of women and girls, some as young as 8 years old who were not only brutally gang raped in front of their families but had their vaginas mutilated by guns, sticks, or whatever else rival soldiers could find. I can't imagine the horror of watching my precious daughter be so violently violated after having suffered such a horror myself. This destroys more than hope, it destroys one's soul. But then, by the grace of God (yes, there IS a church in this village of raped women...perhaps that was enough to keep Dr. Mukwege from the prize), they stumble into this hospital where the doctor does the best he can to repair their broken bodies and damaged hearts and minds. So I'm sure the lives of these women and girls and their families were greatly enriched by a "rekindled sense of hope in the world" that was due in part by good timing.
And imagine the relief of the mother of a 6 year old living in a part of the world all but forgotten by the rest of us. She watches her son run and play in a place that only a few months ago claimed the life of her neighbor's daughter. Her son can play here because Handicap International and Cluster Munition Coalition, at great personal risk and with no promise of well paying jobs for their spouses, removed several land mines in this poor village. So I'm sure such tangible and life-affirming change pales in comparison to words of hope and change deftly delivered while reading from a teleprompter and standing arrogantly between ancient-looking but fake pillars as if one were starring in an off-off-off Broadway production of "Something Happened On the Way to the Forum". But perhaps this is a village in Kenya who would weep for joy at the prospect of their native son (who can't bother to spare even 50 bucks to improve the lives of his own relatives) receiving such a prestigious award. At least she can, in some small way, vicariously share in this honor, especially since she no longer has to worry about her son losing a limb.
You can try to justify this award to someone whose accomplishments are extremely shallow and all but inadequate when compared to these other finalists. But the fact is, all these deeply committed and highly accomplished people who've faced much greater danger than a paper cut while reading the Harvard Law Review do more to illustrate what an empty suit 0bama is than fake columns and repetitive, hollow cries for "hope and change" ever could. Heck, I could understand this more if it was given for the work he did at Acorn. At least they pretend to be an organization that helps minorities and the poor when they're not helping to import underage girls for prostitution rings or registering Disney characters and dead people to vote. Obama should be embarrassed but he's too self-centered and egotistical for that. He should be ashamed to accept it when considering the truly deserving people he was up against. But again, he's too arrogant and self-serving to see what an utter fool this makes him. He's gone from boy-king to court jester and is so convinced of his own greatness he doesn't have the clarity to see. A word of warning though, DU, the world (and you on the left) loves it when we have a weak president, but regular Americans are just embarrassed by it. They're beginning to see the man who pretended to be a hawk is nothing more than a dove and pretty words don't equal action. The odds of him serving 2 terms, especially since Acorn won't be as effective as they've been in the past (can you say uber-scrutiny) are slim to none. If America could have a do-over right now knowing what they know those fake columns would be collecting dust before they ever got to be used.
Cindie
