Comments on: April Fools Day comes early: Obama gets the noblest Nobel of them all

By: Mitch Miller

Mitch Miller — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 06:49:53 +0000

Hey, I was Not George Bush before Obama was even born! I certainly deserve the Prize.

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:31:53 +0000

Next week, he should get the Heisman.

By: Boxer

Boxer — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:21:56 +0000

After Al Gore won it in 2007, it comes as no surprise!

By: Baklava

Baklava — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:48:54 +0000

If I were ∅bama, I would’ve turned it down and made a speech that highlighted the abuses of this committee

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:56:40 +0000

I presume zero is going to be simultaneously saying to himself, “What would the Nobel Committee want me to do in the spirit of the prize they gave me?” and, “When I say something, people will be more inclined to go along because I have the Nobel Prize.”
I doubt the second, although I can see his sycophants insisting the rest of us get in line on account of the prize.

By: br549

br549 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:28:12 +0000

As one who tries to find the good in everything, I am happy to report the following. The fact Obama has a Nobel prize has brought Mitzu to the center on at least one issue.

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:22:44 +0000

From Hy’s point of view, is the most blatant power grab by the left a bad thing?

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:31:11 +0000

On behalf of the Nobel Committee, I wish to clear something up. President Obama was presented with the “Nobel Appeasement Prize”.

We sincerely apologize for any confusion.

By: J.J. formerly Jimmy J.

J.J. formerly Jimmy J. — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:09:09 +0000

The Nobel has not been a serious award for many years now. Awards to Arafat, Gore, Carter, and other such “giants of good works” have rendered it a joke. It is a lefty popularity contest and that is all.

Poor Alfred Nobel must be turning in his grave. He had good intentions. Surely the Nobel Foundation could find a better use for the money. Some way to truly promote peace.

By: Mrs Whatsit

Mrs Whatsit — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:28:20 +0000

Hy, though he certainly should donate the prize money, it’s not at all clear whether he can accept it in the first place — at least unless Congress acts to allow it. See the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

This clause was adopted unanimously at the Constitutional Convention and was intended to protect US government officers from attempts by foreign governments to use undue influence or bribery. (For example, see the Nobel Prize Committee’s statement that they awarded the prize in an effort to “promote” the president — in other words, to influence his actions in certain directions. Or, in still other words, to bribe him.) Even if he gives away the money, the prestige of the prize is certainly an influencing factor. Is he going to want headlines like “Nobel Peace Laureate sends 40,000 troops to Afghanistan?”

Of course, the Nobel committee isn’t a King, Prince, or Foreign State, so perhaps the clause has no relevance. Eugene Volokh apparently posted an article on this question this afternoon, but the site seems to be down — maybe because it was Instalanched.