I Am Puzzled

This morning I heard the news that Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Everyone I have talked to seems to be either elated or infuriated over this news. I am simply puzzled.

I like Mr. Obama. I supported him in the US Presidential race last year. I am glad he won.



I do not understand why he was awarded this most prestigious prize, however. He has a lot of promise, true, but what are accomplishments. other than being elected? What has he actually done? I consider here only on the international scene since that is really the scope of the Nobel Peace Prize..

Gitmo is still up and functioning, US troops are still occupying Iraq and the war in Afghanistan...Ah, yes, the war in Afghanistan. That one is going badly and there is no end in sight.



Admittedly, in the past there have been some strange choices. The two strangest have to have been Henry Kissinger and Yasser Arafat. One I respect and admire, the other I despise. This is not about my personal opinion of the men involved. It just seems to me that these two men had greater interests than bringing peace to the world.



Is Barack Obama really in the same league as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela?



Or my personal hero, Aun Sa Suu Kyu?


If you're interested, the whole list is at Nobel Peace Prize Winners 1900-2009.

I do not believe he is in their league. Not yet. Perhaps in a year or two - or six or seven. My thought is that this is in the order of a bribe of sorts. "Mr. Obama, we're giving you this prize in the hope that you will live up to your early promise as the first great person of the new millennium. Maybe.

THINKING ABOUT THE NEW PRESIDENT

As the readers of this blog well know, I have been a supporter of Barack Obama for what has been called "the worst job in the world. I am glad he won, not only because the alternative choice completely lost my respect, but also because I think he is a good man with a lot of potential.

He has started out OK, I think. He has ordered an end to torture as a questioning tool (India, are you listening?), he has ordered Gitmo closed within a year (a year is too long) and he now permits states to be tougher on auto pollution than the federal standards (HURRAY!).

If he can maintain a modicum of humility and keep his integrity intact, I believe he will be a great leader and one of the greatest presidents. If not, I fear he will become a demagogue and maybe, a dictator.

Time will tell.

--
WHY TRY TO FIT IN? YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT!

How Do They Stand on "Sikh Issues"?

Of course, all issues are Sikh issues. Everything that concerns other people concerns us, as well.

However, there are a few issues that we seems to care about is a special way, such as the right to keep the panj kakkars, especially the kirpan, on us at all times, and the prejudice our children face in schools.

Where do Sens. Obama and McCain stand on such things?

The Sikh Coalition sent out a questionnaire to both candidates eight months ago. They received Sen. Obama's back in June, but the McCain campaign is dragging their feet.

If you'd like to sign a letter to that campaign encouraging them to get off their behinds and send it in, go to What's your position, Senator McCain?

They need to release both candidates' statements together, so to read one, we need to get both. I would love to read this. As the President of the United States affects the entire world, it would be useful to Sikh world-wide to have this information. (By the way, the Sikh Coalition is non-partisan. I am not.)

Trivia. Did you know members of the Senate of Canada, like members of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, are not elected? They are appointed by the governor general, the representative of the British sovereign, currently Queen Elizabeth II. They serve until they are 75 years old.

NOT TRIVIA. Thanks to the 14 of you who went to the petition to stop the prison from cutting Jagmohan Singh Ahuja's hair . They've done it once and will do it again and again and again if they are not stopped. Here again is that dreadful before and after picture.

If YOU want to sign the petition, here again is the link to that: http://unitedsikhs.org/petitions/petition.php?id=11