Stop it... I'm busting a gut!

May 8, 2003 2:22 PM

And they say irony is dead. Bush and Blair are nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, for...
uh...
...I guess for waging war.
posted by jpburns (27 comments total)

Oh my, I thought this had to be a joke.
posted by harja at 2:30 PM on May 8, 2003

'Sometimes it's necessary to use a small and effective war to prevent a much more dangerous war in the future,' Jan Simonsen, a right-wing independent in Norway's parliament, told Reuters.

Essentially, this one guy, Simonsen, has nominated them. While it does make for a shocking headline and an interesting link, it doesn't really seem like there is a real chance that they will win. I don't think this is worth any sort of outraged reaction. Thanks for the link, though.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:40 PM on May 8, 2003

They won't be considered until 2004 according to the story as the deadline for the 2003 nominations has passed.

Good luck to them both in 2004, just think, a nobel peace prize and re-election!
posted by Plunge at 2:42 PM on May 8, 2003

Don't link to the Onion in an FPP
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 2:59 PM on May 8, 2003

by 2004 the iraqis will be slaughtering each other in numbers that will make hussein look like a boy scout. they ain't got a chance.
posted by quonsar at 3:00 PM on May 8, 2003

And Henry Kissinger will be congratulating Bush on his Nobel Peace Prize. We ain't got a chance.
posted by homunculus at 3:07 PM on May 8, 2003

If Yassir Arafat can have one, why not?
posted by goethean at 3:08 PM on May 8, 2003

Maybe they're up for the Nobel Piece of Ass Prize.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:37 PM on May 8, 2003

There are 5 lights. I see that now ...
posted by Wulfgar! at 3:47 PM on May 8, 2003

Meanwhile, Archimedes Plutonium is nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics and Barbara Cartland gets nominated for literature. Oh, my God ...
posted by pyramid termite at 3:49 PM on May 8, 2003

The Nobel Peace Prize has pretty much become a joke over the years, hasn't it? Yasser Arafat, Kissinger, Rigoberta Menchu, etc...
posted by gyc at 4:27 PM on May 8, 2003

'Sometimes it's necessary to use a small and effective war to prevent a much more dangerous war in the future,' Jan Simonsen, a right-wing independent in Norway's parliament, told Reuters.

War for peace is up there with fucking for virginity. This same logic can be used to justify shooting abortion doctors, and it's just as twisted. The only outcome of a war that can be predicted is that people will be killed and the unexpected will happen. After that, there is no certainty in using war as a strategy for peace. Election (re-election requires one to be elected in the first place), mass distraction, well those are goals that can be achieved by starting a war.
posted by holycola at 4:31 PM on May 8, 2003

Somebody tell Reuters that April Fool's Day was more than a month ago.
posted by betobeto at 5:18 PM on May 8, 2003

"In the September 1999 local elections the Frp campaigned on an anti-immigration platform and had its best result ever. During the election campaign, the Frp MP Jan Simonsen suggested that asylum-seekers should only be allowed into shops in the company of a Norwegian, a suggestion that apparently was offered in the interests of crime prevention. Carl Hagen raised no public objections to the proposal."
posted by tpoh.org at 5:51 PM on May 8, 2003

After the recent list of winners, any winner with integrity would give it back.
posted by ParisParamus at 7:29 PM on May 8, 2003

I would like to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, please. I submit that my chocolate chip cookies have solved more than one neighborhood dispute. Also, my bread has been known to force concessions from anyone who smells it baking and wants to have a nice warm bit with butter on.

Ergo, I say, give the prize money to the nice girl with the flour on her face. After all, I'll spend it on more baking supplies...and really, that's just good for everyone. ;)
posted by dejah420 at 7:33 PM on May 8, 2003

The Nobel Peace Prize has pretty much become a joke over the years, hasn't it? Yasser Arafat, Kissinger, Rigoberta Menchu, etc...

So you think they have a good chance then?

/rimshot
posted by thirteen at 7:39 PM on May 8, 2003

dejah420: You're better than the Nobel Prize Committee deserves.
posted by SPrintF at 8:07 PM on May 8, 2003

gyc, how was awarding Rigoberta Menchu the peace prize "a joke"?
posted by teg at 8:23 PM on May 8, 2003

teg: summarized controversy over the at least slightly fictionalized autobiography. Apparently, some of the bad stuff that was supposed to have happened to her and/or her family actually happened to other people, or not at all. Supporters label it "representative". The Nobel bio page interestingly notes that the book "attracted considerable international attention". It's not clear that knowing this invalidates the Peace Prize, which after all is not given for the book, but it certainly tarnishes her luster as a symbolic figure. One publisher has enterprisingly enterprisingly packaged relevant materials.

Every year around this time we get the same damn posts. At this time it is important to remember that anyone in these categories may submit a nomination and compose their justification accordingly. (I think there's some academic who annually nominates Bob Dylan.) There isn't some sort of juried nominating committee: well, actually there is, but it doesn't begin its work until autumn, and until then the process is open to the selected members of the public. According to the rules, nominations are to remain secret for fifty years, but many of the nominators shake the media tree themselves.
posted by dhartung at 10:46 PM on May 8, 2003

Fucking for virginity? I like that concept....
posted by cx at 11:45 PM on May 8, 2003

Hey c'mon, lets not deny them this.

If Hitler can win the Nobel Peace Prize, surely so can Bush 'n' Blair.
posted by Blue Stone at 1:48 AM on May 9, 2003

Can Hitler? What about Godwin?

By the way, Hitler was only nominated, but did not win in 1938.
The person nominating him?

Gertrude Stein.

Was she being cynical or antisemetic?
(An antisemite is an antisemite is an antisemite)
posted by jpburns at 4:43 AM on May 9, 2003

War for peace is up there with fucking for virginity.

Heh, I'm always amused by catchy sounding phrases that don't actually fit the situation in the slightest.

A better analogy is "war for peace is like infecting people to prevent disease".

Like vaccination.

But that's not as catchy.
posted by wrffr at 1:19 PM on May 9, 2003

gyc, how was awarding Rigoberta Menchu the peace prize "a joke"?


here's why
posted by gyc at 4:00 PM on May 9, 2003

Oh man... I needed a good laugh today. Thanks!
posted by EricBrooksDotCom at 7:04 PM on May 9, 2003

OK, when I saw Menchu listed with Kissinger and Arafat I thought maybe she had secretly bombed Cambodia or supported suicide bombers. Turns out she lied about some things in her autobiography.

Seriously, I appreciate knowing about the controversy and I would like to see her address it a little more openly. Still, I think her Nobel Prize is too important a symbol to be called a joke. (I'm done derailing.)
posted by teg at 9:23 PM on May 9, 2003