On Al Gore and the Peace Prize

Today, the utterly discredited Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Al Gore ... ironically, in the same week that a British judge issued a ruling that Mr. Gore's fictional film's "alarmism and exaggeration" warranted a disclaimer if it was to be shown in public schools. Now, Mr. Gore will rightfully join such Peace Prize laureates as Yasser Arafat, the PLO leader who for decades oversaw terrorism and suicide bombings against innocent civilians and who personally orchestrated the hijacking of an international flight. (Powerline has a longer rundown of noteworthy Prize winners here.

Well deserved, Mr. Gore. I'm not certain whether Mr. Gore further discredits the Nobels, or if the prize further discredits Mr. Gore.

Of course, a moment should also be spared to consider those who have not received awards. Pope John Paul II, along with a lifetime of works and writing on the inviolability of human life and dignity, personally inspired a "solidarity" movement in Poland which lead to the peaceful collapse of communism in that country and a domino effect of freedom and hope throughout Eastern Europe. Speaking of heroes of the communist era, President Ronald Reagan steered the world through the Cold War and oversaw the fall of Soviet oppression without a single military engagement. Of course, President Jimmy Carter, who's various faults I feel embarrassed to recount, somehow deserved the award for his ... rhetoric, I suppose. The U.S.-friendly NATO will never receive the award, but the U.S.-hostile UN has been awarded three prizes in the last six years. Also missing from the list: Pope John Paul XXIII, Mahatma Ghandi and Oscar Romero. What do these folks have in common? Two were Roman Catholic priests and one was the equivalent of a Hindu monk - all a species of humanitarian which the politicians running the Nobel prize apparently cannot stomach.

International organizations have long lilted to the left, and it seems that the more useless and meaningless their contributions to the global causes for which they are instituted, the more entrenched and passionate they become in their radicalism. Has the UN (Peace Prize winner in 2001 and 1988) ever succeeded in preventing an armed conflict in the world? Has the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (Peace Prize winner in 2005) had any effect in preventing the proliferation of atomic weaponry? And of what discernible and evidenced usefulness is the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (sharing the award with Al Gore this year)? The findings of the panel are shrouded in political scandal, unfounded science and social agenda? The more such groups prove themselves impotent, the more garlands and gratuities they are afforded by their liberal international ilk.

The Nobel Peace Prize is a worthy endeavor, as are all international movements toward peace and humanitarianism. However, the dominance of such organizations by leftist liberal ideology ensures that they will be opposed by half of the population. The UN Children's Fund is presently a leading provider of abortion and supplier of contraceptives and sterilization equipment in the world. Religious and conservative persons of conscience cannot subscribe to the work of such deceptive groups, and thus distrust the full panoply of international organizations.

If the international community is to develop into the way of the future, it must embrace its present enemies and mediate its agenda. The conservative-religious block will not attempt a coup of the international community, it will simply ignore that community and steer it toward extinction.

UPDATE: The Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to the ever-interesting Doris Lessing, an author on feminism with a particular sympathy toward communism and left-wing issues. (Try to control your surprise.)

However, unlike last year's winner, a churlish facade of a writer awarded the prize merely for writing a play which cast America as the Anti-Christ, Ms. Lessing is at least a powerfully amusing character. Upon returning home to see a gaggle of reporters waiting outside her home, she admits that she groped to find a few "uplifting words." "I couldn't care less!" she finally admitted. "This has been going on for 30 years. I've won all the prized in Europe, every bloody one...." The 87-year old also noted: It's come very late, hasn't it? ...I guess they were thinking they'd better give it to me now before I popped off!"