Edward Snowden Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize 343
SmartAboutThings writes "Edward Snowden has a chance of getting the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, as two Norwegian members of the Parliament have nominated him — Baard Vegard Solhjell (a former environment minister) and Snorre Valen. So, the fact that members of the Norwegian Parliament have proposed him for the Nobel Peace Prize could improve his chance of winning. After all, if Obama got this prize, why wouldn't Snowden get it?"
Great news! (Score:5, Interesting)
This is a HELL of a lot better than when Obama got the prize, just for being elected. An unknown nobody who had run a successful campaign got a peace prize just for moving into the White House? Totally bogus.
Maybe the committee has decided that they would like to have some credibility.
I'm all for Snowden getting the prize. To bad it has been cheapened with some of the past awards.
Another way of looking at it: (Score:2, Interesting)
Obama won one of these, so what does winning this prize really mean?
Re:As bad as Obama (Score:4, Interesting)
I see your point, and I'm inclined to agree, mostly. But here's possible counterpoint.
Consider a country like North Korea. It's not really at war with anyone (unlike the U.S.), but it does plenty of saber-rattling (like the U.S.) It's also an authoritarian police state. Suppose one of its citizens pulled a Snowden, in a way that damaged the NK government's ability to be a police state, but also damaged its ability to conduct foreign espionage. Would it be reasonable for that NK citizen to receive the Peace Prize for that action?
If you say yes, than I would argue that in several important ways, his actions are similar to Snowden's.
Re:Obama (Score:4, Interesting)
He actually got it mostly for his work in nuclear disarmament before he was president, however they were clearly smitten and should never have given him the prize.
We all (Norwegians) know it.
Re:Great news! (Score:3, Interesting)
>2007 - Al Gore for promoting environmental awareness? That's kind of the wrong category.
That depends on your perspective: within the next century or two climate change will likely be the single largest driver of warfare the world has ever seen. With flooding, drought, and famine striking simultaneously around the world things are going to get really ugly.
Still, I don't know that his sensationalist exploits in "raising awareness" should compare to people that actually get things done.
Re:Alternative Nomination (Score:4, Interesting)
I wouldn’t say politically influential. I would say flavor of the month, politically trendy. Not always, and some of the nominations have been good, but most are “safe choices” from a isolated, Nordic perspective. (I mean, there is only so much China could do for when Liu Xiaobo won 2 years ago. Norway just does not have much direct trade with China).
As for nomination – It is a important step but I think it is overstated here. There are some big wigs who never got a noble because nobody nominated them. That being said, getting nominated is a fairly low bar to get over. IIRC there are a couple hundred people who can nominate a person and it only takes one. Some of the past nominations were truly fringe. The wheat is shifted from the chaff much later in the process.
Re:As an environmentalist and (former) Obama fan. (Score:5, Interesting)
Likewise, they also gave one to Menachim Begin, who was just as nasty a terrorist as Arafat.
Justice is needed to show the Union still stands (Score:5, Interesting)
As interesting as Snowden is, this is a distraction from the more important (and probably more urgent) question of... when are the criminals [washingtonpost.com] at the NSA going to be brought to justice?
Also, when do we fire the people that sold out our actual spy talent - with their far more targeted, far more 4th Amendment compatible tools like THINTHREAD - instead of continuing to give a paycheck to the assholes that let 9/11 happen so they could keep funneling money to their contractor friends [consortiumnews.com] to develop the far more expensive TRAILBLAZER? The families of the victims that died do this willful neglegence will probably want to file civil lawsuits, too.
A cornerstone of the very idea of "justice" is equal protection before the law, and these people need to get their day in court. If they do, then maybe we can start to put this feckless imbroglio [tinyurl.com] behind us and move on, with only the usual political drama to worry about.
On the other hand, if we fail to accomplish this task - if we fail to obtain some basic symbol that the Constitution is still respected as the highest law of the land - then we've really given up any last pretense that this is any kind of civilized nation with a social contract.
Re:As an environmentalist and (former) Obama fan. (Score:3, Interesting)
But how does Snowden promote peace?
I mean, he dug up some records of some illegal stuff the government was doing. Then he sent it to the general media so average Joe, will misinterpret the summary and think their government is doing far worse then they actually did. Combined getting a bunch of other countries pissed off at America, because there is evidence to show what they already know anyways.
In terms of Peace, he seemed to stir up the drums or war.
Re:As an environmentalist and (former) Obama fan. (Score:4, Interesting)
Isn't it sad then that the DNC is at minimum, the equal of the GOP in bloodthirst.
Obama tripled the troops in Afghanistan, opposed the treaty on cluster bombs, drone bombs anyone he feels like, tried to extend Iraq, failed, and instead called himself a peacemaker.
Re:As an environmentalist and (former) Obama fan. (Score:5, Interesting)
No, but the terms of Nobel's will specified that the award can't be made posthumously, and it's well understood that the committee not awarding the prize in 1948 was a sort of "missing man formation" way to honor Gandhi.
Re:Are you sure Snowden is also not making things (Score:4, Interesting)
Oh yes the dreaded Power point presentations. They look more like something you would use in a presentation to justify budget increases. They contain no details or even proof that the programs described ever made it into the real world. There has been a remarkable lack of interest in trying to determine the voracity of the information that has been released. He could be making up shit wholesale and there is really no way to verify the information came from the NSA. I am not saying all the information is false I am just pointing out nobody has even investigated the claims. He has also taken it upon himself to judge whether or not the information being released is harmful to the US. With that type of arrogance he must be one hell of international relations expert. The minute he started releasing information on foreign intelligence activities he sealed his fate. The only deal he could get would be the US dropping any charges related to information theft and fraud while prosecuting the espionage act violations to the hilt.