http://www.change.org/petitions/the-norwegian-storting-parliament-of-norway-nominate-us-congressman-dr-ron-paul-for-the-nobel-peace-prize
Thoughts?
I don't understand, are they trying to get Norway to nominate Ron Paul, or is he already nominated?
Title is misleading and should be changed... For almost giving me a heart attack, that would be better than a RP presidency.
Yeah, I think that's what got me confused. Your title suggests that Ron Paul was nominated, which made me grin at my computer screen, and then I follow the link and find out that it's actually about suggesting him for nomination.
The Nobel is not a legit prize anymore. It's been trashed by being politicized and given to idiots for dumb and worthless reasons. Obama's silly award and Al Gore's come to mind. What a farce. If RP won, he'd do well not to accept it out of disgust over what it's become.
Considering the people who are on the nobel comittee, I doubt he'd get it. I don't know if being a nominee is considered worth something, but it says on their 'who can nominate page':
"Universitetsprofessorer i historie, statsvitenskap, filosofi, rettslære og teologi, samt universitetsdirektører og direktører for fredsforskningsinstitutter og institutter for internasjonal politikk"
That is, university professors in the field of history, political science, philosophy, law or theology, as well as university directors or directors of peace-oriented institutes (institutes for peace research) or international politics.
I suppose a libertarian leaning university professor might be easier to reach than the norwegian storting...
I wonder if the mises institute would count as an institute for peace research?
It's a petion to the Norwegian Parliament to nominate Ron Paul for the Nobel Peace Prize.
While nominations for the scientific Nobels are submitted by a number of academics hand picked by the Nobel Committee (this is why the prizes are heavily biased towards theoretical research), the Nobel Prize for Peace selection process is actually carried out by governments, with the Norwegian Parliament being one of the institutions carrying the most weight. Hence why this petition is targeted to that body.
It must be said in light of the recent fiasco of the prize awarded to Obama (not because he butchers people by drone but because he was nominated even before being sworn in as President, highlighting the system's shortcomings), it's very likely the next Nobel Prize laureate in this sector will probably be of a less political and more humanitarian mould, like Albert Schweizer or Mother Theresa. Much less controversial and may help them regain some of their lost luster.