Presidential hopeful John McCain doesn't think that Al Gore should have won the Nobel Peace Prize--the Myanmar (Burmese) monks should have.
Now, this is unusual for me to post something not funny about a presidential candidate. Rather, I think it was a touching idea for McCain to believe this.
I don't think that Gore should have gotten a Peace prize for his global warming advocacy--I think he should have received an environmental award.
But as noble as it would be to give the Myanmar (Burmese) monks the Nobel Peace Prize, I don't think they'd accept it. Because they aren't campaigning for an award, they're campaigning for freedom. Plus, the award comes with money. And last time I checked, monks don't really have much. They wouldn't know what to do with it.
Either that, or the Myanmar (Burmese) government would take it away. Refuse to let them have their award.
...Back to McCain and his statement...he went on to praise Gore's environmental work, saying that he would support nuclear power.
And McCain's also for healthcare.
How do you jump from Myanmar (Burmese) monks to nuclear power to healthcare?
Well...McCain did.
And MSNBC, Yahoo! News, and the DesMoines Register reported on it.
(in another note: I guess if Al Gore decides to throw his hat into the presidential ring, analysts think he could do well, focusing on global warming issues. I got that from the Nightly News Friday night. Granted, it's not likely he'll go back to Presidential campaigns. I think he's had enough)
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5 comments:
I agree that Gore should not have gotten a Peace Prize - something about environmentalism versus one of the most prestigious awards for someone who brings together social forces in the name of peace is just NOT the same thing. I giggled when I read the part about the monks not accepting the award. I could actually hear your sarcasm. And I also laughed about how purely ridiculous John McCain's jumping from subject areas is. An interesting observation.
Technically, the Burmese government can't take away an award, although the monks would probably be forbidden from going to accept it at the ceremony.
The rightful ruler of Burma who won in a democratic election, Aung San Suu Kyi, has won a Nobel Peace Prize. She was unable to go and accept it, because the Burmese junta wouldn't have allowed her back in the country. Now she lives under house arrest/maybe prison no one is sure anymore.
I think that instead of giving the monks of Burma an award, we should send them support and help take down the junta. Dumb China, always getting in the way...
I agree with that last point you made. Gore has probably had enough with the executive branch and seems to do better on the outside anyway. I mean maybe if global warming were THE issue of the country it would be a different story, but obviously our country has other stuff to deal with.
As Caryn mentioned, what exactly would/could the monks do with the award? The award is prestigious, there's no doubt about that, but intrinsically it is yet another form of bureaucratic gesture. The monks may have deserved it more, but Al Gore as a recipient just made more sense in this context.
Interesting to say see that Gore and Myanmar Monks are put in the same category. I think the whole idea though is that gore was trying to bring an international effort to halt global warming. I guess that is where you'd get that whole international cooperation/peace thing. Who knows what they were thinking.
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