Maybe I’m taking this too personally, but that’s what blogs are for, right? But the revolting action by the fascist Iranian thugocracy in breaking into Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi’s safe deposit box in Tehran and stealing her Nobel prize symbolizes all that is petty, ugly, sinister and repulsive about the Iranian dictatorship. It’s not just a violation of her person; it’s a violation of all who believe in human rights.
Shirin Ebadi, one of the bravest women in the world, won the Nobel in 2003 for her work as a human rights lawyer defending victims of Iranian regime. When I say I take this theft personally, it’s because two years later I was honored to be in a room with Shirin Ebadi — and it just happened to be the same night and in the same room in which I met the love of my life. It was at a gathering my book editor gave to celebrate the American publication of Shirin Ebadi’s memoir.
I think it was the only time I’d been in the same room as a Nobel Prize winner, and I was awed by proximity to someone of such courage, by the quiet dignity and strength of her words.
And now the cowardly woman-hating, freedom-crushing creeps and bullies who pass for a regime in Iran (may the nuclear laboratories they lie about blow up in their faces) have stolen the symbol of something they could never hope to aspire to — indeed, even understand — in their evil ignorant fanaticism. They’re nothing more than scummy crooks degrading religious piety everywhere with their travesty of it.
Ron Rosenbaum, Writer 
I don’t believe Obama actually has his prize yet. However, the awards ceremony offers a pretty big microphone.
Comment by vb — November 27, 2009 @ 5:20 am |
Maybe a better idea would be to lend his medal to Ebadi until she gets her own back.
Comment by unHandyAndy — November 27, 2009 @ 8:50 am |
The next time Obama does something for human rights will be the first.
Comment by charlie finch — November 27, 2009 @ 9:38 am |
[…] Read the entire story here. […]
Pingback by Pajamas Media » Obama: Give Back Your Nobel Until the Iranians Give Back Shirin Ebadi’s — November 27, 2009 @ 9:59 am |
I think wee lil’ Barry should keep his prize. He’s a joke and so are the Nobel prizes. Makes total sense that he should be awarded one.
Comment by Dave Surls — November 27, 2009 @ 10:20 am |
Come now. Obama shouldn’t have accepted the prize in the first place.
He ought to have declined it by saying that he appreciated their faith in him but he wants the prize to be for actual accomplishments not just hope for such to occur. And then he ought to have asked them to consider it in a few years time.
Instead, Obama, despite having done nothing but talk, talk, talk…and having actually accomplished the opposite of peace – is such a pathological narcissist that he accepted it. Because He Is Obama.
The opposite of peace? Obama, with his constant reference to race, has heightened racial tensions in the US to new heights.
With his scorn and anger at any and all who disagree with him (Tea Parties, Town Hall, FOX news), he has divided Americans into those who accept, on faith, Obama..and those who don’t who are defined as ‘mob and unAmerican’.
His obvious contempt for wealth and the results of hard work has set up an administration ‘out to get’ the wealthy, who are defined as wealthy not because of work but because of greed and has increased class war in the US.
His rejection of the reality of Islamic terrorism, by refusing to call it such and instead referring to it as ‘overseas contingency operations’; his refusal to acknowledge Ft Hood as an Islamic attack and his marginalizing his announcement of it to an afterthought in a ‘shout-out’ fun speech to native Americans; and, his politicizing the 9/11 trials by turning them into a BashBush show – divide and harm the nation.
In international affairs, his ignorance of history and his insults to western leaders has alienated them from the US. His indifference to Iranian dissidents and pro-democracy demonstrations has emboldened Iranian tyranny.
His empty and ignorant comments on Iranian nuclear ambitions has ensured their nuclear weapons program. His rejection of Honduran democracy and his support for Zelaya’s attempt to subvert the Honduran constitution has strengthened the Chavez agenda of imperialist totalitarianism in that area.
Obama, both at home and abroad, is a danger to the world.
Comment by ETAB — November 27, 2009 @ 10:21 am |
How very insensitive of you, Mr. Rosenbaum. The Nobel Prize ceremony, as well as everything else, is about Barack Obama. You can hardly expect him to turn down an honor or speak up at the prize ceremony to focus attention on someone else, can you? Remember, this is the man whose gift to the head of state of our most important ally was an iPod thoughtfully loaded with his speeches.
Meanwhile, brave and freedom-loving Iranians take to the streets, daring the response of their brutal and repressive government, chaning, “Obama, you are with us or against us!” And Obama makes it pretty clear that given that choice he’s against them.
I find this shameful for him personally and even more shameful for the leader of the world’s chief democracy. No one who is modest about himself becomes president, but Obama’s narcissism and self-involvement really is hubristic, and I can only hope that the US is not punished in the way that the Greek gods punished mortals who displayed hubris.
Comment by Alex Bensky — November 27, 2009 @ 11:47 am |
maybe Obama should just write a nice letter explaining all our past atrocities and then say that because of him we are a better country and it would be nice if Iran tried to embark on creating a happy new regime like we are here at home.
nice letters always work with leaders of thugocracy.
Comment by bryan — November 27, 2009 @ 1:06 pm |
What surprises me most about Obama is how utterly conventional a political thinker he is. Part of this is due to his attending Ivy League institutions in the Reagan era, where he was fed a steady dose of anti-American political correctness by the faculty equivalents of Wright and Ayers. Obama doesn’t really have any visceral appreciation of the intellectual diversity of America, in which you can read Sontag, Hess, Crouch, Burnham, Hitchens, Willis, Rosenbaum, Hentoff: independent minds with reasoned nuanced views that surprise you. Obama’s idea of a deep thinker is Tom Friedman and Maureen Dowd is Schopenhauer by comparison. Having a 29 year old speechwriter, John Favreau, feeding the teleprompter, adds to the tertiary nature of Obama’s weak knowledge of American intellectual history. This is a President whose whole identity is about taking a stand who doesn’t know how to take a stand on anything. To transform, Obama is going to have to really suffer politically on the international stage.
Comment by charlie finch — November 27, 2009 @ 1:28 pm |
In the streets of Iran, the demonstrators chant: “Obama, Obama, are you with us or are you with them?”
Says it all,I think
Comment by Roger L Simon — November 27, 2009 @ 2:10 pm |
Burka = a second dessert…no messing with my hair, no make up , no clothes on underneath..no shaving in a hurry..braless!!! Okay, could I go naked at home?
Obama could not give a flying ducky about people in distress, he’s not with you..get over it and do for yourself.
He has proven that he is not a man of honor.
Comment by abi — November 27, 2009 @ 2:55 pm |
when passport or id get stolen you can go to the source of governmental group and ask for renew new one
now if she lost or stolen her noble price while may be too many theft in Iran came to stole and when they saw statues they may have no idea what they stolen too
she can put ads on news paper for few month and ask money pay if some one return it
if not
she can apply to source of nobel price and ask to send her new one by show document the statuse was stolen
end of story
if Obama able to stop the war in world replace with more afford to feed the hunger and also to stop all mines explostion
then we can say he is in right track
my father always told me never be jelous of when some one has something and you do not have it instead think of where have you been before and where are you know to be proud yourself or hate yourself
think in jelousy of some one has power only make your life misrable
http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/11/17/poll-the-worlds-top-500-muslims-read-and-vote/
Click to access muslim500v-1L.pdf
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ei=mU4QS5KZDY7ilAeWyMSXBA&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CAYQBSgA&q=list+of+500+influential+muslim+in+world&spell=1
http://uoftconservatives.blogspot.com/2009/04/dalton-sales-tax.html#comments
Comment by info — November 27, 2009 @ 3:14 pm |
Ron this is your best piece so far. I love your aggressive style when it’s aimed at the Iranian tegime. Please keep it up.
I would like to point out that symbolic gestures do not work. Not now, not ever. The only reason politicians occasionally use them is to placate the naive part of the public and media. The only thing that works in the real world against despotic regimes is military action. And since nobody is willing to go use that option, why don’t we just cup the crap and admit to ourselves and everybody else that the Iranian regime is here to stay and they are going to become a nuclear power within the next 2-5 years.
Comment by 2face — November 27, 2009 @ 4:40 pm |
Two thoughts.
First of all, in the words of John Candy, in “Cool Runnings” when talking about an Olympic Gold Medal, “If you are not enough without one, you will not be enough with one”. Tehran realizes how little cachet is attached to the Nobel Peace Prize these days.
The other is, Mr. Rosenbaum, what you advocate is something that Winston Churchill would have advocated. Since his bust was returned to Great Britain, a powerful message
was sent: Winston Churchill is as welcome in the Oval Office these days, as much as a picture of the Romanov’s is welcome amidst Communists.
Comment by David W. Lincoln — November 27, 2009 @ 5:04 pm |
Maybe Obama will tell AchtungImonJihad to give it back, or he’ll tell the UN. I double dare you! Besides, Obama can’t give the medal back – he’s having it fashioned into a pair of balls.
Comment by Mike Jefferson — November 27, 2009 @ 8:46 pm |
No disrespect to the author, but Obama neends to turn the gold and money over to the treasury of debt to show his true humbleness in his his award of his future ousting, oops I meant peace initives. DRILL BABY DRILL
Comment by aeroguy48 — November 27, 2009 @ 11:45 pm |
Don’t expect a man who was photographed carrying a magazine with his picture on the cover to turn down anything that is “honoring” him, (I use the term loosely). He is completely self-centered, is no more equipped to be president than he was on the first day, is not respected by much of anyone except his own loyal supporters, and is pointing this country in the wrong direction. He wouldn’t know a good cause if it hit him in the face! Not only can the Iranians not depend upon him, his own countrymen can’t either.
Comment by Joe — November 28, 2009 @ 8:23 am |
And I think that had a sane man been in the shoes of the sail-eared simpleton he’d have laughed aloud at Oslo’s ignoble committee — and spit in their faces.
And that not being so, that scorpions being given rides across rivers by frogs shouldn’t sting them to death!
Comment by Brian Richard Allen — November 28, 2009 @ 8:32 am |
ron: i think norway should stop the whole thing until those a holes return the price to her. this would have a significant pressure on the iranian government…. as the rest of black hating racists.. Obama’s prize was well deserved.. simply because you are hopeless that does not mean he should not recieve the prize because he brought hope…
Comment by mr — November 28, 2009 @ 8:55 am |
You said it all, Ron. Well done.
Comment by Bob — November 28, 2009 @ 9:22 am |
Perhaps the Iranians confiscated the Nobel medal to protest the actions of the Nobel Committee to award Obama the Peace Prize in the first place.
Perhaps in the future the name of the prize should be changed to the Obama/Nobel Peace Prize.
Comment by Too clever by half — November 28, 2009 @ 9:43 am |
Marg bar dictator!
Comment by myth buster — November 28, 2009 @ 2:34 pm |
I’m sure he’s upset because the media spotlight has been moved to Shirin Ebadi and the longer it’s there the more asinine his nomination looks when compared to the efforts of a REAL activist for justice and human rights.
Comment by sanjuro — November 28, 2009 @ 2:50 pm |
It doesn’t matter to me who they release as Obama shouldn’t get the Nobel Prize anyway.
Comment by Gary — November 28, 2009 @ 4:53 pm |
The Nobel Committee should award B.O. the very same prize that the Iranians took from Ebadi. Since Arafat and Obama won the prize, it has become worse than trash. It’s like being awarded infected feces. Shirin should be pleased that the abomination was taken from her — she doesn’t deserve the indignity of being grouped with such traitors against humanity.
Comment by Michael A. Shoemaker — November 29, 2009 @ 1:23 am |
Of course, for Obama to refuse the Nobel Prize on principle would require him to have a backbone, it would require him to be decisive, and it would require him to take a stand against a Third-World dictatorship. Obviously, Obama is NOT capable of doing any of these things, so he’ll gladly accept a prize he never deserved and had no right in accepting. Just shows that when you start giving awards to people who don’t deserve them, they don’t have much meaning anymore. Pity.
Comment by Libertyship46 — November 29, 2009 @ 4:57 am |
Why? Let me have my waffles!
Why should Obama refuse a Nobel Prize he fully deserves just to promote an obscure figure from an unknown country?
Comment by misanthropicus — November 29, 2009 @ 6:24 am |