Party crashers face federal charges

On Tuesday, November 24 two attention-seeking adults (Michaele and Tareq Salahi) crashed an invitation only dinner at the Whitehouse. Before being able to enter, the couple’s SUV was rejected at a secret service checkpoint.

The audacity of these two individuals is amazing, as they left their SUV and went to a non-vehicle checkpoint where they reportedly pressured the secret service agent at the gate into allowing them to enter. The agent was reportedly trying to keep the line moving because of the rainy weather. Once inside the Salahis roamed the Whitehouse party eventually getting close enough to touch the President and Vice President.

They ensured that they took many photos.  The secret service became aware of the incident only after the couple posted several photos on their Facebook page.

Currently two senators are pursuing criminal and federal charges against the couple.

Personally, I agree with these charges. The couple entered an event that had a very influential person who some people would like to see dead. They broke the law (a federal one no less) in order to reap self-benefits, all the while making a mockery of the United States secret service and military. These people showed disrespect for their President and their country.

I personally hope that these people get punished for what they have done. They committed a selfish and illegal act that not only affected Obama’s administration, but also harmed the country’s opinion of him. People before were just questioning his policies now however they question everything from his life to his security procedures.

People should pay less attention to Tiger Wood’s car crash (I do hope he will be okay), and concentrate on the Federal Law the Sahali’s so blatantly ignored.

DESERVED: Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize

When one thinks of the Nobel Peace Prize, what comes to mind? Someone who has done what exactly? What makes a noble prize winner worthy of the awards?

To win the noble peace prize the award is given to the one person who has done the most work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the holding and promotion of peace congresses.

With the 2009 Peace prize being given out on Oct. 9^th much attention is being given to the winner of the award, Barack Obama.

The first question asked is what has Obama done to deserve it? In fact that is the main issue with Obama winning the award. What in his first year as President of the United States, has Obama done?

To grasp what he has done you need to look at the atmosphere of the world today, and think back to what it was before he came into office

In 2008 tension in the Middle East was on the rise. Iranian communication was cut off; all Government cooperation with the United States was slim to none. The only country where the government actively sought the help of the United States was Iraq, a country that we we’re fighting a war in.

Then on January 20^th 2009 Barack Obama became the 44^th president of the United States.

The first Middle Eastern country to open communication was Iran. A day after Obama was elected president, the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that he “Welcomes basic and fair changes in U.S. policies and conducts, I hope you will prefer real public interests and justice to the never-ending demands of a selfish minority and seize the opportunity to serve people so that you will be remembered with high esteem”.

In May of his first year as president, Obama went on a visit to the Middle East. Starting in Saudi Arabia, Obama made a trek across the Muslim world to visit those world leaders.

In recent news Obama is publicly preaching for the reduction of nuclear arms.

That is what Obama has done to promote Peace, and Fraternity.

A 25-nation poll of 27,000 people released in July by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found double-digit boosts to the percentage of people viewing the U.S. favorably in countries around the world.

At home Obama is attacked for trying to follow through with his agenda, healthcare being the main headline, but around the world Obama is a symbol of unity.

What Obama stands for is a change in world thinking.

For the last eight years when dealing with the Middle East our approach has been it’s our way, the right way and there way is wrong. As soon as Obama was elected president this hostile atmosphere was gone, we were talking now we were building a community, a global community.

Obama in the world stands for a new attitude of understanding. The Noble Prize committee doesn’t care about the US as an individual, they don’t care about our Healthcare, or anything internally, they care about the world.

The change in thought, the atmosphere and the attitude of the whole world is so dramatic that it does in fact deserve a Noble Peace Prize.

Obama is no Martin Luther King, he is no Woodrow Wilson.  He doesn’t have the major achievement under his belt. But there have been over 116 prizes given, and the MLK and Mother Teresa’s of the world are the minority here. The Argument that Obama doesn’t deserve to win it is like saying that The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is not as good as Casablanca. It is like saying that Jay Cutler isn’t a good quarterback because he is no Brett Farve. Not everyone is going to be the greatest there has even been, but there is no denying that Obama has done something for the world.

My question is why are American citizens getting upset over Obama’s victory? His win wasn’t fueled by some kind of marketing campaign, and there were no Liberals behind the scenes whispering in the ear of the committee. This victory was fueled by nothing but the world opinions. This means the world opinion is Obama deserves this prize.

We should be honored that people think that so highly of our President because like it or not, he represents America. He was voted into office to be our President, to deal with our country, and to represent our country to the world and the world’s reception to us is good. They believe America is on the frontlines of promoting peace, and fraternity.

UNDESERVED: Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize

Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize victory can be summed up in two words: premature and shocking. Although Obama has made great strides in terms of peace there are many things that he promised during the campaign trail that remain undone.

Obama received this coveted award because he opened up peace talks with the rest of the world and has improved the way in which other nations look at the U.S.

On October 9, the president blogged stating, “I will accept this award as a call to action – a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.” Whatever happened to awarding people for deeds they have actually done?

“I’m still waiting for my Nobel Prize in literature for the book that I am trying to write,” joked English teacher Daniel O’Rourke.

Obama is now one of three sitting presidents to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Woodrow Wilson received the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the League of Nations, and Theodore Roosevelt received the award for mediating the peace treaty that ended the Russo- Japanese war. Key words: “founding” and “writing.” These were both things that were accomplished before receiving the award.

On his first day in office, Obama started off by saying that he would close down Guantanamo Bay in the near future. This has not yet been done.

“I don’t think Obama has proven himself worthy of such a prestigious award like the Nobel Peace prize. I think that this is the equivalent of giving a freshman senior honors and recognitions,” said English department chair George Miller.

As for being so “peaceful,” the White House has recently attacked Fox News Channel.

“We’re going to treat them the way we would treat an opponent,” White House communications director, Anita Dunn recently said. “We don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.”

If the president is willing to go after a news source that rates as the United States’ number one cable news network, which bears the slogan “Fair and Balanced,” then how peaceful can Obama really be?

Freedom of press is given to us by the constitution, and Obama should respect this and realize how poorly this reflects on him so shortly after winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

I guess we’ll see how deserving he really is in the months to come.