By Marion Edwyn Harrison, Esq.
Nobel is not a Norwegian, Swedish or any other word for noble. It is the surname of Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833 - 1896), a partially self-taught Swedish scientist who, notwithstanding unsuccessful patent litigation in the English courts, made a fortune by developing and selling what we commonly call dynamite. Upon his death in 1896 Nobel left much of his fortune to establish five prizes. The subjects (in alphabetical order) were chemistry, literature, medicine or physiology, peace, physics.
In 1901, five years after Nobel’s death, awarding of Nobel Prizes commenced. Originally, consistent with Nobel’s last will and testament, different entities awarded the Prizes. The Peace Prize honoree, as the Prize came to be called, was decided upon by the Norwegian Storting, or, in English, the Norwegian Parliament.
The present procedure is that five Norwegians call the shot. They are chosen by the Norwegian Parliament for six-year terms. As expected, they are internationalist and liberal political personages. It should be no surprise for that reason alone that the 2009 choice is the internationalist, activist liberal President of the United States. He had been President only twelve days when he was nominated and only eight and a fraction months when the Prize was awarded. He has done nothing meaningful, specific or concrete to further peace but has traveled the globe – from abroad casting some aspersions upon our United States of America, speaking as a purported world leader and offering no little advice as to what some foreign countries should be doing.
For another reason there should be no surprise. To which conservative or moderate American leaders has this tiny Norwegian political committee awarded the Prize in the past, say, thirty years? Let’s not struggle to search. In 2002 the Prize went to former President James Earl (Jimmy) Carter, Jr; in 2007 to former Vice President Albert Arthur (Al) Gore, Jr.
The disproportionately liberal American press, of course, plays up the Prize as though it reflects the very quintessence of achievement, objectivity and prestige.
So much for the legacy of the dynamite merchant.
Marion Edwyn Harrison is President of, and Counsel to, the Free Congress Foundation.
