GOP Attacks Nobel Peace Prize and Winner Obama, sides with Hamas and Taliban: It was his "Star Power"

I found this headline an interesting response to the news our president was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "GOP chairman scoffs at Obama winning Peace prize."

Impossible to believe, but the Peace prize is now a source of disgust from real Americans, our whiny creators of the Great Republican Recession. They must now de-legitimize the award given to those who have set a direction of peace in the world. It's not a gold watch for service given.

AP - The chairman of the Republican Party, Michael Steele, is contending that President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize as result of his "star power" rather than meaningful accomplishments. "The real question Americans are asking is, What has President Obama actually accomplished?"

Again, this is a "PEACE" prize, but...

He doesn't think Obama will be "receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action."

That's PEACE prize Michael. (Steele should be reminded that Obama didn't cause the Great Recession, Republicans did, the very reason for the massive job losses.)

A better point is made by the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, who wrote:

His winning the Nobel Peace Prize is very bad for Obama politically," said Republican consultant Curt Anderson. "It will completely reinforce the notion that he is all flash and no substance, all style, and more popular in Europe than in America."

The Democratic National Committee is pushing back -- hard -- against attacks from Republicans about the prize. "The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists -- the Taliban and Hamas this morning -- in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize," said DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse.

If you thought that was bad, check this out from Washington Post writer Brad Hirschfield, an Obama supporter:

But awarding this prize, at this time, to President Obama may actually be a bigger embarrassment than having awarded it to Yassir Arafat.

If anyone assumed that only Democratic politicians were weak kneed and spineless, liberal pundits from the Huffington Post to Robert Reich have folded under the pressure of right wing crazies, and have criticized the award. But Moveon.org put it best with this email message:

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According to my Moveon.org email: President Obama has "created a new international climate," the Committee said. "Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position... The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations."

In his historic April 2009 speech in Prague, the President vowed to pursue a world without nuclear weapons. Words are important, but words without action mean little. Thankfully, President Obama has already taken a number of concrete steps toward that goal by:

Starting bilateral negotiations with Russia for a successor to the START arms reduction agreement.

Giving a jump-start to diplomacy by restarting talks with Iran that have already proven constructive.

Pledging to ratify the CTBT, secure loose nuclear material around the world, and host a global nuclear security summit in Washington next year.

Sending Secretary of State Clinton to an international conference for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Securing international endorsement of his campaign for a world without nuclear weapons when he presided over a special session of the UN Security Council, continuing the momentum toward nuclear security and arms control.

This progress is just beginning, and we will need sustained focus to achieve these goals over the coming years. But neo-conservative critics of the President are staunchly opposed to nuclear disarmament. The international community has made a dramatic show of support for President Obama's vision, and we need to show that the American people support him as well.