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Surprise -- another prize! And the Envelope, PleaseBy Rick Horowitz
OSLO, Any Minute Now -- In a move that caught both Washington and much of the international community unaware, President George W. Bush today was named the first recipient of the Nobel Swagger Prize. The Nobel committee made the announcement at the Norwegian Nobel Institute here in Oslo, where just days ago, it announced that the International Atomic Energy Agency and its director, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, had been selected to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. But where rumors about possible Peace Prize winners had been rampant in the weeks leading up to the announcement, the very existence of the Swagger Prize was a closely held secret until moments before Mr. Bush was named the winner. The committee's citation made note of "the distinctive attitude George Bush brings to his diplomatic efforts," and said that he "exemplified a certain spirit that the world has come to know as peculiarly American." And in an apparent reference to Mr. Bush's much-discussed "gunslinger" stance -- his feet apart, his arms held away from his sides and ready for action -- the citation credited the president with a "unique merging of policy and posture." The choice was a clear one, said Nobel committee chairman Ole Danbolt Mjos. Indeed, Mr. Mjos indicated, Mr. Bush was very much on the committee's mind when it decided to create the award. "Working for peace is vital, and we have long recognized it as such," Mr. Mjos declared. "At the same time, we acknowledge that there are a variety of leadership styles, and praising the one should not mean ignoring the other. President Bush's leadership style, we felt, required recognition." That style, Mr. Mjos suggested, was best described by the old Norwegian saying, "Climb aboard or jump in the fjord." The timing of the announcement provided a certain irony, as Mr. Bush finds himself embroiled in a dispute back home with supporters concerned that his normal swagger has been missing in his latest choice of a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. His selection of White House counsel Harriet Miers over several better-known and more highly regarded conservative thinkers has many in his party's right wing charging that the president has "ducked a fight" and "blinked" at the prospect of opposition from Democrats. But while Nobel committee members were aware of the dispute, Mr. Mjos said, it did nothing to alter their final decision. "This is not an award given for any one thing," he explained, "but rather for the totality of a person's career. Although he is only early in his second term, already the dimensions are clear, whether it is global warming or international tribunals or certainly the war with Iraq. Swagger is central to each of these." At the White House, meanwhile, news of Mr. Bush's selection received a somewhat muted reaction. The choice of former president Jimmy Carter, an outspoken critic of Bush administration policies, for the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize was widely regarded at the time as a not-so-veiled criticism of Mr. Bush. That the Nobel committee would now choose to honor Mr. Bush -- and more than that, to create a new award seemingly tailored to him -- left the president's aides cautious in their comments. "The American people have always appreciated strong and decisive leadership from a president who knows his own mind and knows America's rightful place in the world," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "To the extent that this award means that foreigners appreciate it, too, this president is, of course, grateful." "And to the extent that they don't appreciate it," Mr. McClellan continued, "this president, of course, couldn't care less." Posted 10/11/05.
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Rick Horowitz
