Comments on Gore Nominated for Nobel

Everyone knows that conservatives in Scandinavia are what, in America, we call Democrats.

I could be wrong, but I imagine a Norwegian conservative is along the lines of a DLC Dem.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it.

Image, a country with reasonably sane conservatives, and hot Nordic lads and lasses.

It is probably because of their liberal belief in public education that they don't have half their country trying to crucify the other half.

Can they just create an environmental Nobel already, if they're going to insist on nominating and awarding environmental work?

I wish that guy would run for president. I like him better than Hillary for sure, and I like his politics much more than Obama's.

Although Al Gore is a worthy candidate, hundreds of people get nominated for the Peace prize every year. Over the course of the prize, the list has included Bush, Hitler, and Stalin.

Andrew, I agree but just wait. Gore just needs to let everyone else beat each other up to where everyone is sick of Hillary and the rest. THEN Al can jump in the fray as a previous winner of the White House and a fresh face in the run for 2008.

keshmeshi: Can they just create an environmental Nobel already, if they're going to insist on nominating and awarding environmental work?

Actually, any serious success in fighting climate change (which we haven't achieved yet) is a stride towards peace.

I'm not an anthropologist, but I think it's pretty obvious to say that land and resources have always been among the causes of war. As climate change causes some places to no longer be habitable or arable -- or just changes how people can live in some places -- war is going to be a natural consequence. Put another way, war is often a consequence of great economic upheaval (see WWII), and climate change has the potential to wreak some real economic havoc.

Dan, out of curiosity, why is Al not to be taken seriously? I'm honestly puzzled here...are you being sarcastic, or do you know something I don't?

If Stanley Williams can be nominated, pretty much anyone can. Here's the deal, any member of a national assembly can make a nomination. So can any professor of social sciences, history, philosophy, law or theology. As can directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes. The rules on who can nominate for the Nobel Peace Prize are much more liberal than for any other Nobel Prize.

Everyone knows that conservatives in Scandinavia are what, in America, we call Democrats.

This seems not to be the case. Why should an American who happens to be on the Left be any less insular or parochial than his peer on the right?

It should give one pause to know that there are Europeans on the Left who view your average Stranger poster as a hopelessly centrist LINO (Left in Name Only).

Conservative in Norway is to the left of American Democrats... way to the left.

Ok clarification on politics.

1) The stranger definitely corresponds to a (continental) European liberal party. The Democrats, being to the right of hte stranger, are probably at about the level therefore of a christian democrat party. The Stranger is almost certainly to the right of any major European socialist party, even Germany's LINO SPD. Which puts the Stranger somewhere around LNEINO. (Left not even in name only). This is pure context though. IF there were a strong american left party, the stranger would probably move to the left. Maybe.

2) A poll of Canadian Conservatives showed that the majority of Conservative party members would have voted for Kerry in 2004. Defaming PM Harper involves saying stuff like "his legislation was conceived in Washington" or "he is a practically George Bush", to which the reply is of course, "that's ridiculous, how could you say something like that."

3) Green parties (whom Al Gore perhaps approximates) are not always seen as representing a place on the left-right dichotomy/slider, though I can really only speak for Canada. The German Greens are associated with the left, but even Joschka Fischer, whose youthful indiscretions include beating up a cop as part of a 'new left' movement (a cop who, upon interview, said he had no hard feelings and even voted green), signed off on the NATO attacks on Serbia.

4) 1-3 are adequate indication as to why American politics suck and are boring.