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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   12734 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 3, 2025

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I find Trump's desire to win a Nobel Peace Prize (if he does, indeed, want one - all I have seen on this point is speculation) truly bizarre. For as long as I can remember American conservatives (and Tom Lehrer and others from the more cynical left) have mocked the Peace Prize based on the wickedness of some of the most famous laureates.

I personally believe that Donald Trump has already well and truly earned his place in the illustrious company of Yasser Arafat, Gerry Adams, Le Duc Tho etc. (I assume MAGA supporters would throw in the EU, Kofi Annan and Barack Obama as similarly undeserving cases.) But I don't see why he would be making an effort to have this fact publicly recognised.

Uh, what did Obama do to deserve the Nobel peace prize? Like I’m not saying he’s the most undeserving recipient ever but what makes him deserving at all?

I literally don’t understand what the steelman is supposed to be.

Obama did nothing to deserve the prize, but most people think he wasn't actively evil in the way that Arafat, Adams, Tho etc. were - they did less than nothing to deserve a Peace Prize. He is only "similarly undeserving" to them if you actually think he is evil, which MAGA Americans mostly do and the rest of us don't.

He blocked Hillary and McCain from the presidency.

Tbh I’m convinced, he’s the second greatest contributor to world peace in the 21st century.

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