Obama Drama

Ever since the beginning of his satire regarding the Jacob Zuma shower scandal I have become an avid fan of Mail & Guardian's (amongst others) cartoonist Zapiro. So every so often, well every day in fact, I check up the M&G website for Zapiro's latest slander on his appropriate muse. It just so happened that this week's cartoon refers to Barack Obama's award of the Nobel Peace Prize. So, out of curiosity I looked up exactly what he was being recognised for http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/press.html and honestly it just came across as far too vague for my liking.

I personally have very little opinion currently on Obama, except that he's the apple of the media's eye and perhaps this attention is presently a bit uncalled for. Don't get me wrong, yes the world has high expectations for "America's First Black President" and sure he's one hell of a public charmer and perhaps all round nice guy. But what has he achieved so far in his short 10 month stint as president? And what makes him so deserving of one of the most prestigious prizes in history?

Surely it's far too early to reward Obama for his presidency and certainly it can't be justified as yet. In between his many amiable photo opportunities that are sprawled across newspapers, we still witness the same old negative political situation that has yet to change in the slightest. The President said it best when he stated during his victory speech, "Let me be clear: I do not view it as recognition of my own accomplishments".

By: Tarryn Ross