"Words, words, words, I'm so sick of words . . . "

Today, Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize . . . for his words. I've been reading some of the objections to his win. One overwhelming sentiment is that all he has done, in his short 8 months in office, is make three speeches; one in Germany, one in Cairo, and one at the United Nations.

My belief is that our political leaders have very little direct power, either domestically or internationally. Their power lies in their ability to convince people to think the way they think. How do they do this? If they are good at making speeches, as Obama is, then that would be a very good method.

I can think of a few people who used public speaking to advance their agenda; Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King's 'I have a Dream' speech, JFK's inaugural address where he says 'Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country'. Even Ronald Regan's 'Gorbechev teared down this wall' speech.

It's a pitty that 'the great communicator' fumbled that line but what he did to inspire and influence not only his friends but his enemies is a matter of record.

By the way, how come Ronald Regan didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize but two notoriously unsuccessful democratic leaders did. I'm thinking of Jimmy Carter, and that idiot who claimed he invented the internet. What was his name? Oh, right, Al Gore. Ronald Regan's contributions to tearing down the Iron Curtain make Carter and Gore's accomplishments, in comparison, laughably insignificant. But I digress.

Can a president win the Nobel Peace Prize by making three speeches? Sure. Our former Canadian Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson, did it with one; to the UN.

I haven't listened to Obama's three speeches but I'm going to check them out and see if I agree with the Nobel Prize committee. (Do speeches count when you use a teleprompter? Just kidding.)

Obama's speech in Germany

Obama's speech in Cairo

Obama's speech to the UN