Hooray for Obama

by Bill Clinton

When I saw Pres. Obama had been selected to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, I could not have been more thrilled-- not even if I had won the award myself. Critics may say that he has not done enough to earn this honor, but they could not be more wrong.

While it is true that he didn't broker a historic Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, or contribute to the cease-fire in Northern Ireland, or negotiate a peace agreement in Bosnia (all of which I did), he has certainly done a lot. His recent speech on nuclear disarmament was absolutely inspirational-- maybe not as significant as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that I championed, but truly remarkable.

You see, the Nobel Peace Prize is not just about achievements. I mean look, Al Gore won one, and what did he do? He made a movie. A movie. Seriously.

Jimmy Carter won one too, and he didn't even get elected to a second term. He certainly didn't preside over the greatest economic expansion of the twentieth century. And what has Mr. Peanut done since being president? He just goes around building houses. He is a great man, and a hero of mine, but he didn't even found an organization like the Clinton Global Initiative, which is dedicated to literally solving all the world's problems (All of them. Read our charter).

Even Yasser Arafat won a Peace Prize. He won it for signing the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord. The one I brokered. No one could get Arafat and Rabin in a room together before I came along, but within months of being president I had a signed deal. And Arafat got the prize. Which I'm very happy about.

What President Obama has achieved cannot be measured in numbers. He has restored hope to the world. Remember "Hope"? It was kind of my campaign slogan. We were based out of Hope, Arkansas. There were posters that had my face on them. They said "hope" on the bottom. Nobody remembers that?

And of course he's also become the champion of universal healthcare. He's dared to stand up to the insurance giants like no one else has. Since 1993, when I did.

You all do know I got those two girls freed from North Korea, right? Yeah, that was me.

Anyway, I'm just tickled pink for Pres. Obama and his award. No matter how hard I rack my brains, I can't think of anyone who deserves it more. I mean that. Really.