There’s been a lot of buzz in the blogosphere about the upcoming execution of Tookie Wiliams, founder of the Crips street gang, for murdering four people back in 1979. Of particular interest is Williams’ nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize for his anti-gang work while in prison.
I’ve got nothing personal against Tookie—I hope he gets whetever justice he deserves—but that turns out not to be so impressive. Apparently, a lot of people can submit nominations, including:
- 1. Members of national assemblies and governments of states;
- 2. Members of international courts;
- 3. University rectors; professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology; directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes;
- 4. Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
- 5. Board members of organizations who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize;
- 6. Active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee;…and
- 7. Former advisers appointed by the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
This suggests an important question: Could I get someone to nominate me?
I mean, Henry Kissinger and Yasser Arafat have both won the award, and I’m just trying to get nominated. Tookie is a convicted quadruple murderer. Heck, Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin were both nominated, and they’ve got the blood of what, maybe 50 million people on their hands? (Hitler’s nomination was later withdrawn.) Clearly, the Nobel nominators’ conception of peace is pretty broad. Never having killed anyone, ordered anyone killed, or started a war, I think I’ve got an edge.
I’ve got to look into this some more.
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