So, last night I posted this on facebook:

My wife, Lindsey, warned me that I was stirring an angry nest with this status, and in all honesty, I knew I was. Yet, I strongly believe in what I posted and it is apparent by the overwhelming response to my status that many disagree with me.

Regardless what my friends may think, I am not an evil plotting liberal/progressive. In fact, on most moral issues I stand in opposition with the liberals and Mr. Obama. Key issues as abortion and gay marriage make it impossible for me to ever be in that camp of belief.

So, why would I feel that Obama deserves the Nobel Prize? For me, my feelings on who should receive this distinguished award are independent of my political stance. I sincerely believe that the many people scoffing at the notion of Obama receiving this prestigious award, are basing their opinions on their political feelings. Many are not looking at what our President has accomplished in his short time in office.

My previous post highlights almost 80 acts of note worthy, Noble Peace Prize deserving, behavior—and that is only for nine months in 2009. It amazes me that people are willing to cast a blind eye to these achievements because they stand on opposites sides of the debate. For me this seems the underlying problem of America’s politics, we choose not to understand the other side or even be amiable to it.

With that all said, I do have to agree with my friend Katie (concerning both her statements ) when she said:

I seriously felt awarding the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore  the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for “their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change,” was, well, um….interesting to say the least. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure “An Inconvenient Truth,” was probably an inspiring movie, but was it worth the highest award for peace?

This example could feasibly support my friend’s Katie’s assumption that the Nobel Peace Prize is more of a liberal platform. Understanding this, I can see why some may feel that Obama’s award was more political than anything. However, when deciding who should be the worthy recepitant of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize I have to ask the same question Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Committee, asked when he stated, “The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world. And who has done more than Barack Obama?”

—Paul Wilson

With much of the uproar about President Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, I thought I would highlight all the things that he has done which make him worthy of this award. The timeline starts when Obama took office and goes until the end of September, 2009. February 1st is the deadline for when nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize must be submitted. However, the committee actually doesn’t choose the winner until October.

JANUARY

January 20 – In one of his first official acts, President Obama enacts a pay freeze for Senior White House Staff making more than $100,000 per year, as well as announces stricter guidelines regarding lobbyists in an effort to raise the ethical standards of the White House.

January 21 – Obama revokes Executive Order 13233, which had been initiated by the Bush administration to limit access to the records of former presidents.

January 21 - Obama issues instructions to all agencies and departments in his administration to “adopt a presumption in favor” of Freedom of Information Act requests, reversing earlier policy set by former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

January 22 – President Obama signs an executive order announcing the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp within a year, and signs a prohibition on using torture and other illegal coercive techniques, such as waterboarding, during interrogations and detentions, requiring the Army field manual to be used as a guide.

January 22 - Obama issues an executive order entitled “Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel,” governing the limitations on hiring of employees by the executive branch to qualified individuals only, and placing very tight restrictions on lobbying in the White House.

January 29 – Obama signs his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which promotes fair pay regardless of sex, race, or age.

FEBRUARY

February 4 – Obama signs the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 reauthorizing and expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

February 10 – President Obama temporarily halts a Bush midnight regulation that opens the Outer Continental Shelf to offshore drilling for oil and gas.

February 17 – Obama signs into law the $787 billion Recovery and Reinvestment Act in Denver, Colorado. The White House launches Recovery.gov to explain the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery.gov is the U.S. government’s official website providing easy access to data related to Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse).

February 17 - President Obama approves a deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan (Yes, this should be considered. The American focus is no longer in Iraq, under false pretenses of weapons of mass destruction).

February 19 – Obama makes his first trip abroad as president to Ottawa, Canada, where he speaks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper about environmental issues, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and other US-Canadian relations.

February 25 – Obama cancels leases for oil shale development on 1,900,000 acres of federal land in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

February 27 – Obama delivers a speech at Camp Lejeune on his plans for troop withdrawals from Iraq.

MARCH

March 2 – The White House pledges $900 million of humanitarian and development aid to the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

March 3 – Obama restores a provision of the Endangered Species Act requiring that federal agencies consult the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service before taking actions that could harm endangered species.

March 4 – Obama issues a memorandum limiting the possibility to grant no-bid contracts to private businesses.

March 9 – President Obama orders all executive officials to consult with the Attorney General before relying on any signing statement previously used to bypass a statute.

March 19 –  Just before midnight Obama releases a video message to the Iranian people and government to coincide withNowrūz (Nowrūz, meaning “New Day,” is the traditional Iranian new year ceremony).

March 24 – Obama holds his second prime time press conference in the East Room of the White House, to discuss economic hardships, as well as the government’s intentions to solve the global economic crisis.

March 26 – Obama holds an online town hall at the White House, a historic first in American Presidential conveyance.

March 27 – Obama announces a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

March 30 – Obama signs the Omnibus Public Land Management Act into law.

APRIL

April 3 – Obama meets French President Nicolas Sarkozy and holds a town hall meeting with French and German students.

April 5 – Obama gives a thoughtful speech on nuclear proliferation disarmament to a public crowd in Prague. Earlier the North Korean government had launched a long-range multi-stage rocket.

April 7 – Obama finishes his trip in Istanbul, including a town hall meeting, and makes a surprise visit to Baghdad, Iraq (his first as president), where he meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

April 9 – In a presidential first, Obama hosts a White House Seder for the second night of Passover.

April 12 – Richard Phillips, captured by pirates in the Maersk Alabama hijacking, is freed by Navy Seals after Obama approves military action.

April 13 – Obama signs a presidential memorandum eliminating limits on Cuban-Americans governing family visits and remittances sent to the island.

April 16 – Four memos are released by the Obama administration on enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA on Al Qaeda suspects.

April 16-17 – President Obama states the US is a “full partner” with Mexico in its fight against the Mexican drug cartels.

April 21 – Obama signs the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act into law (the bill reauthorizes and expands the AmeriCorps program first established in 1993)

April 23 – Obama speaks at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony at the capitol sponsored by the National Holocaust Museum.

April 27 – Obama addresses the National Academy of Sciences and announces that more than 3 percent of the GDP will be devoted to research and development. He also announces a doubling of the budgets of NSF and NIST, and a goal of reducing carbon pollution by more than 80 percent by 2050.

MAY

May 5 – Obama meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss the foreign affairs of Israel, the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis, and the prospects of a two-state solution.

May 6 - President Obama holds a summit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at the White House.

May 16 – Jon Huntsman, Jr., the current Republican Governor of Utah, is named United States Ambassador to China by President Obama, to replace Clark T. Randt, Jr. of Connecticut (go Utah, oh yeah, nice partisan Obama).

May 18 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Obama and Sec. of State Clinton in Washington.

May 19 – President Obama announces plans to create new automobile fuel efficiency standards requiring cars, as well as light trucks to have an average of at least 35.5 miles per gallon, by 2016, in an attempt to curve emissions and reduce the United States’ contributions to global warming.

May 20 – The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 and the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act are signed into law by President Obama to help alleviate burdens caused by the economic financial crisis in the United States.[

May 22 – Obama signs the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act (an act that was created to reform the way the Pentagon contracts and purchases major weapons systems).

May 22 – Obama signs the Credit CARD Act into law, to reform legislation and aim “…to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes.”

May 25 – President Obama continues the long standing tradition of the U.S. President sending a wreath to the Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day and garners praise from Sons of Confederate Veterans Commander Chuck McMichael.

May 30 – Plans for a CyberSpace Czar to help prevent web crimes such as identity theft and other breaches of computer security networks are announced by the President.

May 31 – Obama denounces and condemns the killing of medical director and abortionist George Tiller, saying he was “shocked and outraged” by the assassination and death of Tiller.[

June

June 2 – President Obama holds a press conference announcing legislation honoring the achievements of former President of the United States Ronald Reagan.

June 3 – President Obama visits with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia on his way to Cairo, Egypt to make a speech introducing himself to the Muslim world (I would love to see President Bush try this).

June 4 – President Barack Obama gives a speech in Cairo, Egypt, as a part of a worldwide attempt to repair the image of America around the world, a promise he made during his campaign for President of the United States. During the speech, Obama notably references the Bible, the Torah, the Qur’an, and other Muslim texts in his address to the more than one thousand Cairo University students in attendance.

June 5 – Obama visits Buchenwald, a former Nazi concentration camp used during World War II, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and survivor and activist Elie Wiesel, during his trip through Germany.

June 6 – Obama commemorates the 65th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France, along with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Prince Charles and President Nicolas Sarkozy.

June 17 – Obama announces sweeping proposals to rework financial regulation and move the country toward financial stability.

June 19 – Along with other prominent fathers, Obama holds a town hall meeting at the White House to commemorate Father’s Day, and bring awareness to the relationship of American fathers and children. Obama notably identified his father as one of the greatest influences in his own life, in the short time that they were together.

June 22 – President Obama signs legislation granting authority over tobacco products to the United States Food and Drug Administration in the Rose Garden of the White House.

June 22 - Obama also announced an $80 billion, 10 year offer by drug manufacturers to close the gap between Medicare prescription drug coverage and comprehensive health care reform.

June 23 – President Obama holds a press conference to discuss the issues of the recent Iranian election protests in Iran.

June 26 – The President signs the “‎Cash-for-Clunkers bill” into law to increase national fuel efficiency, as well as stimulate the automobile industry, after both Chrysler and General Motors had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

June 27 – The removal of American combat troops from major Iraqi cities begins.

June 30 – The President delivers remarks at an event in the East Room to highlight programs that have been able to make a difference in communities across the country.

July

July 6 – The President and First Lady Obama arrive in Moscow to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, to discuss diplomatic progress in regards to nuclear weapons, as well as the situation in Afghanistan.

July 7 – President Obama meets with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in a continuous attempt to restructure the U.S.–Russian relationship. Obama also meets with former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev in Gostinny Dvor, Russia.

July 8 – President Obama visits the quake zone in Italy that was struck in April, 2009.

July 10 – On the final day of the G-8 Summit, President Obama meets with South African president Jacob Zuma, Obama also visits Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City. The President then heads to Ghana in Africa, his first visit to any sub-saharan African nation since he was elected president.

July 14 – Obama speaks at Macomb Community College, and proposes a $12 billion effort to help two-year institutions to “train more people…for the jobs of the future.”

July 22 – The President holds a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the Oval Office, and hold a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden.

July 27 – Obama and Chinese leaders Wang Qishan, Chinese Vice Premier, and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, attend the U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue held in Washington, D.C.

July 30 – President Obama and Vice President Biden hold a “beer summit” at the White House with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates and the arresting officer Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambride Police Department, in order to address the issue of race in America and discuss the arrest of Gates in his Massachusetts home on July 16, 2009. Obama also discusses remarks he had made during his news conference on July 22, in which he stated that the police department had “acted stupidly” in arresting Gates.

August

August 3 – The President meets with Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait, in the Oval Office.

August 5 – Obama visits Elkhart, Indiana for the second time in his presidency to hold a townhall meeting about unemployment in the work force and new jobs being created.

August 10 – President Obama meets in Guadalajara, Mexico with President Felipe Calderón of Mexico and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada for a trilateral meeting to discuss the global economy, climate change, security and safety, as well as the H1N1 pandemic.

August 18 – President Obama, along with Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton, meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Oval Office.

September

September 8 – Obama speaks at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia to promote education.

September 9 – President Obama outlines his healthcare proposal in a speech to a joint session of Congress, amidst controversy in regards to a public option, illegal immigrant’s access to healthcare and “death panels”.

September 10 – President Barack Obama meets with Prince General Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi in the Oval Office.

September 11 – President Barack Obama addresses family members and friends who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001, in the September 11 attacks, at The Pentagon.

September 14 – President Obama speaks about the financial crisis at Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City.

September 22 – President Barack Obama addresses the Climate Change Summit at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

September 24 – In a first for an American president, Obama chairs a U.N. Security Council summit dedicated to nuclear disarmament and proliferation.

September 25 – While at the G-20 Pittsburgh summit, Obama and the leaders of France and the UK make a public statement accusing Iran of constructing a secret nuclear facility near Qom.