Who cares if you think President Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize! Our forefathers may have expressly written, some three hundred-ish years ago, that he cannot receive it! As the Washington Post notes, “Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, the emolument clause, clearly stipulates: ‘And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.'” And: “The five-member Nobel commission is elected by the Storting, the parliament of Norway. Thus the award of the peace prize is made by a body representing the legislature of a sovereign foreign state.”
The newspaper has more background — like how both Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson accepted a Nobel while holding the presidency — and how even giving the $1.4 million prize money to charity doesn’t save him, because that’s a $500k tax deduction he benefits from.
But what’s silly here is this: The Constitution then bars any president from accepting even an honorary title from a foreign nation. Like, George W. Bush could never have received a “Best Butt Buddy” award from Britain’s Tony Blair, or a “Total Douchebag” award from Iraq.
The Post insists “Congress should allow him to accept the award. The prize money, which legally belongs to the United States, ought to be applied by Congress to some worthy cause, such as reducing the deficit.” But we barely trust Congress with our own money, let alone a foreign government’s check to the commander-in-chief.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
But hey, we’re sure there’s a Orly Taitz out there ready to pop up on Fox News arguing the case.
(Illustration via Outlook India)
tavdy79
Assuming the Nobel Prizes qualify as a “present, Emolument, Office, or Title”, this would be at least the second time that rule has been broken in recent history – Colin Powell has been a member of the Order of the Bath (i.e. held a British Knighthood) since before he served as US Secretary of State under Bush; he also holds similar honours from France, Bulgaria, Canada and the now-defunct South Vietnam. Both these honours and Nobel Prizes are awards, analogous to the Congressional Medal or Presidential Medal of Freedom.
bystander
The Colin Powell reference is spurious. He accepted the knighthood while a private citizen. The clause is binding on currently serving officers of the united states, not citizens in general, and had been interrupted in the past to not be retroactive: if you accept the prize and/or title as a private citizen you don’t have to give it back if you then go into the public sector.
The prize certainly qualifies under the clause, and should probably go to the US Treasury not the president himself. The award itself is in a grey area, its debatable as to whether it qualifies as a foreign title or not.
Furthermore there is no kind of formal enforcement mechanism to this clause and it is reference so rarely that i doubt most people care. With a democrat congress, the President probably doesn’t have to worry about sticking strictly to the text of the clause, he can just fudge it.
Orpheus_lost
I really, really hate to admit this but for once the rabid right wing has a point. It doesn’t matter whether other presidents have taken the prize without the consent of congress; it only matters that the Constitution states that congress must vote to allow Obama to take it now.
That being said, while I think the prize was precipitate, at best, I think that the chances of congress actually voting against the award are nil. I wouldn’t vote against it and I have no idea why he was awarded it to begin with. The concept of issuing a prize to someone based upon what they MIGHT do in future is downright silly but now that its done, it would be a tremendous slap in the face to both the president and to the Nobel Committee to block it.
Regardless, it would certainly show a respect for the Constitution, congress and the rule of law if Obama were to let a vote be taken on this award. As for the money going into the Treasury, that’s ridiculous. Deserved or not, Obama won the award and therefore deserves to dispose of it in any way he sees fit.
Pete
The article that you cite was not written by The Washington Post staff, but appeared in the Post by two guest columnists on the op-ed page. The writers are conservative/libertarian types, who are half a step next to the birthers, and not far from the teabaggers.
Kropotkin
lol, wut? Two other presidents got the Nobel (to my knoewledge, T. Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson while they were sitting presidents); it’s silly and ignorant of the facts to even pose this question.
Lori
The Nobel Prize is awarded by the Nobel Foundation, a private institution.
http://nobelprize.org/nobelfoundation/index.html
The fact that its founder, Alfred Nobel, decreed that the peace prize was to be decided by a committee of five members selected by the Norwegian parliament does not magically turn this private foundation into a foreign government. Gah.
Tom
Nice job, buying into the nutcases’ stupid arguments. Next thing you know, you’ll be pushing Orly Taitz for President.
Even though she’s not “native born.”
Dale
The Constitution was written in 1786. That’s 223 years ago, which is quite a bit off from “three hundred-ish.”
Dale
Er, 1787. Typo.
JAMES Raider
OBAMA’S NOBEL PRIZE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PEACE – IT’S ABOUT “COPENHAGEN”
Obama’s upcoming acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize and the invisible strings attached to it, may prove to be an enormously expensive exercise for all taxpayers on this continent. The “Copenhagen” supporters on the Nobel Committee, on the other hand, are counting on it.
http://pacificgatepost.com/2009/10/obama-nobel-is-not-about-peace.html
—
Tom
Copenhagen? Didn’t know we were at war with them. Yet.
Tom
James Raider: One of the funniest posts I have ever read! Are you related to Orly Taitz?
JAMES Raider
@ Tom,
So glad you learned something.
princess johnson
you gays need jesus!
so fake!
Trel
Yes he can accept the Nobel prize, because he isn’t really the president!!!!!!!!!! He’s a total fraud!!!!!!!!!
Obama
” I come in Peace “
Chuck
You guys have finally shown your true alliance with Fox News! Do you have a direct phone line? Do you consult with Rush and the other lunatics or do they take their cues from you?
Paul
Was the $20K fine enough? Maybe when Taitz becomes a real lawyer she will appreciate what just happened. I wonder if she is a mail order bride, just like her law degree? She is perfect reporter material for “Fake News”, where unfounded rumors and innuendo reign supreme , unlike a our US courts of law, where you need to present documented facts, not half baked lies (prepare for more failures). When flies get too close to the lights they get burned, Taitz just got burned, thing is, like a fly she will continue, no end in sight. Poor little Birthers they are haters not debaters.
A lawyer, dentist, realtor and black belt, wow I must say a JACK of all trades master of none.