When I first read this morning on another website that President Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, I thought someone was joking. After all, the nomination process is long and it means he was nominated for the prize within two weeks of his inauguration.

Speaking to NBC News Anchor Brian Williams former president Jimmy Carter (taking a breather between having tea with dictators and lunatics) proffered that not only was South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson’s inappropriate outburst during President Obama’s speech before a joint session of congress fueled by racism, but the wider opposition to Obama is also based on the fact that Obama is Black.

It’s ironic. When Democrats (including key Black Democrats) wanted Secretaries of State Powell and Rice to “fail” under the Bush Administration (i.e., not deliver the goals set forth by the Bush Administration in the best interests of the American people), it was not out of racism and not wanting to see the first two Black secretaries of state to success. Of course, it was out of principle against the Bush foreign policy.

Recently, President Obama decided to stay the course and ordered an additional 21,000 military forces to the country. I applaud him for this decision and for recognizing that the situation in Afghanistan affects not only the US, but the whole world. Many disagree with this decision. George Will, a conservative columnist calls for a pullout. “So, instead, forces should be substantially reduced to serve a comprehensively revised policy: America should do only what can be done from offshore, using intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, airstrikes and small, potent Special Forces units, concentrating on the porous 1,500-mile border with Pakistan, a nation that actually matters.”

To simply give up on this mission – of our two major post-9/11 wars, the one that seems vastly more justified in the eyes of our allies – would send a damaging signal to partners and adversaries alike.

There has been a lot of news made about President Obama’s address to American School children next week. Conservatives have been up in arms about this speech, with some trying to liken it to speeches made to school children in totalitarian regimes.

The liberal argument for health care reform is based on emotion and it works. I’m hardly rooting for a single-payer system, but I know what it means to be without healthcare, and as I’ve stated earlier, I know what it is to be sick and without health care. Democrats may have the wrong perscription to solve the issue, but at least they seem to care.

That’s not what I find when I listen to fellow conservatives. There is no talk about what it might mean to not have health care or to have your benefits cut, or to deal with the rising cost of perscription drugs. As Mark notes, there is some talk about “socialized medicine” and how the US has the best health care system in the world and how we should focus on free market solutions.There is no talk about people’s fears or concerns about this issue.