To the Editor:
Re “The Peace Prize” (editorial, Oct. 10) and “Heckuva Job, Barack,” by Ross Douthat (column, Oct. 12):
I remember the day in the 1980s when Desmond Tutu stood before us at St. James Episcopal Church in Manhattan, swung his Nobel medal slowly back and forth on its chain with childlike glee, and as I recall he said: “This is not my prize. This is our prize. And we are going to win!”
Barack Obama may someday be inclined to say something similar about his prize, for as much as Desmond Tutu’s prize amounted to recognition for all who had joined him in opposing and ultimately triumphing over apartheid, President Obama’s prize amounts to recognition for all who had supported his campaign to restore our country to the community of law-abiding nations.
The award is also a stinging rebuke to those who in their official capacities or with their votes had been responsible for our government’s recent descent into lawlessness. For this reason, if no other, President Obama’s selection was bound to be controversial, but I am confident that with time all Americans will take pride in an award that honors all of us as well as the recipient.
James G. McCulloh
Princeton, N.J., Oct. 12, 2009
Note from KBJ: One example of lawlessness, please.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 