Rush Limbaugh has been nominated for a Nobel Peace prize.
That is the headline that conservative public interest law firm Landmark Legal Foundation would like you to see. "Limbaugh called 'the foremost advocate for freedom and democracy in the world today,'" the group proclaimed, though Landmark President and fellow conservative talker Mark Levin was the one doing the proclaiming. He was not available to comment.
The group sent out the release saying they had nominated the conservative radio talk show host, who, by the way, regularly trashes his opposition with terms like feminazi. Levin isn't much kinder to his opponents. It was likely a knee jerk response to the actual nomination of Al Gore.
They added that "should Limbaugh become the 2007 Nobel Laureate for Peace, he will receive the Nobel Peace Prize medal and a cash award of $10 million Norwegian Kroner (approximately $1.6 million). The prize would be presented at a ceremony in the Oslo City Hall presided over by King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway on December 10, 2007, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. As the 2007 Nobel Laureate for Peace, Limbaugh would deliver the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Lecture at that ceremony."
It reminded us of those "50 million to 1 contest" solicitations that talk about how "your name here" would be buying a yacht and traveling the globe and riding in a Mercedes "if the name of 'your name here' is announced as the big winner."
What the release–from PR Newswire–failed to mention was that the nomination was unsolicited. A spokesman said they had not found any rule against unsolicited nominations.
Through some keen detective work–clicking on the official Nobel prize Web site–we found one: "Can I nominate someone for the Nobel Prize? If you are not invited you cannot nominate." Had they been invited. No, said the spokesman.
There was some confusion Friday morning, at least on talk radio, about whether you could or could not nominate someone by sending a letter to the judges. The Web site appeared pretty clear about it, but I have a note in to the judges and when I find out, so will you.
By John Eggerton
