I hope Al Gore is hanging his head

Telegraph of London ^ | 5-13-2008 | Daniel Hannan

[Entrepreneur]

I am ashamed to admit that I had never heard of Irena Sendler, whose obituary appeared in this morning’s paper. Hers is an awesomely humbling story, even by the standards of her heroic generation.

A Polish Catholic, she spirited some 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto, displaying casual and extraordinary courage. She kept a list of the children she had saved, hoping one day to reunite them with their parents – although, in the event, almost all lost their families in Treblinka. In 1943, she was arrested by the Gestapo and tortured. Her legs and feet were broken, but she refused to give up her list. She was sentenced to death, but rescued, whereupon – almost unbelievably – she went back to work.

Here, though, is the sentence that leapt off the page at me: “Last year she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, eventually won by Al Gore.” Al Gore!...

...making a film is not the same thing as donning a yellow star and smuggling babies past enemy soldiers...

..."I continue to have qualms of conscience that I did so little. I could have done more. This regret will follow me to my death.” There is a haunting sincerity to that statement. You can’t imagine Al Gore saying any such thing, can you?

[Entrepreneur]

There have been several posts about Irena Sendler's passing over the past few days on the Free Republic...

Sendler, savior of Warsaw Ghetto children, dies

Woman who saved kids from Holocaust dies (Irena Sendler)

And earlier...

Polish Holocaust heroine in Hollywood movie

Polish righteous gentile nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Irena Sendler for Nobel Peace Prize - support this candidacy! ("Polish Schindler")

Polish righteous Gentile woman recommended for Nobel Prize

A Nobel Prize for peace - and image

Irena Sendler - candidate for Peace Nobel Prize

I'm not sure any made the connection between Sendler's nomination and Algore's receipt of a joke of a Nobel Peace Prize.

The people who really should hang their heads are those who gave the huckster the sham of a prize.

[purpleraine]

People like Gore never do anything wrong. They just move to the next cause.

[Flavius]

To bad there is server storage.

[Auntie Mame]

Thanks for the background.

Posting this comment from the blog for others to read for background:

Never Heard Of Irena?

Maddie 14 May 2008 02:57

Isn’t it amazing that millions of us ‘ignorant Yanks’ know about this incredible woman and her story, yet a Euro doesn’t.

It started with a history project in a small rural Kansas town where 4 friends signed up for National History Day, a contest in which more than half a million students compete to create the most compelling historical project. They decided to make their project a one act play about the Holocaust. This is a small farming town and there were only 29 kids in their graduating class.

They wanted an actual person to research and came across an article from years earlier titled “The Other Schindlers” which described a half dozen people who had also saved Jews but were never recognized. They chose Irena, but after sifting through books, newspapers, the internet and even going to the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, could find nothing. Through a Jewish Foundation, they found out Irena was still alive and living in Warsaw.

They sent her a letter and told her about their play. Irena responded, in Polish, and they had to find a translator at the University of Kansas.

“To my dear and beloved girls, very close to my heart,” Irena began, and proceeded to tell them her incredible and harrowing story. She was flattered by their play but insisted she was no hero and did what anyone would have done.

They made it to the National History Day finals but didn’t win, but because of coverage in a local paper, civic organizations were calling and asking them to perform their play “Life in a Jar”. After a performance, a Jewish businessman asked if they would like to go to Warsaw and meet Irena and said he would pay. They went in 2001 and were mobbed by the Polish press because it became news there. They met Irena and they all hugged and cried.

All these years later, this woman became a hero and inspiration to these young girls living in rural Kansas.

I don’t know if this story is what brought Irena the recognition she deserved and a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, but it’s been published here in several venues and when Gore won, I thought it was a complete injustice.

[newheart]

"I hope Al Gore is hanging his head"

That would, of course, assume that Big Al had received the average human being's ration of humility.

[FlingWingFlyer]

I didn’t think that the Nobel Peace Prize could sink any lower on my admiration and respect scale. It just did. This is a damn shame. I never saw the other posts about Irena Sendler on FR. I’m going to read them now. Irena is far above being just a Nobel Prize winner. She’s a saint. Algore is a two bit pimp.

[Hodar]

You are assuming that Al Gore has the capacity for shame.

You have higher expectations from that man than I.

[Lancey Howard]

Al Gore and his Democrat ilk NEVER feel shame. It’s not possible.
Shamelessness is a vital and necessary part of their makeup.

[Sparky7450]

I join you in your shunning of this huckster.

[svcw]

He would only be able to hang his head in shame if he had a brain, heart or courage - none of which his has.
He is the fake behind the curtain.

[DieHard the Hunter]

> I hope Al Gore is hanging his head

And I hope Al Gore is hanging himself!

It is just as well Irena Sendler was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: most of the great unhanged villains of the 20th and 21 Centuries have either been awarded the Peace Prize, or have appeared as Time's Man of the Year, or have been awarded Knighthoods.

Nobody with any sense of self-dignity and self-respect would want to be in their company.

[Amendment10]

Al Gore isn't the first time that the Nobel Country Club has caved in to political correctness.

Nobel Country Club politically correct awards

[DieHard the Hunter]

> I am ashamed to admit that I had never heard of Irena Sendler, whose obituary appeared in this morning’s paper. Hers is an awesomely humbling story, even by the standards of her heroic generation.

It is amazing how the great ones pass quietly, virtually unnoticed. Kate ter Horst passed along quietly, too: tragic victim of a traffic accident.

Yet there seems to be a certain dignity in that, which is entirely lost when the likes of, say, Paula Yates kicks off.

RIP Ms Sendler. Your reward surely awaits.

[Captain Beyond]

bump

[IncPen]

ping

[philetus]

When I first saw it, I thought it said “hanging by his head” and I agreed.

[Verginius Rufus]

May 23 will be the 100th birthday of an American who won two Nobel Prizes in Physics (both shared), in 1956 and 1972, John Bardeen (died 1991). I think he is the only person who has won the prize twice in the same field.

[Amendment10]

Regarding so-called AGW, I forgot to mention the following.

Given that ocean temperatures are regarded as a major indicator of global warming activity, the slight decrease in ocean temperatures indicated by the Argo System oceanic temperature probes over the past several years emphasizes the politically correct foundation of AGW alarmism.

Argo System ocean temperature probes

[haroldeveryman]

I almost gag every time I hear some news commentator refer to the Peace prize as the “most prestigious of the Nobel Prizes”. Maybe there was a time when it had some positive significance, but in recent decades the “peace Prize” as been a complete farce.

[philetus]

Nobody with any sense of self-dignity and self-respect would want to be in their company. “

Agreed. The kids eant more to her than any “political” award would.