"It is the beautiful bird which gets caged."

Here’s my once in a blue moon gander into the political spectrum.

I read recently that China is peeved at the Nobel Peace Prize Committee for awarding a Chinese dissident with this year’s coveted award. (And a few other nations seem to be up in arms as well, among those who are not attending include Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, and Iraq.)

Artist and human rights advocate Liu Xiaobo will be honored this year, causing a chain reaction of RSVP declines from Russia to Iraq and Iran, as he is now serving an 11-year sentence for what China calls “inciting subversion of state power.”

Though some countries have said they’re response to not attend doesn’t necessarily have to do with the honoree, there’s enough speculation to wonder. According to CNN.com, “Despite the Nobel committee's announcement that Iraq will not show up at the ceremony, an [Iraqi] official said that might not be true.”

But, let’s face it, Iraq isn’t exactly known for its honesty. Is any country? However, the UN committee announced Iraq was not to join in on the festivities – so, if anything, I’d tend to believe them over anyone else. What have they got to lose? Nothing that's worth keeping.

For more information on Liu Xiaobo go to any and all of these links:
CNN piece on Xiaobo
NYT piece on Xiaobo
Xiaobo's Charter 08: a Manifesto
Nobel Peace Prize 2010 Official Press Release