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Thursday, Dec 10, 2009 10:50 PM UTC

Some surprising praise for Obama’s Nobel speech

Two Republicans normally opposed to nearly everything the president does have some kind words for him

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Topics: Barack Obama, War Room, Newt Gingrich, Nobel Peace Prize, Sarah Palin,

So far, reaction to the speech that President Obama gave in accepting his Nobel Peace Prize has been pretty muted. (Maybe he actually did succeed in tying together all those disparate themes he needed to include?)

There were some interesting responses, though, especially two that came from people who normally find reason to criticize most things that Obama does or says: Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.

“I liked what he said,” Palin said in an interview with USA Today. “I talked too in my book about the fallen nature of man and why war is necessary at times.”

As for Gingrich, he said, in an interview with NPR show The Takeaway, “I thought the speech was actually very good. He clearly understood that he had been given the prize prematurely, but he used it as an occasion to remind people, first of all, as he said: that there is evil in the world.”

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon. More Alex Koppelman.

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