What does the Baltic have against Obama? Are they trying to make him look ridiculous? First Denmark and the Olympics, now Norway and the Noble Peace Prize. Suddenly, through no fault of his own, Obama has to try and distance himself from the silliness of it. When I saw the news in the NYT this morning I thought it was The Onion following up on the SNL Jack Squat skit. Although, I will say, as someone who likes to read pundits, Norway has made today oh so entertaining. Michael Tomasky exaggerated nothing when he envisioned heads exploding across the fruited plain.
What is frustrating in all this is the depth of the cluelessness at the Noble Committee. You are possibly the most prestigious international award in the world. But you've taken some hits in recent years alleging your premiere prize is partisan and political. So you give a guy an award for changing what is essentially atmospherics, for not maintaining the status quo of the guy who came before (although some aren't willing to go even that far, see Medhi Hasan in The New Statesman). This only proves your critics point. Not to mention the disservice it does to the recipient. Who wants to receive the Noble Prize for not being the other guy? Even if the you really wanted to give it to Obama, couldn't you have at least waited four years, so that you could pretend it was for something other than telegraphing what sort of American politicians Norway approves of?
1 comment:
Very salient point; I was searching for the right way to say that, and here it is.
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