Preposterous!

Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel prize for peace? For doing what, exactly? I am sure that Alfred Nobel never imagined that his prize "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." would be used to influence US politics by awarding it to a sitting president. While not unprecedented, it is of questionable constitutionality.

The Nobel Committee cited Obama's creation of a "new climate in international politics" and his work on nuclear disarmament. I'm not aware of any work on nuclear disarmament thus far that meets or exceeds what past presidents have attempted. Was it the apology tour? Was it pity over the Olympics debacle? Until a president's term in office is over, it is hopelessly premature to present awards like this. We don't have the complete historical record yet. What's more, Barack Obama's ego really does not require any additional stroking. He claims that he is "humbled" by this award. Well, that's a start. A few more like this, and maybe he'll be able to identify with the rest of us mere mortals.

When you consider some of the more recent Nobel laureates, you begin to detect a pattern of idiocy more than honor: Yasser Arafat, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore and now Barack Obama. It is lunacy to put those people in such company as Lech Walesa and Nelson Mandela. By the way, Lech Walesa is not impressed with this decision.

The Nobel Committee says it sometimes presents the award to encourage laureates, rather than to reward them for their achievements. Barack Obama is the most radical statist, and the most naive diplomat since Jimmy Carter, and perhaps in my entire lifetime. I do not want anyone to encourage him. Many things are already worse than they were during Jimmy Carter's presidency. I don't see a Ronald Reagan standing in the wings this time, to clean up the mess.