The Nobel for Good Intentions

Friday morning, there were probably more than a few Americans who, upon turning on the news when waking up, wondered if they were still in dreamland.

Of course, we’re talking about the selection of President Barack Obama as the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. To say his selection by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee was a shocker is a gross understatement.

Committee chairman Thorgjoern Jagland, speaking for his fellow members, had this to say about charges the award was far to premature bestow one of the world’s greatest honors on a leader in office less than 10 months:

“Some people say — and I undersatand it — ‘Isn’t it premature? Too early?’ Well, I’d say then that it could be too late to respond three years from now. It is now that we have the opportunity to respond — all of us.”

And that sums up the Euro-intelligensia’s overly exuberant love of all things Barack Obama. Let’s give him the Peace Prize, they seem to be saying, because he has such great potential and because he’s not George W. Bush.

The deadline for eligibility for this year’s prize was Feb. 1, less than two week’s after Obama’s inauguration. The Nobel committee cited his outreach to the Muslim world and his emphasis on diplomacy and global cooperation in Friday’s announcement.

The sole actual event cited was Obama’s Cairo speech to the global Muslim community ... and that took place June 4!

To his credit, the president said Friday he didn’t deserve the recognition and that he would be donating the $1.4 million cash award to charity. But he couldn’t resist a bit of political sermonizing: “I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.”

The reaction of Nobel laureate Lech Walesa, who received the prize in 1983 for actually putting his life in danger to fight to topple Poland’s communist dictatorship, more accurately reflects our own take: “So soon? Too early. He has no contributions so far. He is only beginning to act.”

In the future, award the prize just for noble aspirations.