For Whom Nobel Tolls

It tolls for thee. (America, F*@ Yeah!)

Didn't see this one coming. Guess no one else did either. Not much original to say here. I had a number of spontaneous, pre-commentariat reactions all of which were covered in the commentariat reactions: really?!?; ok, cool; isn't this a little premature? oh, I get it, this is a "thank you for saving the world from George W. McCain"; hmmm. . . maybe it's deserved after all. What's most disconcerting is that Obama hasn't really had to suffer--in either chains, obscurity, or anticipation--for the prize. Just a normal day in the Obama household. "Good morning daddy, you won the Nobel Peace Prize, and it's our dog's birthday." Who lives that life?

Then again, despite what the press tells us, his early accomplishments are pretty damned impressive: saved world capitalism, funded record investment in infrastructure and the environment, and restored rule of law in the world's most powerful nation by ending torture, secret prisons, and a lawless Justice Dept. He has done more to discredit global jihadist terror in just nine months than anyone alive. He has engaged friend and foe in diplomacy and renounced preemptive war. And, if you consider health care a human rights issue, he's on the verge of signing landmark legislation to extend and improve care to tens of millions. Not bad, even if we're not out of the woods on any of these issues. Rush said today that the world sees Obama as a "joke." True. On Rush.