NASA flies to the Moon, Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

It was an unusual day today. A lunar probe crashed into the moon, and President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This surprised just about everybody. He had to have been nominated when he had only been in office for 11 days. The Prize Committee:

"Only very rarely has a person, to the same extent as Obama, captured the world's attention and given his people hope for a better future," the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjorn Jagland, said in a statement.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept of those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitude that are shared by the majority of the world's population. For 108 years the Nobel Committee has sought precisely the international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The committee endorses Obama's appeal that now is the time for all of us to take a share of responsibility for a global response for global challenges," the statement said.

There was a wide variety of reactions, but most people, even liberals, seemed skeptical about the choice. Immediate reaction from Dennis Prager's team was sympathy for the President, who had just had a weight placed upon him which would increase scrutiny of his performance and increase partisan divisiveness, as well as fuel jokes about narcissism and symbolism over substance. Even some Europeans expected that the President would be embarrassed. And even most Norwegians don't agree with the decision of their own Nobel Peace Prize Committee.

The Anchoress suggested that Michelle Obama should have shared in the prize (seriously) to make it more meaningful. "Giving the prize to The Obama Family is something that actually could instruct the world and give it genuine “hope,” and something that everyone can strive for – commitment and depth of feeling!" Mickey Kaus and others suggested that it would have greatly enhanced Obama's reputation if he had turned down (or postponed his acceptance of) the prize until he had had a chance to accomplish more.

It wasn't the President's fault. The unexpected prize made it harder for the mainstream media to control the narrative. Maybe there's "no such thing as bad publicity". But maybe not. The Nobel Prize Committee unwittingly validated the goofy satirical proposal which turned into a running theme on Frank J's IMAO (In My Arrogant Opinion) website.

The world's established institutions seem to be more than a little bit out of kilter. We're now living in The Society of the Spectacle. It's not the first time the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has chosen aspiration over accomplishment. though.

Such a flurry of excitement. For now, guess I'll just have to hope the President's actions (more than his words) will lead to more peace without increasing the amount of cruelty or oppression in the world as the price of peace (as in, "They made a desert, and called it peace"). I think the Nobel Prize Committee just made that heavy responsibility more difficult for him. Before he was elected, I often imagined that Obama must be secretly thinking, as one or another supporter spoke out about the unusual reasons they wanted him to be President, "Save me from my friends". I would not hold it against him if he pleaded, "Save me from my friends" with increased intensity from time to time.

Not much I can do about these developments at present. Think I'll take a little time for some Nat King Cole. First time I've heard the whole song. A lovely confection.