OBAMA'S MISSED OPORTUNITY

We all remember were we were when the news of Barak Obama's Nobel Peace Prize reached us.  It was a kind of Pearl Harbor of pretension.   They've given the prize to dubious recipients before.  But this is the first time they gave it to a leader who has done nothing much at all.  Indeed he hasn't really had the chance to earn the prize.   So to state the obvious, this is an affirmative action Nobel Prize.  The Committee seems to be saying, "See, we believe in you and are determined that you succeed." 

But if Obama were the man his fawning fans hope he is, he would have turned it down.   Surely he knows he has done nothing to earn this award.  The Nobel Committee, without meaning to,  gave him a most singular chance to set himself apart from all the preening ninnies and empty suits who have been honored with the award.   Imagine if he had simply called on the committee to chose someone who had actually achieved something tangible for peace in this violent world?   Imagine if he thanked the committee for their faith in his entensions and resolved to be worthy of the award in four years!   He would joined Cincinnatus and Washington among the greats.

Unfortunately, Obama, like Clinton and Bush, is still running for class president.  He can be distracted by any award, no matter how unfitting, if it affords him the setting for preening and orating.   If you are the President of the United States and you still feel the need to add one more gong to your resume, you don't really belong there in the first place.