Well, THIS wasn’t the news I was expecting to wake up to this morning…
It’s all anyone is talking about today: the unexpected awarding of U.S. President Obama with the Nobel Peace Prize…for what amounts to a giant “To Be Determined”. Supporters and critics are debating this surprise-of-surprises back and forth (Lech Walesa’s reaction being the most amazing double-take)…but when I consider my own personal feelings on the matter, all that comes to mind is a quote from Superman Returns…
“You wrote that the world doesn’t need a savior. Yet everday I hear people crying for one.”
Spoken for truth, Superman. This is the single largest gesture of anticipation I’ve ever seen. The entire world seems to have placed on Obama’s shoulders an award to LIVE UP TO…expectations that would make Atlas himself run screaming from such a heavy labour. The embodient of hope and fear throughout the globe has been bequeathed onto one man, with a shiny medallion that might as well say either “save us” or “good luck”. The Nobel Committee states that the award is for Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between people.” I think you could easily sum it up as: Someone SAVE US!
Obama, with his usual diplomatic deftness, accepted the award as “a call to action”. I don’t envy him this task. Even Oprah must have fainted when she heard the news!
Although I’ve warmed to him considerably since his election, I’m beginning to wonder if the world is so desperate for some kind of all-in-one solution man that they’re going out of their way to sabotage Obama before he even gets started. Aren’t the Republicans and their irrational shrieking over health care reform doing enough damage in that capacity?
Do I think Obama COULD be worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize in the future? Yes.
Do I believe that he might rather NOT have received this award right now? Yes.
Either way, the only other explanation I have for this stunning event is that the Scandinavian world has finally tired of ABBA worship after 35 years, and is suffering through sub-continent-wide transferal syndrome…AND they’re taking the rest of the world along for the ride.
