Yes, this morning the Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway, announced the selection of Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
The honor is only the third time a sitting U.S. president has won the award (Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for drafting a peace treaty between Japan and Russia and Woodrow Wilson in 1919 for helping to create the League of Nations).
In what can only be seen as a bitch-slap to the legacy of George W. Bush, the Nobel Committee cited Obama's efforts to deplete nuclear weapon stockpiles, espouse diplomacy over war and tackle climate change.
Noted the committee:
"Thanks to Obama's initiative, the United States is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened."The news came as a shock to most every follower of the Nobel committee, especially since Obama has been in office for just nine months with many of his efforts yet to bear fruit -- thanks in part to factions in the United States (and the mountains of Afghanistan/Pakistan) who see Obama as the Great Satan.
