One Other Thing

It's been a week since President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and a lot has been said about it.

I will admit that my first reaction was that it was pre-mature. It seemed to me like it would put a lot of pressure on him and make his opponents even more crazy, etc., etc.

I have read some things that convinced me that there are plenty of legitimate reasons why he deserves it. Though I'm very disturbed by the possibility that he will not get us out of Afghanistan as soon as possible.

But about the prize, I've come to another conclusion. One of the bizarre themes of the commentary focused on the political ramifications. Would it help Obama or hurt him with the home crowd?

What was fun was to discover that the Nobel people, and in fact, a large portion of the world living vicariously through them, took the opportunity to express themselves without worrying how America might feel about it. Political fall-out be damned, they seemed to say, we like this guy and need to show how much safer we feel with him in the White House.

Once in a while, I think it's good for this country to realize that the rest of the world actually has their own understanding and position in the world, and they don't have to always take us into account if they don't feel like it.

We know that the "center" in this country has been sliding right since the late 70s. I wonder if the reality that the rest of the world is radically to the left of us could help us get the middle back where it belongs. In some ways, this Nobel Prize was a little reality check. Thanks for that.