I'm not quite sure I understand what the thinking was behind the Nobel committee's decision, but as usual, I find it fascinating to watch the political sphere react en masse to this kind of political hand grenade being tossed into the mix.



Let's start with a snippet of the announcement itself from the Nobel committee:

Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play.

...snip...

For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that 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 our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.

Sounds good, but they seem to be awarding the prize for simply starting down this path, not for having achieved any particular milestone.

The RNC reaction, is somewhat predictable:

The real question Americans are asking is, 'What has President Obama actually accomplished?' It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. One thing is certain - President Obama won't be receiving any awards from Americans for job creation, fiscal responsibility, or backing up rhetoric with concrete action.

As is the response from the right-wing extremists who're part of the newspapers/Taliban.

Limbaugh says it's a sign that the world loves an emasculated US.

Shockingly, I think John McCain has the smartest thing for Republicans to say on the topic, politically speaking, which hasn't been true of him since he won the nomination last year.

The DNC is apparently equally combative in their response:

The Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists — the Taliban and Hamas this morning — in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace prize. Republicans cheered when America failed to land the Olympics and now they are criticizing the President of the United States for receiving the Nobel Peace prize — an award he did not seek but that is nonetheless an honor in which every American can take great pride — unless of course you are the Republican Party. The 2009 version of the Republican Party has no boundaries, has no shame and has proved that they will put politics above patriotism at every turn. It’s no wonder only 20 percent of Americans admit to being Republicans anymore – it’s an embarrassing label to claim.

The reaction from the netroots is one of, well, confusion. We're not gonna go all crazy n' stuff and try and make this into some sign of how Obama's evil, but we generally agree that at best, this is premature.

DailyKos is scouring international news, in order to get some perspective. TPM, in my opinion, nails it exactly. According to Josh Marshall's reasoning, it's really about a return of the world's largest superpower returning to the international community as a law-abiding citizen generally on board with the goals of that same community.

Glenn Greenwald is, to say the least, less charitable than anyone from the right, mostly because he's coming at it from a, uhh, well, you know, human perspective. He's also pissed about the RNC/Taliban link the left is halfheartedly pushing, which is fair.

For what it's worth, Obama himself seems to be taking this as a call to action, rather than a recognition of anything he has done so far.

Mostly I'm just amazed that all the above ink was spilled before lunchtime.