Obama and the prize

[emayer]

It would have sent a stronger message and been more magnanimous had he declined the award initially.  Would've been a tremendous political coup, and could have alleviated himself somewhat from the exceedingly high expectations everyone has of him.  Of course, his political campaign is largely responsible for this to begin with.  This may explain the increasing backlash against the Dems as most reasonable people now realize that his lofty goals will not be reached or come at a much higher price to our freedom and financial well-being.

If anything, the award to Obama (and Gore previously) shows a shift of the nominating committee toward political activism rather than rewarding past deeds that benefited society at large.  I'm not sure this is what Nobel intended.