Barack Obama's Nobel Prize

Duck season . . . the salmon running . . . this has been a tough time for me to write with everything that's been happening in Michigan, a sportsman's paradise. But I'm back now and feel compelled to dig up some old news just so I can have my say. So, it's back to that Nobel Prize.

I have to admit that I'm not sure what the criteria is for selecting a Nobel Prize winner, but I suspect when it comes to prominent Americans nominated for the prize the prime requisite is criticizing America. Exhibit A, B, and C? Jimmy Carter blames America for racism and poverty and BAM: Nobel Prize. Al Gore blames America for destroying the earth and BAM: Nobel Prize. Barack Obama blames America for war and attacks on innocent civilians and BAM: Nobel Prize.


Of course, it's the latest Nobel Peace Prize award that is the most laughable. Barack Obama? Really? And when exactly did this nomination take place? When he had been in office for, what, two weeks? This leaves me wondering if he won this award based on the 100 days that he actually spent in the Senate, his community organizing with ACORN or the charming way that he sounds a bit like Mel Tillis when the teleprompters are off. The bottom line, which even his supporters are forced to admit, is that this guy has done absolutely nothing to deserve this honor, assuming that the soiled award can still be considered an honor.

What troubles me is that this "prize" is awarded out of Norway, the land of my blood, and we Norwegians used to be about accomplishment. Erik the Red left the homeland and crossed the ocean in a rowboat, allowing for his son to eventually make his way to the Americas. We celebrate Leif Erikson because of what he did. We acknowledge Thor Heyerdahl because of his expeditions, not because of his turn of phrase. Roald Amundsen had a great mustache, but the fact that he was the first person to reach both the North and South Poles is why history remembers him. Ibsen was the father of the modern play, Munch gave us the Scream. Let's face it, Norwegians used to be about what one actually did and now . . . now, a man who has done little beyond write two memoirs and spend his nation into debt without a single notable accomplishment toward peace has a Nobel Peace Prize.

In other news: please watch for Khaki's upcoming series:
All The Reasons America Sucks.
I'd like to thank the committee for this award. I am truly humbled.