Barack Won The Nobel Peace Prize? WTF?

UPDATE: The new ribbon for the Nobel Peace Prize for Barack Obama.

Seriously?

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the Norwegian committee said in a statement.

"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

Asked why the prize had been awarded to Mr Obama less than a year after he took office, Nobel committee head Thorbjoern Jagland said: "It was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve".

Actual achievement doesn't count for much anymore, I guess.

More from The Times Online:

[T]he prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.

The pretext for the prize was Mr Obama’s decision to “strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”. Many people will point out that, while the President has indeed promised to “reset” relations with Russia and offer a fresh start to relations with the Muslim world, there is little so far to show for his fine words.

This From Ann Althouse:

Riddle: Why didn't Barack Obama win the Nobel Prize for Literature?
Answer: He wrote 2 books.

President Prissypants has had a 15 second career. After seeing Al Gore, Jimmy Carter and Yasir Arafat win, the Nobel Peace Prize has become a joke. With Barack winning, it only confirms that.

Micky Kaus makes sense out of one of the biggest WTF moments since Jan. 20th this year. Turn it down. Politely decline. Let the committee give the award to someone who deserves it. Like Neil Patrick Harris.