Mine was to burst out laughing.

It seems that most people think it's too soon. That includes a worthy recipient of the award Lech Walesa.

Mickey Kaus says Obama should turn it down. Yeah, right.

Nor surprisingly, there are idiots who think this is AWESOME.

Behold David Ignatius in the Washington Post.

The Nobel Peace Prize award to Barack Obama seems so goofy -- even if youÂ’re a fan, you have to admit that he hasnÂ’t really done much yet as a peacemaker. But thereÂ’s an aspect of this prize that is real and important -- and that validates ObamaÂ’s strategy from the day he took office.

The Obama team came to the White House convinced that one of America’s biggest problems in the world was “reflexive anti-Americanism,” as Obama put it in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly two weeks ago. They saw America’s unpopularity as a big national-security problem, and they were right.

So they set about winning hearts and minds (the Nobel judges among them) from Day One. Obama gave a series of speeches calculated to position him as the Un-Bush. He listed his achievements in that same U.N. speech -- halting torture, ordering the closure of Guantanamo, withdrawing from Iraq, backing negotiations on climate change, and paying AmericaÂ’s debts at the United Nations itself.

Europeans liked it, too, when the president picked a fight with Israel over settlements, and when he showed himself so determined to negotiate with Iran that he overlooked the fact that its government had stolen an election.

ThatÂ’s what heÂ’s being honored for, really: reconnecting America to the world and making us popular again.

High school kids want to be popular. Nations want to be prosperous, secure and in America's case, a force for good in the world. Those things don't usually lead to popularity because it means making hard choices and doing the right but often un-popular thing....you know, like a grown up.

Obama is making America popular again by talking us down and saying in effect, "We are nothing special, just one of the gang. We've been bad before and I'm sorry. I won't do anything you don't like."

That's morally bankrupt and dangerous. But who cares? We can eat lunch with the cool kids again!

No reaction yet from another Nobel Peace Prize winner...the Dalai Lama. You know the guy Mr. Wonderful refuses to meet with to placate the peace loving Chinese government.

Integrity.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:10 AM | Comments (277)
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You know, it's like if you give into thug regimes like Russia they aren't satisfied but actually want more.

But what the hell do I know, it's not like I'm a Nobel Laureate or anything.

The new missile plan from US President Barack Obama's administration raises questions and Moscow is waiting for Washington to explain its intentions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

"The statements that are constantly being voiced raise more questions than answers," Lavrov told reporters during a visit to the Moldovan capital for a summit of ex-Soviet countries.

"We would like to receive full clarification," Lavrov added, referring to the plan presented by the Obama administration last month to replace an older plan backed by George W. Bush that would have placed missile defence facilities in eastern Europe.

Moscow and Washington are now holding talks so Russia can "understand the configuration" of the new missile defence system, Lavrov said, but he added that reports of some US proposals were raising eyebrows in Moscow.

He said a recent US report that the United States might include Ukraine in its missile defence plans was "rather unexpected."

Easy there Boris. I'm sure Mr. Peace Prize will back down again. Just dash off an email and he'll have it taken care of. No need to go harshing the world's mellow.

Posted by: DrewM at 05:47 AM | Comments (44)
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The day the Nobel Peace Prize jumped the shark...and didn't make it all the way over.

Posted by: DrewM at 05:06 AM | Comments (127)
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I'm sure this will be bumped and added to throughout the day, but might as well get the thread started.

[DiT]: Yeah, knock me over with a feather, a politicized feel-goodie from the Euroweenies for electing the "right guy". Some choice observations from the TimesOnline:

The award of this yearÂ’s Nobel peace prize to President Obama will be met with widespread incredulity, consternation in many capitals and probably deep embarrassment by the President himself [doubtful - Dave].

Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of AmericaÂ’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world.

Instead, the 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.

"Rarely"? These scandi boneheads gave awards to a mass murderer and a global warming hypochondriac (who may yet kill more people than Arafat, give him time). I suppose I can understand them coughing it up to Obama based on future expectations - waiting on him to actually accomplish anything could have delayed it for years.

UPDATE: The newly designed Nobel Peace Prize. [via Rosetta over at H2]

[Russ]: As long as we're talking about awards, I should probably go ahead and make the big announcements. Dave's been pretty humble about it, but since you're all gonna hear about it soon anyway, I thought I'd go ahead and announce that the winner of the 2009 Heisman Trophy is none other than.....Dave In Texas! Wiserbud and I were close in the early voting, but Dave's excellent cheerleader photo selection skillz put him over the top with the voters.

Other notable awards? Moronpundit over at DPUD is slated to win the coveted Golden Pulitzer for Excellence in Facecocking. Lauraw is in line to get a Norman Borlaug Grant for her work in developing waterlilly hybrids that can survive exposure to Texas Goobers With Minimal Gardening Skills.

Posted by: Open Blog at 02:24 AM | Comments (648)
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Oh, come on. On one hand you know they're desperate to give him the A. On the other hand, you can't believe they'd actually do it.

They did it. A minus, baby! (See, we're not just over-the-moon schoolgirl crush partisan hacks! We gave him the minus, too! We're "balanced"!)

Instantly comfortable and highly skilled at the hardest job in the world — proving his supporters' contention that all the traits that made him a great candidate would serve him well in the White House...

...

A handful of public missteps (particularly on his international trips and on torture issues) and a failure to ameliorate the partisan divide are the only true blemishes so far.

$1.4 trillion dollar deficit this year and $2 trillion next year and thereafter we'll get to halving the deficit down to a very manageable trillion per year.

A-.

Oh, and he hasn't accomplished a single campaign promise, and has either reneged on, or is paving the way to repudiate, almost every promise he made.

A-.

17% real unemployment rate.

A-.

Iran's about to get the bomb, and, given Obama's plan, in a couple of years so might Al Qaeda.

A-.

As Tom Maguire says, I shudder to think what a "B" would have looked like.

A-.

Hmmm... Hugh Hewitt notoriously dubbed Bush's Harriet Miers pick a "B+," which, for reasons of internet lore which escape me, became known as the "shit sandwich" grade.

What's Halperin's A-, then?

Circle the Wagons, Too Big to Fail, Pot-Committed: I posted that SNL sketch just to demonstrate that someone, apart from our objective donkey-sucking media, noticed that Obama's kind of, what's the word, loser.

But Tweets thinks it's related in a different way:

It's pretty obvious what motivated Halperin to do this little bit of cheerleading, isn't it?

The SNL skit.

Yes, yes. Pushback. The media is desperate to save Obama, and now that they've noticed the snickering has begun, they're doubling-down on this miserable failure.

Posted by: Ace at 05:14 PM | Comments (421)
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Welcome to Thursday M&Ms.

The Creepiest Stuff on the Internet
A lot of these are more weird than creepy. For me the creepiest ones are the Judderman, the dolls (thanks Chucky!), and the Grudge girl. The Big Dog doesn't bother me but I know it freaks some people out.

Posted by: Open Blog at 06:15 PM | Comments (621)
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Wait, that wouldn't be a headline. That would just be "Bill Moyers Blows Mouth-Farts At You For An Hour As Usual."

Actually, the documentary argues unfettered capitalism lifts the poor up and defeats tyranny.

10 pm EST.

Posted by: Ace at 04:19 PM | Comments (78)
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From Goldfarb's Tweet: A USA Today poll says Joe Biden's brilliant strategy of leaving our troops to twist without reinforcement or plan of victory commands 7% support.

Pull out? 38%.

Give them the reinforcements and resources they need? 48%.

So Captain Wonderful, in his quest to vote present on everything, is currently trial-ballooning a plan hated by 90% of the public.

Even in his pandering he's incompetent.

Jim Geraghty has tallied up several, but by no means all, of Obama's "We're going to beat hell out of the Taliban, I swear" statements. I hope he won't mind me stealing them:

Then-candidate Barack Obama, July 15, 2008:

Our troops and our NATO allies are performing heroically in Afghanistan, but I have argued for years that we lack the resources to finish the job because of our commitment to Iraq. That's what the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier this month. And that's why, as President, I will make the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban the top priority that it should be. This is a war that we have to win.

And then in August, before the VFW:

This is the central front in the war on terrorism. This is where the Taliban is gaining strength and launching new attacks, including one that just took the life of ten French soldiers. This is where Osama bin Laden and the same terrorists who killed nearly 3,000 Americans on our own soil are hiding and plotting seven years after 9/11. This is a war that we have to win.

And then in his convention address:

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

And then on October 22:

Abroad, we need a new direction that ends the war in Iraq, focuses on the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban, and restores strong alliances and tough American diplomacy.

But now we're told that there is a "good war" in Afghanistan (against Al Qaeda) we must fight while surrendering the "bad war" in Afghanistan (against the Taliban). Perfectly similar, as Allah pointed out, to Obama's last talk-tough-even-while-proposing-surrender formulation, that one about the "good war" in Afghanistan and "bad war" in Iraq.

And yes, as he says, soon Obama will begin talking about the "good war" against the hardliners in Al Qaeda, while surrendering the "bad war" against the Al Qaeda moderates.

CBS' woman in Kabul rips the new non-strategy to shreds, and calls it a pure "fantasy" that we can somehow take the fight to Al Qaeda while ceding the entire country to them. Logan also wants to know what six years of "diplomacy" with the Taliban have gotten us thusfar.

Oh -- also there: Obama's sudden discovery that the Taliban is law-abiding and peaceful just happens to coincide with the Taliban's latest press release that they're law-abiding and peaceful.

Posted by: Ace at 04:05 PM | Comments (77)
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In Detriot, thousands of people line up for applications for housing and utility bill assistance. From stimulus "recovery" funding.

City officials said a total of about 65,000 people over the past few days have gotten applications -- due next Wednesday -- for a share of $15.2 million in federal stimulus money to help people avoid foreclosure or quickly rebound from homelessness.

Ultimately, as few as 3,500 people may receive the help.

"Thank you Barack Obama."

It was a typical mess, too many people, not enough handouts, so naturally people get pissed off. Awesomely, they blame the city of Detroit (easy bitch target, I'll grant you that).

Limbaugh's been playing clips recorded by WJR's Ken Rogulski who interviewed people standing in line, waiting for their share from "Obama's stash."

This is "economic recovery" in action.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:04 PM | Comments (93)
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Heh.

Heh.

Heh.

Posted by: Ace at 03:00 PM | Comments (185)
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