This Isn't From The Onion ?

You have got to be kidding me:

President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said

What a joke. The man has done nothing but given a couple speeches.

Oddly enough, this leaves me speechless.

I can hear the Nobel committee deliberations now:

So, you've worked your whole life trying to bring people together? Living with them, sharing their hopes, joys, and fears?

Well, step aside chumps! The Americans have elected a black guy!

Granted, I've never had much respect for the work of this body, but this is astonishingly shallow.

UPDATE:

I'm not the only one asking, Am I awake?

Then there is this from the Times of London: Absurd decision on Obama makes a mockery of the Nobel peace prize

The award of this year’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.

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 America’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....

Mr Obama becomes the third sitting US President to receive the prize. The committee said today that he had “captured the world’s attention”. It is certainly true that his energy and aspirations have dazzled many of his supporters. Sadly, it seems they have so bedazzled the Norwegians that they can no longer separate hopes from achievement. The achievements of all previous winners have been diminished.

UPDATE x2: Great Minds Thinking Alike Edition

From QandO:

I can only hope this is Obamamania cresting – the man has accomplished nothing in the 9 months he’s been in office and he’s given a Nobel Peace Prize for a fantasy project? If you think his narcissism is dangerous now, just wait. At first I thought this was an Onion headline....

I wonder what the over-under is for the number of times he mentions himself in the acceptance speech?

UPDATE x3:

Even liberals are aghast:

I like Barack Obama as much as the next liberal, but this is a farce. He’s done nothing to deserve the prize. Sure, he’s given some lovely speeches and launched some initiatives—on Iran, Israeli-Palestinian peace, climate change and nuclear disarmament—that might, if he’s really lucky and really good, make the world a more safe, more just, more peaceful world. But there’s absolutely no way to know if he’ll succeed, and by giving him the Nobel Prize as a kind of “atta boy,” the Nobel Committee is actually just highlighting the gap that conservatives have long highlighted: between Obamamania as global hype and Obama’s actual accomplishments.

He's right. The truth is this is so piss poor it invites, hell, it begs for a pretty strong backlash. A backlash, I have to add, that will be entirely justified.