Eyes on the Prize

Even the liberal Huffington Post can't see it:

The time has not yet arrived and circumstances have not yet evolved where Barack Obama is anywhere near the point where he has earned this prize. I don't blame him for this capricious action; it was the Nobel Peace Committee which committed the offense, which no doubt has Alfred Nobel thumping his head against his casket.

Over at the CAP shop, at least Matt Yeglesias is honest:

Handing Barack Obama an oddly premature Nobel Peace Prize puts the liberal blogger in your life in a bit of an awkward position.

While Joe Romm, true to form, dances around his kitchen table this morning:

Obama and his international negotiating team led by Secretary of State Clinton have helped create the first genuine chance that the entire world will come together and agree to sharply diverge from the catastrophic business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions path. This award simultaneously acknowledges what they have achieved and pushes them and the world toward delivering on Obama's promise. It is well deserved.

It's all about politics with Romm, which if he was honest, he would at least own up to in this case. He knows the award isn't deserved; any sane person can see that. The Nobel committee wanted to send a message and Obama is the vehicle. The question is, will that message now be undermined because of the naked politicization of the Nobel decision? Update:Andrew Sullivan (who applauds the tribute) has a nice compilation of reax from all sides in several Friday posts. Of those responses, I found myself nodding in agreement most to Joe Klein and George Packer.