I suppose, given the toxic climate of Washington these days, that it was too much to ask that everyone in America celebrate, at least for a day, an American winning a Nobel Prize. One can certainly debate whether the surprise Peace Prize awarded to President Obama was a bit premature, based more on expectation than accomplishment. That, of course, was not the official Republican response, delivered by party chairman Michael Steele. He went back to the pre-election playbook, the one that worked so well for the GOP in November, referring to Obama’s rock star status around the world as the reason for the award. Once again, the Republican party challenged, not the president’s policies, but his legitimacy. In his remarks, he claimed that Obama had yet to accomplish anything. This is the height of hypocrisy, given that the Republican party has done everything it can to prevent Obama from achieving any of his goals, no matter how worthy.

I’d argue that Obama has done a great deal on the world stage. He has moved this country back into its traditional role, abandoning the ruinous go-it-alone policies that alienated us from our allies and prevented us from making diplomatic progress with our enemies. His performance at the United Nations and at the G-20 summit restored much of the confidence, lost during eight years of American exceptionalism that marked the Bush era, that we intend to keep our place as the leader of the free world.

Topics: GOP, Nobel Prize, Obama, Peace Prize, Republicans | Trackback URL