Let me get this straight. On the same day that the President of the United States won the Nobel Peace Prize, America bombed the moon. That would be a rimshot cue if it weren’t true. Barack Obama’s selection as the Peace Prize winner almost seems ludicrous on the surface. Until you think about it. And the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. About as much sense as bombing the moon in search of water. Some people think that way.

I heard about both events late Friday afternoon when it was already old news. Everyone I spoke to seemed to know more about it than than I did. They were already citing the news media spin that this choice by the Nobel Committeee is actually a slap at George W. Bush and a “repudiation” of American foreign policy during the eight long and eventful years of the President Stupidhead Administration. Then this moon bombing story that piggybacked like the perfect Ginsu Knife commercial news event — “Don’t believe that? You’ll never believe this!” — barking after the Obama prize story like a bloodhound of irony. President Peaceprize bombs moon. You couldn’t make that up. Truth always trumps fiction.

Open-mouthed reaction to the Obama Peace Prize announcement swept through Philadelphia like “What the fudge?” through a candy factory. Most people I talked to, both conservative and liberal, said the Nobel Prize could end up being a political liability for Obama. Can you imagine? A week ago the guy’s a loser for not getting Chicago the Olympics. This week he wins the big one, the Gandhi one, and people seem to be suggesting that it might be a liability to Obama because some big fat drug addicted windbags like Rush Limbaugh will bloviate the Nobel Peace Prize into some suspect foreign honor. Late Friday night on Hamilton Street in West Philly a playah in his mid-20’s offered his opinion of Obama’s accomplishments as a peacemaker after ten months as president, “He ain’t did spit.”

Yeah, all he did was change the world’s opinion about the United States, about its government, about the decision-making ability of the American people in a presidential election. I believe the Nobel Committee’s decision was not a repudiation of a past president but a confirmation of the better judgment of the American people. We elected this president. And I do believe we just heard the world of science, art, literature and peace shout, “Bravo.”

Editor’s Note: Of course, there’s also this.

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