Obama's a Nobel laureate? Really?

I woke up this morning to a news that was as much shocking as it was hilarious - Barack Obama gets Nobel Prize. The immediate reaction was - What the hell? I mean ...even I have done more things for global peace than Obama has ... I planted a tree, stopped two kids from throwing a stone at a stray dog and wrote this article. That's much better than what Obama has done till date - empty promises. I am sure every single person that ever reads this article would have done more than that.If empty promises buy Nobel Prizes then every Indian politician should get one - they are better at that than Obama is. Funny that they never get noticed by the Peace prize committee.

But then again nobel peace prizes have always had their share of controversies and a big one at that. The other day when I heard of the news of the Indian born nobel prize winner for Chemistry, it brought a smile on my face. More often than not, those winners are always deserving of the award.So what is it about Nobel Peace Prizes? Why are the recipients always (well almost) not worthy of them - except for the likes of Martin Luthar King Jr.,Dalai Lama or Desmund Tutu. I am no fan of Mahatma Gandhi ( I have my reasons) but I too believe he deserved the Nobel Prize for the enlightment that his persona brought in to many lives and the path and guidance that his preachings of non violence have shown to many great world leaders including Martin Luthar King Jr. There's nothing racist about it when Pope John Paul II didn't get one either. Infact,take the example of Yaseer Arafat for one - violence was synonymous with his name yet he was awarded a Nobel Prize. Mandela too wasnt exactly a follower of Non violence yet he got one. Was that to humor the man or the award? If it was a humor than Obama well deserves it at this point. But there are better deserving candidates there too - Osama Bin Laden and Taliban. Infact, for those saying that the award was given to Obama to make him live upto the expectations, I say give it to Osama and let's wait for the Taliban to live it upto it.

Then again, the nobel peace prize committee has often tended to lick the derriere ( just being nice in my usage of language) of United States Presidents/ presidential candidates/ ex-Presidents - be it Roosevelt, Jimmy carter, Al Gore or the more recent addition to the list - Mr. Obama. I guess they do that in hope for some personal favors - more power to Obama for that!