Let Me Explain Something to You...Idiots

The U.S. press is having a field day, and the idiots are out in force.

• The RNC says Obama doesn't deserve the Prize - once again siding with the Taliban against our President. What's next - Limbaugh moving the Rams to Kabul?
• The RNC is also right in step with their friends in Venezuela: "Ramírez told TV show Despertó Venezuela (Venezuela awoke), broadcast by state-run TV network Venezolana de Televisión, that the US president should apologize to the countries where it has perpetrated genocides, before being awarded a Nobel Prize, state-owned news agency ABN reported."
  
• "So can anyone tell me how this man won the Nobel Peace Prize?" iRepoter Katy Brown wondered, asking whether it had more to do with him becoming the first black U.S. president. "The people who have won the Nobel Peace Prize in the past ­-- I'm sorry but the legitimacy of this award [previously awarded to Yasser Araft and Henry Kissinger -tf] has gone down the drain."

Yeah, Katy, glad to. For starters, you can read the announcement. American attention spans being what they are, here is my one sentence summary:

In nine months of careful and serious dialogue with world leaders he has won back credibility for America around the world that appeared lost, perhaps forever, because of the stupid, unilateral, and ideologically backward foreign policies of the previous administration.

Here are a few other opinions worth noting:

• Both Israelis and Palestinians are praising the decision, although Islamic Jihad took the Republican view.
  
• Mohamed Elbaradei, the director-general of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, who received the prize in 2005, said in a statement that he was “absolutely delighted. I cannot think of anyone today more deserving of this honor,” he said. “In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself.”
• The Irish Times: "...Mr Obama’s achievements are substantive, and very real. American foreign policy has been set on a new course, multilateral diplomacy on issues like armaments has been given a new lease of life and the nature and language of international dialogue has been transformed."

Ignatius explains it all here:

That’s what he’s being honored for, really: reconnecting America to the world and making us popular again. If you want to understand the sentiments behind the prize, look at the numbers in the Transatlantic Trends report released last month by the German Marshall Fund. Obama’s approval rating in Germany: 92 percent compared to 12 percent for George Bush. His approval in the Netherlands: 90 percent compared to 18 percent for Bush. His favorability rating in Europe overall (77 percent) was much higher than in America (57 percent).

That's why, Katy. I've got a seven year-old kid: this is the first time in his life America has had the respect and support of the rest of the civilized world. Which, apparently, does not include the Republican National Committee.