Devilishly-cunning Norwegians know how to apply the blowtorch to Obama’s behind or feet or wherever, with a ‘premature’ award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the US President. Those sophisticated Scandanavians (Europeans?) know how to boost an ego with old-fashioned flattery and prestigious awards. He’s bound to fall for it, stop all US wars and deliver world peace any time soon.
US critics hit out at those pesky Europeans for ambushing their President, giving him unwarranted plaudits for only talking the talk, etc. Norwegians are not usually considered machiavellian but their famous poet & playwright Henrik Ibsen knew plenty about irony (‘The Wild Duck’ and other works). And of course, when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize despite his key role in mass killings by US bombing in S.E. Asia during the Vietnam war, Tom Lehrer famously said that his job as a satirist was obsolete.
Ibsen said: “The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone”.