Obama Nobel Follow Up

Slate has a nice post comparing Tiger Woods to Obama, not just because both are thin, tall, multi-racial success stories, but because Tiger was named Sports Illustrated's Man of the Year in December 1996. He had won a couple of tournaments but no majors. Seemed premature, but not so much now, given what he has done since (including some great shots yesterday at the President's Cup to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat).

For Obama to live up to the Nobel, he'll need to score the political equivalent of a 12-stroke Masters victory.

Peace in the Middle East would fit that analogy. What else would?

On the other hand, why should we care so much?

In his will, Alfred Nobel, the Swedish dynamite tycoon who thought up this whole thing, specifically wanted Norwegians to choose the winner, apparently because Norwegians, being outside the European mainstream, would be less likely to be politically corrupt. The trouble is that Norwegians, being outside the European mainstream, are also more likely to be eccentric.

Anytime you have a small group, of say five or eight, you are likely to get strange outcomes.