I argue in today’s column that Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize was not a joke. The Nobel Committee made an entirely reasonable choice given its post-American vision and its belief that Obama shares it. I think Obama sensed this about the prize, which is why he put such an accent on American leadership in his remarks after receiving it:

Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations….
And that’s why this award must be shared with … all those men and women across the world who sacrifice their safety and their freedom and sometime their lives for the cause of peace.
That has always been the cause of America. That’s why the world has always looked to America. And that’s why I believe America will continue to lead.