In response to Andrew’s entry that he doesn’t root for Americans to win prizes, I think this is the kind of thing that opens the Right to potential criticism over a lack of patriotism. I am sure that if George W. Bush had won the award, liberals would have howled, and we would be right to criticize them for doing so. And the truth is that Bush actually deserves the award for creating the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, although I know he’s never going to get it.
Still, from a strictly patriotic perspective, I’d prefer that Americans like Philip Roth win the Nobel for Literature rather than a German woman that even Harold Bloom has never heard of. Call me old fashioned, but I also root for Americans to win Wimbledon, the Olympics, and all wars.