When Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, amidst all sorts of caterwauling from conservatives the whole world around about the outrage the award represented, I doubt anyone imagined there would be an effort just four years later to correct the “mistake” by honoring an Obama critic from the Left. But here we are:
A Swedish sociology professor has nominated Edward Snowden for the Nobel Peace Prize. He says the NSA whistleblower could help “save the prize from the disrepute incurred by the hasty and ill-conceived decision” to give the 2009 award to Barack Obama.
As it happens, I thought Obama should have modestly turned down the Prize as premature. But whatever you think of Snowden, it’s equally premature to believe he’s earned this kind of recognition as he languishes in the Moscow airport mulling over a potential flight to authoritarian destinations after a grand total of five weeks of fame.
