Will President Obama Win the Heisman Trophy?

            Last week President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  His selection for this prestigious award came as a surprise to just about everybody, including President Obama.  He said he was “humbled” by the award and would accept it as a “call to action.”  In other words, he will actually try to do something to deserve it.

            His comments reminded me of what the late President Kennedy said when he appointed his brother, Bobby, to be Attorney General of the United States.  “Well,” JFK quipped, “I think it will be good experience for Bobby to be Attorney General before he goes into law practice.”

            Not surprisingly, Republicans responded to the news with outrage.  They acted like giving President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize was the biggest injustice since the first OJ verdict.  The GOP these days stands for “Grumpy Old Party.”  Republicans truly have become, in the words of their late Senior Statesman Spiro T. Agnew, a bunch of nattering nabobs of negativism.

            However, in this case, they did make a pretty good point.  When you consider that over the last few years, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Jimmy Carter and Al Gore, it is certainly an indication that the process has a political slant.  If Nancy Pelosi gets the prize next year, we will all know the fix is in.

            But what was surprising was the reaction of Democrats.  To put it bluntly, most of them weren’t very happy about the award.  The Democrats’ concern is that this will put more pressure on the President to actually make some real accomplishments on the World stage.  Worse yet, it plays into the perception advanced by no less than Hillary Rodham Clinton in last year’s Democratic primaries that President Obama can make a great speech, but that’s about it.

            I, for one, think this is all much ado about nothing.  I stopped taking awards seriously back in 1997 when the Heisman Trophy was presented to Charles Woodson instead of Peyton Manning.  Despite this terrible setback, Peyton has gone on to have a pretty good career in the National Football League.

            Ever since that Heisman heist, I have become pretty cynical about awards.  It wouldn’t surprise me if next year Hollywood gives a Lifetime Achievement Oscar to Roman Polanski.  Woody Allen will present the award.

            So rather than being a nattering nabob of Rush Limbaugh negativism, let me congratulate President Obama on winning a peace award named after the inventor of dynamite.

            Let me also be the first to congratulate President Obama on his next award.  I predict that in December, he will receive the Heisman Trophy.  Don’t laugh.  He will be every bit as deserving as Charles Woodson.