A Gold Star for the Imperial Presidency

Michael Cohen's argument on behalf of the Nobel decision strikes me as terribly wrongheaded:

A year ago this nation was run by a man who eschewed international cooperation, who thumbed his nose at international conventions, who was complicit in the use of torture and who seemed to believe that bullying was a form of global leadership.** Now we have a President with the potential to not only reverse those disastrous positions, but to turn a new corner in global cooperation. And clearly, the world has noticed that potential - and they want America to lead. But above all they believe that America can be, perhaps the most important force for good in the world.

Yes I know that we are often not - and I know there is a lot of deserved cynicism about America's role in the world - but lest we ever forget there are millions of people around who admire what we stand for as a country. And they want us to live up to it.

This should be a humbling day for every America and an object lesson not only in the potential of American leadership, but in the inspirational power of the "idea" that is America. It's a great day for the USA.

But there's a reason only two other sitting presidents ever won the award: getting substantive stuff done is difficult while in elected, accountable office, and the American president alone does not determine the course of American foreign policy. By praising this move, all Obama's supporters are doing is rewarding the intentions of one preferred executive over the less preferred actions of another—much as Cohen has done in comparing Obama's intentions to Bush's deeds.

I outsource the remainder of this post to Matt Welch:

Among many other things, this selection illustrates the United States' way-too-oversized role in the world's imagination. And it shows how people–almost touchingly–remain suckers for likeable politicians who replace guys they hated, investing in them a kind of faith mere mortals usually don't merit. As Chili Davis famously (and presciently) said about Dwight Gooden, "He ain't God, man."