Nobel choice lifts GOP

The recent Nobel award to President Obama set off a flurry of debate and discussion. Some believe the award was a thinly veiled rebuke of a former president. Others believe it confirmation of promised hope and change. And others contend that President Obama has done nothing in his short time in office. All of these contentions have some merit, but I'd like to dispel the notion that President Obama has done nothing in his first eight months. He's done plenty.

He's continued the status quo in Iraq and even offered a mild assertion that he'll ignore the status-of-forces agreement signed by President Bush that would have ended that mission by Dec. 31, 2011. We have more troops deployed now than at the height of the surge. He's aggressively expanded the war on terror into Pakistan by increasing drone attacks by 90 percent. He's ensured Gitmo remains open by making broad generalizations about what to do with suspected terrorists. He's continued rendition and outsourced interrogations. And he's done little to rebuke the liberal-hated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that Democrats renamed and made their own in 2007.

Since the Nobel committee only had 12 days on which to base its nomination, I know that none of the aforementioned accomplishments were considered. Interestingly, I doubt these accomplishments are what his voting base had in mind.

One thing is certain: The president and liberal congressional leaders have done what many thought was impossible. They've given Republicans hope in 2010 and 2012.

CHAD CRAFT, Jackson