Yesterday, October 9, 2009, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, and he acknowledged it with a brief statement at mid-morning. The liquid gold that usually comprises his speeches wasn’t quite there as he struggled to articulate the meaning of this specific honor. Public reaction to the Nobel Committee’s had begun with surprise, followed by some form of the rejoinder: “But he’s only been in office for nine months.” The pundits were pointing out that the nomination period had ended only days before his inauguration–how could this be?

European reaction to his award seemed more uniformly positive, which is–I think–a clue to the Nobel Committee’s decision. As momentous as Obama’s election was to us, we still haven’t comprehended how it has affected our reputation in the world’s eyes. The events around his campaign were an American morality play: how we deal with race, how we deal with other cultures and religions, how we deal with civic responsibility. In the end we elected a self-made, African-American man with a middle name that sounds “Muslim” and who wasn’t afraid of suggesting that government–that’s us, folks, not some separate entity–could be beneficial for its citizens. And we elected him because he was the best person for the job.

We reminded the world that the United States has not derailed, that we understand how electing a president is more than just campaign dollars, PR and vote-wrangling. It’s a process of actuating our national self, of selecting someone in whom we see the US and “us.” Of course luck is involved, as well, but when someone comes along with the mind and the courage and the intuition for the job, and that person gets elected–the whole world is reassured.

In a nice coincidence I attended a Loudon Wainwright and Richard Thompson concert in New London last night, and the title of this post is the title of a song Wainwright wrote and performed. Between songs he mentioned the Nobel and then sang a Depression-era tune called “On to Victory, Mr. Roosevelt” to which he’d added several verses addressed to Mr. Obama. I like being able to say that on the day the President won the Nobel Peace Prize I was with several hundred like-minded people listening to Loudon Wainwright taking his musical hat off to the occasion.

Responses by the incensed Right–who obviously don’t know how to take a deep breath, assess the situation, and act graciously–have been embarrassing for their lack of self-awareness. Republican National chair Steele leads this pack. His response reminds me of situations we’ve all been in, where you might reveal to someone that you love a particular book or song, and that someone then tears the author or performer to pieces. “But have you read X or listened to Y?” you ask them, only to find out that they haven’t. That their vitriol was the spume (as it always is) of ignorance.

The Nobel Committee can give their awards to whomever they please, for whatever reason they want. The Peace Prize is not a divinely-appointed honor, but it does reflect the opinion of a very august group of judges with a distinguished history. Like almost everything else it is a human contraption that may need to be decoded and understood, but that’s the challenge and the wonder of humanity.

On to victory, Mr. Obama.