On Friday, Oct. 9, it was announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee that President Barack Obama would be the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Naturally, most of the country was surprised by the decision considering the president is only in his first year in office. However, some prominent members of the Republican Party decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to bad mouth their favorite target.

“I did not realize the Nobel Peace Prize had an affirmative action quota,” Erik Erickson, of the Web site www.redstate.com, wrote.

Former Sen. John Danforth, R-Mo. said, “The president is already pretty taken with himself. Now, he gets the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s just further encouragement.”

And, of course, an online petition was started just hours after the announcement was made and signed by citizens who objected to the “absurd decision to award B. Obama the Nobel Peace Prize.”

They did not consider that Obama had no say in the process, that the president had no way of knowing that he would be chosen for this honor, or that the committee chose him unanimously. Apparently, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, who has been deciding the winner for more than 100 years, just made a giant error in judgment. After all, Conservatives obviously have a better grasp on what it takes to win the prize than this committee ever could. And, obviously, by Obama winning this prize, the country we know and love will come crashing down around us.

Let’s be honest: the Republican Party does not care that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Republican Party knows that this award has nothing to do with the problems in our country. The leaders of the party do not even truly believe that Obama is trying to destroy the country. However, the Republican Party is interested in using the president’s award to their advantage, just like all of the powers in politics. Conservatives are out to take your mind off of the issues that are most important.