Friday broke autumnal in Washington and, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, with the disappointing news that the patriarch would not, after all, be donning the tailcoat to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. Instead, the skies over Bethesda were filled with the sound of military aircraft as the US president made his way up to the Walter Reed military hospital for what was termed a “semi-annual” health examination. You go to bed dreaming of glittering prizes and wake up to find a guy in a room with latex gloves.
It’s a moot point as to whether the Nobel Prize, as a concept, is the gold-standard barometer for incomparable feats of human achievement and contribution or just a brilliant marketing wheeze to remind the world of Norway.
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