Nobel for "noble" intentions ??

The Nobel Peace prize 2009 have been in news for some days now. There are many reasons one can think of for it. First the awardee- Barrack Hussein Obama. Second- His actions (or the lack of it) which might have been a deciding factor for the jurists to give him this honour. Third and the most important one- it again raise that fundamental question " Is nobel prize given for actions or for intentions"?

In the present case, it appears as if words and thoughts have taken precedence over deeds and actions. The rise of the phenomenon called Obamania has been quite phenomenol. It was not long ago when not many had heard about someone with as weird sounding name as Obama. Then we had the case of what many believe "the worst ever President of the United States", Mr. George Bush. At that moment of time when the world news was chiefly about Iran, Iraq war, Afghan war and the "axis of evil", we had a glimpse of somewhat refreshing outlook through the speeches of an orator- Barack Obama. He became the President of the US on 20th January 2009. Its been only around eight and a half months since he became President, 250 odd days only, and in the eyes of some ,and in the views of the people who matter, he has done enough to be given a Nobel !!

Its not a time to ponder if 250 days of words, thoughts and speeches is a long enough time to judge someone's action, or the fact that more than 25 years of deeds, actions, and non violence were not sufficient for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to be considered worthy enough for Nobel. His name was considered 3 times, in 1937, in 1947 and in 1948; but he wasn't worthy enough in the eyes of some and the views of those who mattered !!
Its rather a time for all of us to think again if words and intentions are to be considered more important and worthy than deeds and actions in deciding about somehting as prestigious as Nobel ...