Nobel politics

Our friend Eli Katz had a good letter yesterday in Canada's Globe and Mail:

The Nobel committee is continuing to politicize -- and thus devalue -- the literature prize (Playwright Pinter Shocked By Nobel Win -- Oct. 14). While Harold Pinter is a solid, if somewhat, dated playwright, his current claim to fame is based on his loud and extreme left-wing views. Once again, the Nobel committee is bypassing great writers (such as Philip Roth) to make a political point. The message? The Nobel Prize in literature is about the money, not the recognition of genius.

Although the different nobels are awarded by different committees, why stop at the literature prize? This year the same can be said for the peace prize, which went to Mohamed El Baradei, who has done nothing to prevent Iran getting nuclear arms. The award was clearly meant as an anti-American political statement. The economics prize, however, which went to a right-wing Israeli ideologue.....