Michael J. Green jabs:
The greatest of the many ironies of President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize is that it was announced on the day he blew off one of the most deserving winners of the prize in its history: His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has met the president of the United States on every one of his visits to Washington since 1991 -- until now. The White House decided it would be smarter to postpone the visit until after President Obama's visit to China, after initially indicating to the Tibetans that there would be a meeting with the president per usual. It appears that the Chinese side implored the administration not to meet the Dalai Lama this time because of the particular sensitivity of the Tibet issue at this juncture for President Hu Jintao.