Obama himself was somewhat mystified by the award.

But it is indeed as you say: the thinking process is somewhat opaque at times. I watched the announcement just now from the Nobel museum in Stockholm where they discussed it. It was inevitable that the award this year would relate to Russia somehow, but they thought it inappropriate to award to a leader actively waging war (even a defensive war).

Discussed yesterday when we were there was your talking point about Obama's award being about what he represented and not about anything he did.