Poor Gorbachev. He did not get his Nobel until his work was done, the disassembly of an empire.
It must be the racist thing, or it must be the American penchant for premature gratification. Whatever. Obama has his Nobel. Now you wait!
In other news, LCORSS did its thing: a silent bombing of the moon. All the astronotards, who had gone out in droves to the nearest dark sky desert with their 10-in telescopes to celebrate the event were totally disappointed. No cute sound effects, no dust plume, no shattering of the moon a la death star.
Some were even complaining about the $79M cost of the probe - they said it could have been better spent in Afghanistan. They could have gotten a few good Youtube videos of dead baby Taliban.
In the end, it is certain LCROSS will return more useful data than that contained in McCrystal's self-serving recommendations, or that angst-filled speech that Obama must deliver to keep the manufacturing of the implements of war going - the only manufacturing left in the country - and the jobs that go with it.