Make no mistake, I was flabbergasted this morning when I heard on NPR that President Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

And not in a good way.

Then came this little tidbit: The deadline for submitting nominees was Feb. 1 — 11 days after Obama had assumed the presidency.

What gives here? The Nobel Committee has rewritten the rules by which it hands out this most prestigious award. They’re now awarding the Peace Prize for the potential of the recipients. Obama indeed holds an enormous amount of potential. He well might achieve all that he hopes. But he hasn’t done it yet.

My feeling is this: The scrap heap is piled high with politicians who never fulfilled their potential. President Obama well might be tossed onto that scrap heap when his days in office are over. I hope that doesn’t happen.

But I also know that the prize ought to go to those who actually have accomplished something. And the list of non-winners with an actual record of accomplishment is quite stunning. Three names come to mind immediately:

Mahatma Gandhi, who sought a peaceful declaration of independence in India — and died in the effort; Ronald Reagan, who pressured the Evil Empire into tearing down “this wall” in Berlin, a move that marked the beginning of the end of communism in Europe; Bill Clinton, who has launched his Clinton Global Initiative and teamed up with former President GHW Bush in providing relief for the victims of the southeast Asia tsunami in 2006.

I hope President Obama actually earns the Peace Prize he has just won. But as this is written, he doesn’t deserve it.