Snubbed Norwegians replace absent Obama at event with … cardboard cutout; Update: Photo added

Wait ’til you hear what the event was.

Obama had quite a whirlwind day Thursday – he signed the Nobel guest book, huddled with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, met with King Harald V and Queen Sonja, and delivered an acceptance speech after he was formally presented with the prize. He also joined the king and queen at an evening banquet.

But he skipped out on several other activities, including lunch with the king, a news conference at Oslo’s Grand Hotel, CNN’s traditional interview with the prize winner and a “Save the Children” benefit concert, where organizers replaced him with an Obama cardboard cutout. Obama also won’t be around for Friday’s Nobel Concert.

Presumably this means they stuck a cardboard cutout next to the entrance, but I’ve been cracking myself up imagining that they put it in a seat in the front row or in the presidential box or something just to be extra spiteful. Picture yourself onstage, fiddling away at the violin, and you look out and see a life-size version of this staring back at you.

I’d kill for pics or video, but can’t find any. If you see one, don’t be shy. In lieu of that, here’s Krauthammer more or less echoing my take on his speech: It could have been better, but it also could have been much, much worse.

Update: Not quite as good as the presidential box but still pretty funny. Last photo at the bottom.

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