Bob Dylan may be the first person in history to win a Pulitzer Prize for a career spent honing the fine arts of irony, evasion, and a perplexing mix of impassioned political rhetoric with a mocking sense of insincerity.

And god love him for it.

Bob Dylan has spent nearly 50 years taunting the press and toying with his public image, causing fans no small amount of frustration every time he's changed his aesthetic, denied having any political motive whatsoever, and essentially made everyone around him look kind of stupid.

And if you didn't know all this about Mr. Dylan before, Todd Haynes' 2007 film I'm Not There, a conceptual portrait of Dylan's many incarnations and the myths that surround him, might have clued you in.

But none of this prevented the Pulitzer Prize committee from awarding the 66-year-old troubadour an honorary Special Citation Pulitzer for that very work.

And all of this raises an interesting question: Has Bob Dylan, despite having treated his entire career as a big game, done more to enlighten us and keep us politically involved than the masses of earnest, serious journalists and authors who strive daily -- and expressly -- for that sole purpose?

Very likely. Because whether Dylan really has cared about all the stuff he's crooned about over the years, or just doing whatever would make him famous, his fans took heart. Even people who can't stand him can cite his more famous lyrics on command.

In short, Bob Dylan's words are part of our national consciousness, giving shape to our dreams of justice and social rights, and catchy enough to lodge forever in our collective memory.

It's hard to guess how Dylan himself feels about this honor, but let's pretend he's pleased and say, Congratulations and thank you, Bob.