I skimmed this thread on my way down the the reply box. These may have been said, maybe even by the same person. Pardon me if I repeat the view:

To me, it looks like there are two main things going on here.

He received it because he ISN'T George W. Bush. This was a way the rest of the world has of saying thank you for being yourself and arriving when you did and we wish you the best after 8 hellish Bush years.

They're paying it forward, urging him to keep up the work he has started, despite all of the fiscal distractions he's trying to clean up after Bush.

SRS