2009 Nobel Peace Prize a disservice and a potential liability." An editorial in "The Washington Post" began, "It's an odd Nobel Peace Prize that almost makes you embarrassed for the honoree", and compared the Nobel Committee's statement that Obama had "created a new climate in international politics" to a recent satirical skit on television. A "Los Angeles Times" editorial said the committee "didn't just embarrass Obama, it diminished the credibility of the prize itself". Thomas L. Friedman of "The New York Times" wrote, "It dismays me that the most important prize in the world has been devalued in this way". Much of the commentary
2010 Nobel Peace Prize 2010 Nobel Peace Prize The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China". The laureate, once an eminent scholar, was reportedly little-known inside the People's Republic of China (PRC) at the time of the award due to official censorship; he partook in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and was a co-author of the Charter 08 manifesto, for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison on 25 December 2009. Liu, who was backed by former Czech president Václav Havel and anti-apartheid activist