2009 Nobel Peace Prize the prize" while in "CounterPunch", political journalist Alexander Cockburn said that, in historical context of other former U.S. Presidents winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the award to Obama "represents a radical break in tradition, since he's only had slightly less than nine months to discharge his imperial duties." Peter Beinart of the Daily Beast called the decision a "farce", while Noam Chomsky said : "In defense of the committee, we might say that the achievement of doing nothing to advance peace places Obama on a considerably higher moral plane than some of the earlier recipients". Many were critical of the
2007 Nobel Peace Prize man’s control." The award was given immediate publicity: an Associated Press article published by "USA Today" on 12 October 2007 and headlined "Gore, scientists share Nobel Peace Prize" quoted Pachauri as saying "All the scientists that have contributed to the work of the IPCC are the Nobel laureates who have been recognized and acknowledged by the Nobel Prize Committee". He added that "they should feel deeply encouraged and inspired. It is their contribution which has been recognized", and said "I only happen to be a functionary that essentially oversees the process." On the same day, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory