Announcing The 2010 Medal of Freedom Recipients

[1776Forever]

Source: The White House Blog

Announcing The 2010 Medal of Freedom Recipients
Posted by Kori Schulman on November 17, 2010 at 4:07 PM EST

Today, President Obama named fifteen recipients of the 2010 Medal of Freedom -- the Nation’s highest civilian honor -- presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

"These outstanding honorees come from a broad range of backgrounds and they’ve excelled in a broad range of fields, but all of them have lived extraordinary lives that have inspired us, enriched our culture, and made our country and our world a better place," said President Obama. "I look forward to awarding them this honor next year."

The following individuals will receive the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom:

President George H. W. Bush

Chancellor Angela Merkel

Congressman John Lewis

John H. Adams

Maya Angelou­­

Warren Buffett

Jasper Johns

Gerda Weissmann Klein

Dr. Tom Little (Posthumous)

Yo-Yo Ma

Sylvia Mendez

Stan Musial

Bill Russell

Jean Kennedy Smith

John J. Sweeney


Read more: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog

[n2doc]

1. Bush- puke

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[1776Forever]

2. I agree......Sad the good ole' boy network is still alive and well! n/t

:nopity:

[fascisthunter]

3. meaningless garbage

Bush? Are ya fucking kidding me?????

[Tx4obama]

4. Be sure to read all of their bios on the whitehouse link

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/11/17/announcing-2010-medal-freedom-recipients

[virgogal]

5. Stan Musial-----There's a name from the past.

[nyy1998]

6. Why is the German chancellor there?

:wtf:

[1776Forever]

7. Angela Merkel.........

Angela Merkel is the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. She is the first woman and first East German to serve as Chancellor of a unified Germany, which this year marks its 20th anniversary. She has often said that freedom is the happiest experience of her life. Chancellor Merkel was born in Hamburg but was raised in what was then Communist East Germany after her family moved to Templin. Her political career began when she joined the new Democratic Awakening party in 1989 after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1990, as West and East Germany merged into one reunited country, her party joined with the Christian Democratic Union, and she was elected to the German parliament. She has been chairman of the CDU since April 2000 and was recently reelected to another term.

:shrug:

[dixiegrrrrl]

64. Because she apparently fits one of the catagories: national interest of the US.

It recognizes those individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to
1.the security or national interests of the United States,
2. world peace,
3.cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

The award is not limited to U.S. citizens and, while it is a civilian award, it can also be awarded to military personnel and worn on the uniform.

( Wiki)

[nyy1998]

68. Sure, I understand why the award is given, but I'm still not clear on why Merkel is given an award

Especially since all she's really done is harp about how bad the US deficit is.

[dixiegrrrrl]

69. Zactly, color me puzzled to.

I think there is a politician's mantlepiece contest, where they try to collect the most awards.

"Blair got one, so I want one, too"!!!!!
Boardwalk Empire

[24601]

8. Bush, Buffett, Musial to get Medal of Freedom

Source: Indystar.com posting USA Today

President Obama will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to one of his predecessors: George H.W. Bush.

Super investor Warren Buffett and baseball great Stan Musial also are among the 15 people who will receive Presidential Medals of Freedom at a White House ceremony early next year

Among other recipients of the nation’s top civilian honor: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, poet Maya Angelou, disabilities advocate Jean Kennedy Smith, basketball great Bill Russell, labor leader John Sweeney, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, artist Jasper Johns, and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a civil rights movement pioneer.


“These outstanding honorees come from a broad range of backgrounds and they’ve excelled in a broad range of fields, but all of them have lived extraordinary lives that have inspired us, enriched our culture, and made our country and our world a better place. I look forward to awarding them this honor.”


Read more: http://www.indystar.com/article/20101117/NEWS01/101117022/1001/nav1/?odyssey=nav|head

---

Imagine my disappointment that it wasn't Jimmy Buffett.

[ProudDad]

9. BUSH!!! FUCKING WAR CRIMINAL gwbush!!!!

Please tell me this is from the Onion!!!

This is worse than justifying war while picking up the Peace Prize...

FUCK :nuke:

[Kali]

10. it seems to be the old man

but yeah:puke:

[Unvanguard]

11. The award is going to his father. n/t

[CakeGrrl]

12. George H.W. Bush. The Senior. n/t

[24601]

17. George Herburt Walker Bush. #41 Rumor has it President

Obama won't award one to #43 until 2012, depending on the polls.

[ProudDad]

20. ...

:rofl:

Thanks, I needed that tonight... :hi:

[awoke_in_2003]

47. +1000. nt

[Renew Deal]

28. Every president between JFK and Reagan has gotten one except Nixon.

Clinton, Bush, and Obama will be the only presidents to not have received one.

35th President John F. Kennedy (1963, posthumously)<16>
36th President Lyndon B. Johnson (1980, posthumously)<17>
38th President Gerald Ford (1999)
39th President Jimmy Carter (1999)
40th President Ronald Reagan (1993) – Awarded With Distinction<18>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom_recipients#U.S._presidents

[ProudDad]

36. Ray-gun (with distinction)???

Well that says it all...this "award" doesn't mean shit...

[Renew Deal]

39. Bush 1 gave it to Reagan

I wonder if Obama will give it to Clinton or if we'll have to wait.

And I wonder if Bush 2 will attend the ceremony.

[ProudDad]

41. I'll bet he gives one to Rahm and Summers first...

:grr:

[ProudDad]

13. Take me now! Take me now!!!

Good ole' god. You've proved to me that you're a fucking idiot so you can take me now!

There's nothing that you could throw at me that would be as fucked up crazy as this!!!

[ProudDad]

14. Oh, Poppy...

One of the OTHER war criminals in that execrable family...

Well that makes it all right... :sarcasm:

[Renew Deal]

19. Is that all?

:yoiks:

[Honeycombe8]

26. I admit it's strange, but so are some of the other winners. Do you really know Poppy's history?

I mean, do you know it, really? Or are you just hating on him in general without knowing why.

I don't know that much about his history, but I do know he fought in WWII, I think he was a pilot. So maybe that's part of it, or all of it. There was always a thing between Poppy and Junior about Poppy having a military background and being brave and all, and then there was Junior, a cheerleader in college who went on to use his influence out of even reporting for duty as a National Guardsman while sitting out the Vietnam War.

[ProudDad]

34. What do I know about Poppy?

He was the youngest Navy pilot in WWII (too young, too stupid to know fear?) who also has the distinction of being one of the few to survive being shot down while his navigator didn't...

He was the dweeb they trundled in as the head of the CIA after Watergate. His job was to go up to the Hill and appear in front of the Church Committee (investigating Nixon ordered overreach, domestic and war crimes by the FBI, CIA, etc.) and do a Sargent Shultz "I know nothing about anything like that!" 'Cause he didn't -- they, like ray-gun, kept him mostly out of the loop...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Committee

He and wild bill casey were the bag-men for the Iran Keep the Hostages Deal for that execrable piece of shit ronny ray-gun in 1980, "You keep those hostages until after the election and we'll sell you some stingers, etc. We don't want any October Surprise" So the hostages were released the day ray-gun/bush were sworn in... Good job, poppy...

How about 3000 dead Panamanians so that fuck could do his bit to get rid of the "Vietnam Syndrome"...and have a "successful" pResidency...

And Gulf War I...and the deadly sanctions...

Yeah, I know about poppy bush. My van got spat on and I constantly got the single digit salute for opposing that fucked up "war"...

And how about Clarence Thomas? Poppy Bush's living legacy...

Yep, I know all about G.H.W.Bush and he's a fucking war criminal too!!!

[Honeycombe8]

49. I'd forgotten about all that. But now that you mention it, there was bad blood

after that between Reagan and Poppy Bush. I thought it was because Poppy was mad that he'd been kept in the dark and used like a puppet. He wasn't in the loop. All that was handled by others. I thought. But maybe I'm misremembering.

As for the Gulf War, I supported that, as did most Americans. I appreciate you didn't. Some people are anti-war, or didn't want that war for various reasons. But most thought it was necessary, and I am one of those. So was Gore. So I don't agree with you on that one.

Don't know where you're getting the dead Panamanians.

[ProudDad]

51. Dead Panamanians

http://www.empowermentproject.org/pages/panama.html

Panama...another old friend of bush, Noriega, who fell out of favor because he started acting autonomously instead of following his CIA handler's orders...

3000 dead Panamanian citizens when bush I invaded that tiny country to arrest his former employee...

As for Gulf I, it was an oil grab, just like Gulf War II. Bush GAVE Saddam the go-ahead to "do something about Kuwait" who were slant drilling across the Kuwait/Iraq border in order to steal Iraqi oil. So Saddam invaded Kuwair, thinking he had Poppy's ok...(google April Glasbie)...

It was, as Oliver North would say about Iran/Contra, "A Beautiful Deal." They could get a huge foothold in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia primarily -- thus pissing of Osama bin Laden), emasculate an erstwhile employee, Saddam, and get rid of the "Vietnam Syndrome" so it would free up the fucking Empire to go to war wherever and whenever it wanted...all at the same time.

Typical Imperial bullshit...

Another bullshit war for control of oil and to desensitize the USAmerican Sheeple to accept the wars of Empire again...

And it worked...obviously...


As for Gore, at the time he was a fucking blue-dog war hawk asshole... A major reason why Progressives dropped him like a hot rock in 2000...

[Honeycombe8]

52. I disagree with you on the Gulf War. Period. I'll read up on Panama.

I'm gonna guess that it's not as cut and dried as you say.

[ProudDad]

53. While you're at it, read up about gulf war I

If Poppy hadn't given Saddam the go-ahead, he would never have gone into Kuwait...

They wanted control of the Middle East and the oil...and It REALLY was an excuse to bury the "Vietnam Syndrome" once and for all...

Why the hell were (are) you for it? You must not have been all that old or aware when it was happening...

Just more Imperial bullshit...

[Honeycombe8]

55. I remember all that. I don't need to read up on it. I disagree with your assessment.

There is, frankly, no evidence that Hussein had approval from the U.S. to invade Kuwait.

I disagree that it was an excluse to bury the Vietnam Syndrome. Bush used that phrase to garner acceptance of the war and to make a pledge to the country that it wouldn't be a long, drawn-out, poorly executed war...that we'd go in, do the mission, then get out. Which is why he didn't have Hussein hunted down and killed after the U.S. got Iraq out of Kuwait.

I was an adult at the time, and I agreed with the Gulf War. I prefer no war, as most people do. Why I supported it (and I don't say I STRONGLY supported it, but viewed it more as necessary), is that Hussein had invaded Kuwait (an ally of ours) to get their oil and other wealth. That would have affected our access to oil in the region, naturally. Plus, as the strongest country in the world, it's not unheard of that we respond to pleas from help from our allies. Gore supported it, but did not support the now infamous Desert Storm. Coincidentally, my position is the same as his.

I read up on Panama. You got me there. I recall Noriega being caught and imprisoned here, but I don't recall that war at all. However, as I suspected, and as is the case with most events, it's not cut and dried. It's a he says-he says, too. But it seems generally that various sources, not just liberal sources, view the action as fishy at best. The # of dead, though, will never be known. The estimates range from about 200 to over 4,000, depending on who you believe. But we'll never know. I would guess that this war was a Poppy reaction to having garnered a reputation for being wimpy, which he tried to overcome (and never did, really). There's a book about Jr. which mentions that Jr. went overboard trying to prove he's not wimpy, because his father was perceived as wimpy.

[caseymoz]

57. I remember reading it at the time.

The American Ambassador to Iraq was on record, that is transcripts, telling Saddam that America would be neutral to his actions dealing with Kuwait. Now, it was quite diplomatic language, that is vague, but the hints on what he was going to do were there. I could see from it where Saddam thought he was as blunt as he could be about it, and the ambassador was either incompetent or on orders to tell Saddam the US would not care if he rolled into Kuwait.

When you talk about our access to oil, Saddam then was good to the US in terms of selling it. There was no reason to think he would have been worse when in control of Kuwait. In fact, much less worse than having just maybe four oil companies selling 90 percent of the oil in the US.

[caseymoz]

56. Actually, his right about the first Gulf War.

There was no way Saddam was going to turn into anything like Hitler. His grief with Kuwait, was on side-drilling Iraqi oil. It was joke as a state, originally partitioned from Iraq at the convenience of the British. The only people living there who identified themselves as Kuwaitis were the ones making massive amounts of money from oil.

As for atrocities against Kuwaitis: manufactured, just as the threat of WMA's were later. (There's always some of that in armed takeover, though. The stories of babies being killed, unsubstantiated).

Saddam just got his ass handed to him in the Iran-Iraq war. And he had a glowering Iran right next to him waiting for another chance. He wasn't going on a string of wars of conquest.

[boppers]

40. What I recall about Poppy off the top of my head:

Navy Pilot (WWII, plane downed)
UN Ambassador
China "Envoy"
RNC chairman (During Watergate)
CIA director (During Church Hearings)
VP (Assassination Attempt)
President (90's recession)

Checking in wikipedia, he was also a congressman.

[ProudDad]

42. There's more...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4619381#4619444

[boppers]

43. He seemed to be "the guy with the mop and bucket" at a lot of historical intersections.

"Oh shit, XXXXX just happened."

"No problem, send in the millionaire policy wonk to clean it up".

[dixiegrrrrl]

62. "I don't remember where I was when Pres. Kenedy was shot"

( Despite a picture of him in Dallas that day).

[Honeycombe8]

50. Yeah, I admit it's strange. Maybe...just a thought...maybe it's to reward Bush Jr. for...

not criticizing Obama. Bush Jr. has consistently refused to criticize Obama, even at the times when everyone on the right was especially vicious. Bush Jr. never chimed in, and when asked, he'd simply say that he doesn't want to criticize or interfere with a sitting President. Just a thought.

[Doremus]

15. Here we are acquiescing to the Right again.

yippie.

[Honeycombe8]

32. Did the Republicans insist on those winners? I missed that part of the article. nt

[SarahB]

16. Buffet isn't that much better than Bush.

It's hard to understand what Obama's thinking.

[ProudDad]

18. Further proof

that he's a fucking kiss-up to the elites...

Too bad about that insecurity complex he has...

[Renew Deal]

22. Where have I heard the "insecurity complex" bit before?

I remember. Birthers

[ProudDad]

35. Link?

I'm not a "birther"...

[Renew Deal]

38. Not saying you are

http://mediamatters.org/research/200911200034

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100412193028AA567u1

And then there's Qaddafi: http://www.nowpublic.com/world/qaddafi-obama-has-inferiority-complex

[ProudDad]

45. Interesting...

Well, even a stopped clock is right twice a day...

From what I know of his difficult upbringing in racist USAmerica as a half black person being brought up by white people, having an insecurity complex would be an obvious diagnosis...

It explains his inability to counter the bullshit from the generals and acquiese so easily to expansions of the wars and war budgets.

And the insanity of appointing Summers and Geitner and other Goldman Sachs "pros", the ones who HELPED CREAT the economic problem to advise him how to get out of it...

And, frankly, his timidity when he was presented with a Golden Moment in 2010, the kind that the patrician upper-class FDR was relatively radical while dealing with his Golden Moment, indicates to me that he doesn't have that much self-confidence in the face of "authority"...or is just a willing slave to the corporate state...same result...

[Renew Deal]

21. I think Obama and Buffet have a good relationship

[SarahB]

23. So?

Really? That's a reason to give the man the Medal?

What about Bush?

Will you defend Obama no matter what he does?

[Renew Deal]

27. The previous poster said it was hard to understand Obama's thinking

I tried to explain it. There have been thousands of these things given out. The criteria isn't that strict.

[Honeycombe8]

29. Here's what I think. He's a remarkable man...the first one in history...

to ever give away his entire fortune, and even further, start a philanthropic organization for that purpose. And even further, to start an organization that contacts other megawealthy people, to ask them to give away, for philanthropic purposes, half of their wealth. It's unprecedented.

Second, he's one of only two wealthy men that I know of who has publicly and repeatedly agreed that the tax rate for the megawealthy is too low. That it's bad for the country and unfair to the middle class and poor.

Third, he built a financial conglomerate from nothing. Not an easy thing to do. Then went on to give it to the needy, keeping enough for he and his wife to live comfortably in the same house in Omaha they've lived in for decades (I'm guessing it's been remodeled, but that's a guess).

Is that worthy of the Medal of Honor? I don't know. I don't know the criteria for that. But certainly as worthy as a ball player, who is also on the list, I understand.

[midnight]

24. On what grounds are these handed out?

[Renew Deal]

30. Whoever comes to mind

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom_recipients

[Poll_Blind]

33. Purely the president's choice. It's his call all the way. n/t

PB

[ProudDad]

46. Ouiga board obviously...

or darts at a newspaper hanging on the wall...

[dixiegrrrrl]

25. Hard to miss the message now, isn't it?

[Honeycombe8]

31. Yes. The message is that those people have made the world a better place. And they have...

from what I can tell. Most of them, anyway.

[ProudDad]

37. BUT NOT BUSH!!!!

Another in a long line of traitors and criminals...

[Honeycombe8]

44. I don't know his history. Do you? We're talking Poppy Bush, now.

He was a pilot in WWII or something. That may be it. Poppy Bush is a strange inclusion, I'll grant you that. But I'm not familiar with all his history.

[ProudDad]

48. I do know his history...

And have mentioned some of it upthread...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4619381#4619444

And I took a lot of heat here in the Empire for opposing his phony wars against helpless Panamanian civilians and his previous buddy Saddam (after giving Saddam the Okie-Dokie to "do something about Kuwait robbing Iraqi oil - April Glasbie)...

[dixiegrrrrl]

61. You do not know the history of the 41st President of the USA?

Who, as President, started the gulf War?

Who gave Margaret Thatcher the Medal of Freedom? Thatcher, Ronnie Reagan's political twin?

[Bette Noir]

54. Maya Angelou single-handledly prevented Disney from releasing

"Song of the South" on DVD. Without having seen it, she decided it glorified slavery. In reality, it's set in the post-Civil War south, and celebrates the courage and resilience of poor sharecroppers. That wouldn't suit her narrative, though, so she threatened to organize a boycott, and that was the end of it.

I don't call that making the world a better place. Hattie McDaniel's rendition of "Sooner or Later" deserves to be remembered, as does James Baskett's performance of "Zippity Doo Dah," which may be the most cheerful song ever written.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

66. What do have to do to get one, buy a box of Cracker Jacks?

[Behind the Aegis]

58. White House honors Holocaust survivor with highest U.S. civilian award

Source: Ha'aretz

Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein is one of 15 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the United States' highest civilian honor, the White House announced on Wednesday.

The presidential Medal of Freedom is presented to those who have made special contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

Weissmann-Klein, 86, is the author of eight books, including her memoir detailing her survival of Nazi persecution, “All But My Life”, which became years later served as the basis for the Academy-Award-winning documentary “One Survivor Remembers”.

An official White House statement had this to say of Weissmann-Klein's achievements in the face of hardship: "After Nazi Germany took over her homeland of Poland, Klein was separated from both her parents: they were sent to Auschwitz and she to a series of labor and concentration camps."



Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/white-house-honors-holocaust-survivor-with-highest-u-s-civilian-award-1.325353

[alarimer]

59. All politicians SUCK

Once they get elected all they do is suck up to their predecessors. It makes no difference what party they are from, almost everyone is Washington is part of the problem, not the solution.

[lunatica]

60. Bush Sr.? Really? WTF! What did he do to earn the Medal of Freedom?

I haven't the foggiest notion as to what he did to earn any medals. Medal of Freedom? Is that a joke?

[Renew Deal]

65. I think being elected president is enough

And actually, being elected doesn't matter much either. Clinton gave it to Ford.

[dixiegrrrrl]

63. tis very unfortuante that the Medal of Freedom has been used to reward political cronies

and thus diminish its meaning for those who have made a significantly positive contribution to our country.

Unfortunately, one of the qualifications of the award is for those who have " contributed to the security of the United States"
which is why George Tenant got it, amid much furor and even public calls to return the medal.

shrub gave it to Blair.
Poppy gave it to Thatcher.

I think politics should be taken out of the honor.

[ProudDad]

67. Or, like all foma such as awards and medals...

given for political purposes...

We should recognize that it's not an honor but just more bullshit to distract us...

Shiny baubles and beads for the primitive sheeple...