"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."
In the will-towards-shallowness of American politics, I see Ghandi re-fashioned.
First, you win. Then they fight you. Then you bestow tokens. Then there is a sit-com......
Obama awarded 16 medals of freedom today. To "agents of change". The C-word suggests he is congratulating himself, in a way.
Billie Jean King, Harvey Milk, Desmond Tutu...among many others, and most worthy in this writer's opinion.
Many of us thought it laughable when bush 43 awarded Paul Bremer, George Tenent, and Tommy Franks this same medal:
The White House ceremony that saw Bush bestow the gold medallions on retired general Tommy Franks, former CIA Director George Tenet and former US administrator in Iraq L. Paul Bremer for their roles in an illegal war and brutal occupation that have killed 100,000 Iraqis and 1,300 US soldiers could not come as a shock to those who follow this administration with a degree of critical thought and are genuinely devoted to the principle of freedom. Many people throughout the world will react, appropriately, with revulsion.
http://www.wsws.org/...
CYA medals. How do Obama's awards differ?
He honors 2 prominent gays--Billie Jean King & Harvey Milk---and is mum or lifeless on repealing DODT or taking an unambiguous stand on gay marriage.
And he honors Desmond Tutu:
The Israel-Palestine crisis is the most urgent problem for the
world to solve, according to Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus of Cape Town who said tonight that if it remains unresolved, no other issues – from the war on terror to nuclear disarmament – will ever be resolved.
The Nobel peace laureate, who said that in some ways the situation in Palestine was worse than it was in apartheid South Africa, told a packed audience of more than 1,000 – including Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury – that the west "feels a deep, deep shame for what it did – or didn't do – during the Holocaust". And that was right, he said.
"You jolly well ought to feel that shame, but then the penalty, the penance, has been paid, not by the west, but paid by the Palestinians."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
It was painful for me to see how Jimmy Carter was reviled at the publication of "Peace, Not Apartheid"
Has Alan Dershowitz experienced apartheid more than Desmond Tutu?
And is Barack Obama, rather than covering up for incompetents like bush did, with medals, trying to disarm/diffuse his critics/criticism?