My grandfather was given the Presidential Medal Of Freedom. General Peter Pace is being awarded one too. I think I'm going to vomit.
My grandfather was Judge Henry Friendly. He sereved on the 2nd Circuit Federal Cout Of Appeals. He is still regarded as one of nation's great judges. His rulings are still read in legal colleges today. He was known as a constituional conservative. Yes he leaned in favor of corporations probably more than he should have, but also supported constitutional rights of individuals. By today's standards, he would probably be a centrist. Supreme Court Judge John Roberts was a clerk under him and said he had the highest respect for him even if his recent rulings seem to contradict that, but that's for another post another time. As President Gerald Ford said on Jan. 10, 1977:
"The Medals of Freedom you are about to receive are the highest civilian honor that our country can bestow. Of course, excellence has its own reward, not only to those who strive for it but also to the free society which encourages it. You are men and women who have used that freedom to achieve extraordinary excellence. Your outstanding accomplishments have made our lives better and set stirring example: for others to follow...
"Judge Henry Friendly, honored student and servant of the law, man of intellect and wisdom, he brought a brilliance and a sense of precision to American jurisprudence, sharpening its focus and strengthening its commitment to the high goal of equal and exact justice for every American citizen."
He shared the same stage with Jo Dimaggio, Lady Bird Johnson, James Michiner, Nelson Rockefeller, and Norman Rockwell.
George W. Bush think that General Pace is the equal to such an honor. A man of "extrodinary excellence", a "stirring example". Let's look at his accomplishments (as listed by Think Progress):
He was a consistent defender of the Bush administration’s failed policies, insisting in 2006 that everything in Iraq was "going very, very well from everything you look at" and claiming that Rumsfeld "leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country."
Pace also stepped in to write a letter during the Valerie Plame leak trial endorsing Scooter Libby’s character, specifically noting his "selfless" nature. In 2007, he defended the military’s ban on gays serving openly in the military, stating, "I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates effectively forced Pace into retirement last year because the administration wanted to avoid "contentious" Senate hearings over the Iraq war. He was the shortest-serving Joint Chiefs chairman since Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor in 1964, who stepped down during the early years of the Vietnam War.
By receiving the Medal of Freedom, Pace joins old friends who participated in the mismanagement of the Iraq war, including George Tenet, Paul Bremer, and Gen. Tommy Franks.
He has turned what should be one of our nation's highest honors into carnie-sideshow. It's cheapens it to the point of disgust. This president has made excellence the equal of incompetence. I think I'm going to be sick.