US Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients 2013

[JPL]

This year (2013), the Presidential Medal of Freedom will be awarded to:

• Ernie Banks
• Ben Bradlee
• Bill Clinton
• Daniel Inouye
• Daniel Kahneman
• Richard Lugar
• Loretta Lynn
• Mario Molina
• Sally Ride
• Bayard Rustin
• Arturo Sandoval
• Dean Smith
• Gloria Steinem
• Cordy Tindell "C.T." Vivian
• Patricia Wald
• Oprah Winfrey

Learn more about each of the 2013 Medal of Freedom recipients here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/08/president-obama-names-presidential-medal-freedom-recipients

Jean-Paul

[Guest Rick Research]

Ah, the annual distribution of The Order Of The Dead to the soon-to-be posthumous, and self congratulatory imaginary American knighthoods to political hacks.

In fact, aren't some of this year's honorees ACTUALLY already dead?

[IrishGunner]

Long-time Senator Daniel Inouye is the only politician on the list deserving in my opinion... MoH with the Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Go For Broke.

[IrishGunner]

And being a baseball fan... Nice to see Mr. Cub on the list...

[IrishGunner]

No clue who many of them even are... And the others that I do know... Well... I'll be nice...

[Chris Liontas]

Gloria Steinem??? Seriously???

I'm trying to figure out what exactly this "honor" is supposed to honor. The write up in Wiki says:

"an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors".

So basically we can give it for any reason at any time. Is that supposed to be prestigious?

[IrishGunner]

Chris, to be fair, is this US award really any different than France's Légion d'honneur or Britain's Queen's birthday honours? The award criteria is no different... "basically can give for any reason at any time" ... No less prestigious than those awards.

I'm not a fan of many of those on this US list, but we should recognize this as nothing more than what other nations do to recognize their politicians, actors, artists, etc.

[Guest Rick Research]

Exactly what grates on my ancient Yankee small-r republican genes.

Ben Bradlee? Because of Watergate? He's been wandering around his mansions for the last 20 years evading the grim reaper... for THIS?

Oprah--what, consolation prize for the poor bay-bee because all her billions couldn't make anyone watch her network?

Gloria Steinem??? Dickie Lugar????

What a Pantheon of eternal luminaries!!!!

Imagine--just imagine--getting a phone call saying you didn't quite "measure up" to this year's anointed ones. THEM?????

Bets on how long Johhhhhhhhhhhn Forrrrrrrrrrrrbes Kerry will have to wiaat for his?

But now that the PRE-dead are being handed these, as well as the usual Soon-to-be's... why stop here? Why not hand out symbolic platitudes to Malcolm X? Or Woodrow Wilson? Yeesh.

[IrishGunner]

Come on now, Ricky...

Sir Elton Hercules John CBE

Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, Chevalier Légion d'honneur

I won't add more because those two make the point quite well... If the US Presidential Medal of Freedom is a "meaningless" award for hacks, then so are the Order of the British Empire and the Légion d'honneur. You must agree. If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit.

PS: Actually, Malcom X and Wilson might be more deserving than Oprah and Bradlee... Just sayin'

[Guest Rick Research]

Yup, yup and AYUP. We be on the same page, just holding different margins.

Would be mighty obliged if anybody could come up with who/what/when:

Daniel Kahneman ????

Mario Molina ????

Bayard Rustin ????

Arturo Sandoval ???? (? the outgoing Secretary of the Interior, or some such? REALLY? THAT'S IT? )

Dean Smith ????

Cordy Tindell quote-like-you-can't-figure-it-out-initials Vivian ????

Patricia Ward ????

are, used to be, or were. Household names, American icons... NOT.

Maybe--hopefully--SOME of these people are home grown Mother Theresas, saving blind orphans and keeping the wrath of mankind-destroying Noah's God at bay. But given the REST of this clump, my hopes aren't high. No, not at all. Not from every other previous year's "select few" either.

The Order of the Dead

Yeesh!

Edited August 10, 2013 by Rick Research

[IrishGunner]

Daniel Kahneman ????

Daniel Kahneman is an Israeli-American psychologist and winner of the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Living

Mario Molina ????

Mario José Molina-Pasquel Henríquez is a Mexican chemist and one of the most prominent precursors to the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole. Molina shared the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on the fate of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. Living

Bayard Rustin ????

Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights. In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation, Rustin practiced nonviolence. Died 1987

Arturo Sandoval ???? (? the outgoing Secretary of the Interior, or some such? REALLY? THAT'S IT? )

Arturo Sandoval is a Cuban jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer. Living

Dean Smith ????

Dean Edwards Smith is a retired American head coach of men's college basketball. Smith is best known for his successful 36-year coaching tenure at the Univ of North Carolina. Living

Cordy Tindell quote-like-you-can't-figure-it-out-initials Vivian ????

Cordy Tindell Vivian is a minister, author, and was a close friend and lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr during the American Civil Rights Movement. Living

Patricia Wald????

Patricia McGowan Wald is an American judge. Wald served as the chief judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and served as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Living

Your eternal gratitude is appreciated. Please provide your phone number so that I may collect all at hours of the day and night for eternity.

[Guest Rick Research]

So!

FOREIGNER, already got the most important prize he can get, so this is like bronzing an Olympic gold...

FOREIGNER, global warming--nuf said. Ditto on bronzing HIS gold BTW

VERY DEAD symbolic "diversity" yawner. Where oh where is Oscar Wilde's (dead, diverse AND a foreigner--him!)

FOREIGNER who... tootles. Yipee. Can't wait for the Dead Gangsta Rappah Hall Of Infamy-ers to start getting some.

How in God's holy name could any of us have LIVED without being aware of a college basketball coach. WOWEE. Where's HIS Nobel Prize!?!

I apologize for not having ever heard of the Reverend, sincerely, and wish him the long and happy life ahead this list always precludes.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa JUDGE. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhkayyyyyy then.

Would like to see the Runners Up List. Lots of diappointed, um, folks. Gotta hang in another year and... hope.

Basketball.

Basketball.

BASKETBALL.

That really IS a new low.

Edited August 10, 2013 by Rick Research

[IrishGunner]

I think the Nobel Prize has already been "bronzed". Might as well add this on to the list of "meaningless" awards.

[Rogi]

We have a very Serbian saying for orders like these handed out to people that should probably deserve something less honorable, but it wouldn't look nice on the forum

[Doc]

The comparison between this award and the Legion D'Honneur or the OBE is not correct, in several respects. Most Frenchmen can recognize the ribbon of the Legion, and most Brits can recognize the OBE (and in both countries, most people can probably tell you what it signifies). The American Medal of Freedom is a joke-- most Americans have never heard of it, could not recognize the ribbon or the award, and couldn't care less.

[Megan]

Sally Ride is a former astronaut!

[IrishGunner]

The comparison between this award and the Legion D'Honneur or the OBE is not correct, in several respects. Most Frenchmen can recognize the ribbon of the Legion, and most Brits can recognize the OBE (and in both countries, most people can probably tell you what it signifies). The American Medal of Freedom is a joke-- most Americans have never heard of it, could not recognize the ribbon or the award, and couldn't care less.

Okay, I suppose most Americans couldn't recognize a Distinguished Service Cross ribbon either. I'd be willing to bet a surprising number wouldn't recognize the MoH ribbon, let alone most other military awards. So, by your standard, those awards are "jokes" too. Just because people don't know about an award doesn't make it less significant. That's a weak argument.

And your supposition that "most" Brits and Frenchman know about their awards...is just that...a supposition without evidence. And even if true, the plausible counter to your argument to the OBE and Legion is that if everyone can recognize the ribbon, it must be quite common and numerous... Everyone and anybody can get one. And therefore, since so many are given to so many people...how prestigious can it really be? And the types of people that most often receive those awards are exactly the type receiving the Medal of Freedom. There is no difference.

You said several respects... But you only name the ribbon issue. You have a few more reasons to go...

Edited August 12, 2013 by IrishGunner

[Les]

Wikipedia, for whatever it might be worth, lists all of the recipients of the award. Some of the long-ago recipients include more than a few actors, singers (Frank Sinatra got his in 1985 for little more than singing, and being friends with who....?), and so on. The practice of "handing them out" apparently has been around for quite some time, and not limited to one party or the other.

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

Edited August 12, 2013 by Les

[Doc]

"Okay, I suppose most Americans couldn't recognize a Distinguished Service Cross ribbon either. I'd be willing to bet a surprising number wouldn't recognize the MoH ribbon, let alone most other military awards. So, by your standard, those awards are "jokes" too. Just because people don't know about an award doesn't make it less significant. That's a weak argument.

And your supposition that "most" Brits and Frenchman know about their awards...is just that...a supposition without evidence. And even if true, the plausible counter to your argument to the OBE and Legion is that if everyone can recognize the ribbon, it must be quite common and numerous... Everyone and anybody can get one. And therefore, since so many are given to so many people...how prestigious can it really be? And the types of people that most often receive those awards are exactly the type receiving the Medal of Freedom. There is no difference.

You said several respects... But you only name the ribbon issue. You have a few more reasons to go..."

Irish Gunner--- Actually, I do recognize the ribbons, and recognize what they are supposed to mean. I have no respect for any award which is most frequently given for political reasons rather than real recognized achievement. As to my "assumption", though I am an American, I live in Europe and know personally many French and British citizens-- I stand by my statement. The fact that most people in the respective countries can recognise the award certainly does not mean it is common or numerous-- It's just that the French and Brit awards seem to have more of a basis in society-- in my experience, most of the people who come out on the lists annually are at least recognizable to the population (whether or not they agree that the award is deserved), unlike the list of people on this most current Medal of Freedom list. No matter what you say about it, the Medal of Freedom is not recognized as anything very prestigious by the average American-- basically, in my experience, it is regarded as meaning something only by the recipients and the politicians, unlike most of the military awards you mention. It tends to be given to politically acceptable people who are in the good graces of the current President. Take a poll among your friends-- Ask them what the Presidential Medal of Freedom is, and what it's given for. I bet the vast majority will have no idea. Even worse if you ask them to identify anyone who has received it in the past, without prompting. That's unlike my experience with the French and Brits, who at least usually can tell you what the awards signify and name a few recent recipients.

As a Yank, it's not up to me to say if the Legion or the OBE are prestigious awards. However, the fact is that most French and Brits seem to think they are, and that they have some meaning. The average American, however, couldn't care less about the Medal of Freedom-- It simply is not a meaningful award in the minds of most Americans (in which category I include myself).

Edited August 12, 2013 by Doc

[IrishGunner]

Doc, like you, I too have extensive professional and personal experience in Europe. But I won't measure appendages with you... Let's just say we have a difference of opinion. And it's exactly that... Opinion.

OBE and Legion are just as political. Look at the list of recipients from politics, the arts, science etc. I've named two recipients above that epitomize the argument that those awards have minimal value of those awards in my opinion. Sheer volume alone suggests the honor is minimal.

I don't like some of the awardees of the Medal of Freedom. That's just politics. Which to me seems to be the prevailing argument against the medal in this thread. I guess we'll just leave that as a difference of political opinions. I am rather indifferent (as an average American) to the award. But I also can't see any plausible, fact based, argument that places the Medal of Freedom outside the same political-based category of the OBE and Legion - especially the highest levels of the award! As you say, "I have no respect for any award which is most frequently given for political reasons rather than real recognized achievement." You can't have it both ways. My argument is not that the Medal of Freedom is particularly significant. But rather my argument is that it's no less significant than are the OBE and Legion. They are all birds of the same political feather.

PS: As for "recognized achievement", if the records of the scientists, astronaut, and civil rights leaders above don't qualify for "recognized achievement" then what does?

PSS: Personally, I have to admit I respect John Lennon for sending his back to the Queen.

Peace Out.

Edited August 12, 2013 by IrishGunner

[Hugh]

Most of these are right up there with the Nobel Peace Prize for irrevelance. Next, let's look at the Nobel Prize for Literature. How many of these names have you ever heard? Of those you recognize, how many of their books have you read?

2012

MO YAN who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary.

2011

TOMAS TRANSTRÖMER because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality.

2010

MARIO VARGAS LLOSA for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat.

2009

HERTA MÜLLER who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.

2008

JEAN-MARIE GUSTAVE LE CLÉZIO author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization.

2007

DORIS LESSING that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny.

2006

ORHAN PAMUK who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures.

2005

HAROLD PINTER who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms.

2004

ELFRIEDE JELINEK for her musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society's clich s and their subjugating power

2003

JOHN MAXWELL COETZEE who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider

2002

IMRE KERTÉSZ for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history

2001

V. S. NAIPAUL for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.

2000

GAO XINGJIAN for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity, which has opened new paths for the Chinese novel and drama.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Hugh