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Real Honor is not Vain or Selfish [1]

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Date: 2024-08-16  

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy established the Medal of Freedom—a civilian award for meritorious achievement. In White House documents, it is detailed as “awarded by the President of the United States to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the security or national interests of America, to world peace, or cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” One can agree with some and cringe at others. I applauded when George W. Bush draped the medal around the neck of Muhammad Ali and cringed when Donald Trump gave it to Rush Limbaugh. Sure, the medal is provided at the discretion of the sitting President, but the public has the right to look askance. The citation accompanying the awarding of the medal to Devin Nunes read in part, “He learned that the Obama-Biden administration had issued Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants to spy on President Trump’s campaign and illegitimately unmasked several innocent spying victims for political gain.”

One might say the medal has been reduced to a partisan and vain pat on the back. Former President Obama awarded the medal to [his] Vice President Joe Biden, but at the same time, the careers of Biden and Nunes inarguably favor Mr. Biden. That brings me to another insufferably long grievance-riddled press conference former President Donald J. Trump held yesterday. Making the long trek from his bedroom to a ballroom, Mr. Trump continued his campaign of denigrating the service of America’s war veterans and stepping in the blood and treasure of America in his quest for an uncivil society made in his own image. Yes, we know the stories of his not thinking John McCain was a War hero because he was captured. His disheartening call to the widow of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, Myeshia Johnson telling her, “he knew what he was getting into.”

His disrespect for the men and women and their families who suffer irreparable damage from the death and maiming of their loved ones is becoming commonplace and regrettably acceptable to some.

Yesterday, he topped himself with his outrageous behavior (until tomorrow). In a blatant transactional response, he compared the Medal of Freedom awarded to the widow of the late billionaire donor Sheldon Adelson, Miriam Adelson, to the death and destruction soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor are given for valor. Speaking at a campaign event intended to discuss antisemitism at his Bedminster golf course, he compared the two awards, citing the civilian award given to Ms. Adelson by the former President.

“That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor,” said Trump, referring to the highest military honor bestowed for valor in combat. The Medal of Honor is often mistakenly called the Congressional Medal of Honor. “But civilian version, it’s actually much better because everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead,” Trump concluded. “She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman, and they’re rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and she got it for — and that’s through committees and everything else.”

America loves to give awards to the rich and famous: Grammys, Emmys, Oscars, and countless others awarded by peers in self-congratulatory celebrations. None of which can be compared to the broken and strewn bodies around the globe of our heroic members of the armed forces. Donald Trump, who described dodging a venereal disease as equivalent to service, will never understand sacrifice—shame on anyone who would defend his actions and record of rubbishing soldiers in uniform.

Vote Against Guns

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