XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.history, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: alt.politics.republicans, sac.politics, alt.war.vietnam   
   From: wright@home.org   
      
   This will go down in history as the worst collection of left wing pieces   
   of shit to ever get participation ribbons.   
      
   WASHINGTON — President Biden announced on Friday that he will present the   
   Presidential Medal of Freedom next week to 17 leaders from the worlds of   
   politics, civil rights, sports, business, education and entertainment,   
   including the Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, the actor Denzel Washington   
   and the first American to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.   
      
   The recipients, the first of his presidency, include a variety of barrier-   
   breaking figures familiar to many Americans as well as prominent political   
   veterans Mr. Biden has known over the years. The list includes three   
   posthumous award recipients: Steve Jobs, the pioneering co-founder of   
   Apple; John McCain, the longtime Republican senator and two-time   
   presidential candidate; and Richard Trumka, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. president   
   and Democratic power broker.   
      
   “These 17 Americans demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the   
   soul of the nation — hard work, perseverance and faith,” a White House   
   statement said. “They have overcome significant obstacles to achieve   
   impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives   
   to advocating for the most vulnerable among us and acted with bravery to   
   drive change in their communities — and across the world — while blazing   
   trails for generations to come.”   
      
   The president will honor the recipients at the White House on Thursday.   
   The medal is the nation’s highest civilian award, first established in its   
   current form by President John F. Kennedy and meant to honor “any person   
   who has made an especially meritorious contribution” to national security,   
   world peace or “cultural or other significant public or private   
   endeavors,” as the original executive order put it.   
      
   Over the years, presidents have typically used it to honor political   
   allies, celebrities and Americans with stories that make a particular   
   point that could be helpful to a White House at the moment. At times,   
   presidents have used such medals to reach across the aisle, as Mr. Biden   
   is attempting by honoring Mr. McCain, his longtime colleague and friend   
   from their Senate days.   
      
   The relationship between the two was strained in 2008 when they were both   
   on their respective party tickets, Mr. McCain as the Republican   
   presidential nominee and Mr. Biden as the Democratic vice-presidential   
   nominee. Mr. Biden attacked Mr. McCain at the time as an “angry man” who   
   was taking “the low road to the highest office in the land.” But the two   
   later made up, and Mr. Biden comforted Mr. McCain’s family when the   
   Republican senator died of brain cancer in 2018.   
      
   Mr. Biden’s list includes another prominent former Republican senator,   
   Alan Simpson of Wyoming, a popular wisecracking moderate who worked across   
   the aisle even as he zinged politicians and journalists with his sharp   
   wit. Former Representative Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona who   
   was grievously injured during a mass shooting and became a leading voice   
   for gun control, will also be honored.   
      
   The president singled out several well-known civil rights leaders,   
   including Diane Nash, a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating   
   Committee and close ally of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Fred   
   Gray, a lawyer for Dr. King, Rosa Parks and others and later one of the   
   first Black members of the Alabama Legislature since Reconstruction; and   
   Raúl Yzaguirre, who led the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy   
   organization, for 30 years.   
      
   In addition to Ms. Biles, the most decorated American gymnast in history   
   with 32 Olympic and World Championship medals, a medal will go to Megan   
   Rapinoe, another Olympian and a two-time Women’s World Cup champion. Ms.   
   Biles has become a vocal advocate for mental health, foster children and   
   victims of sexual assault while Ms. Rapinoe has spoken out for gender pay   
   equality, racial justice and gay rights.   
      
   Mr. Biden singled out others who overcame obstacles, like Brig. Gen. Wilma   
   L. Vaught, one of the few early women to serve as a general in the   
   American military; and Julieta Garcia, the former president of the   
   University of Texas at Brownsville and the first Hispanic woman to lead an   
   American college. He will honor Sandra Lindsay, a New York critical care   
   nurse who was the first American vaccinated for the coronavirus outside of   
   clinical trials.   
      
   Other recipients include Sister Simone Campbell, a leading Catholic social   
   justice advocate; the Rev. Alexander Karloutsos, former vicar general of   
   the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, who has counseled multiple   
   presidents; and Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father of a soldier killed in   
   Iraq whose criticism of Donald J. Trump during the 2016 presidential   
   campaign made him a hero of Democrats.   
      
   https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/us/politics/biden-medal-of-freedom-   
   biles-mccain.html   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)