US Awards Season

Bush Chooses Uribe, Blair, Howard For Medal Of Freedom

President George W. Bush is giving the nation's highest civilian award to three foreign leaders who have been among his most loyal partners on the world stage, particularly in the Iraq war.

Bush is awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and to two former leaders: former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Bush is conferring the prestigious award on his friends in an East Room ceremony on Jan. 13 _ exactly one week before he leaves office, White House press secretary Dana Perino said Monday.

"The president is honoring these leaders for their work to improve the lives of their citizens and for their efforts to promote democracy, human rights and peace abroad," she said. "All three leaders have been staunch allies of the United States, particularly in combating terrorism."

Ah yes, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Cable Ace Award of American honors. Whenever you need to attempt to save face for your terrible policies you hand out the Medal of Freedom in an attempt to pretend you're awarding them for success and not a one day headline. Blair and Howard are being awarded for their complete and total sycophancy during the war on terror and the extreme lengths to which they would ignore their own people and governments in their fruitless support of our boy wonder and his Iraqi adventure. In an unrelated observation, both of them were driven from office. Howard by the voters and Blair by his own party in an attempt to stave off retribution by the voters.

Alvaro Uribe is getting the award because Bush really wants Congress to pass a free trade agreement with Colombia. A man with drug trafficking links, paramilitary links, and bribery charges, getting an award for his human rights work. Which is good, unless you are a worker in his country trying to unionize, then you get your skull cracked. But you know who I feel sorry for? Everyone who got this award from Truman's creation of it to Clinton. These people were honored and probably genuinely excited to receive the honor. Then Bush ran in and turned it into a punchline. So congrats, you've received a devalued honor. Maybe you can sell it for scrap if you fall on hard times.