Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Books are my comfort food!

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

He really is that stupid.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

In my day, never was longer.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

White supremacy is terrorism.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

You are here: Home / Open Threads / President Biden Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom at 2 pm (LIVE)

President Biden Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom at 2 pm (LIVE)

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This post is in: 

President Biden will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 people today.

I checked out the list of people before deciding whether to put up a post for this.  Lots of great people are being honored.  There are a couple of people that wouldn’t have been on my list.   I must have been out watering when Biden called to get my input.

Speaking of which (sort of related) I added Imm’s great comment yesterday to the rotating tags.

“You didn’t get a personal candygram about what the State Department is doing?”

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

115Comments

  1. 1.

    different-church-lady

    How dare he continue to do normal presidential-type things when he should be screaming at people on Twitter.

  2. 2.

    Betty Cracker

    @different-church-lady: He could multitask during remarks on McCain’s posthumous medal, noting that without the saintly senator’s moderating influence, his party devolved into a troop of poop-flinging fascist baboons. Even better if Meghan McCain is accepting on the deceased’s behalf…

  4. 4.

    Mike in NC

    Congrats to the recipients. But Steve Jobs was a genuinely terrible person, no matter his technical abilities. The fact that Rush Limbaugh was presented with one by a fellow fat golfer will forever diminish its value.

  6. 6.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mike in NC: What was so terrible about Jobs? I’ve heard he was a shitty father to his first child (at least at first, when he denied paternity), and I assume he was an asshole as a businessman because statistically, people who claw their way to the top tend to be assholes. Was it more than that?

  8. 8.

    Immanentize

    @Betty Cracker: he was not a nice man. Very controlling, it is said, to all in his orbit. But he was definitely NOT in the Musk league of corporate titanic asses.

  11. 11.

    debbie

    Can you name an uncontrolling successful entrepreneur? Seems it comes with the territory (Acknowledgement that I remain a 100% fan of Steve Jobs, and I always will, no matter what dirt gets thrown at him).

  13. 13.

    Immanentize

    @debbie: Ben and Jerry?

    Annie (from the healthy food/Mac n cheese franchise — she is a colleague’s sister)

    Dave Thomas (he was supposed to be quite nice)

  19. 19.

    different-church-lady

    @Betty Cracker: ​

    @Betty Cracker: ​
      Jobs had horrible interpersonal issues. I don’t think he wanted to be an asshole, he was just several places on the spectrum. He was a frustrated artist that compensated by giving creative people tools that helped them create. He did the world some good at the expense of the people around him. Everyone should make their own judgement about how that balances out.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    ‘@debbie

    Off the top of the noggin the closest I can come would be George Westinghouse. Control tempered with empathy with an appreciation of the merits of others, a balance of an engineer’s discipline and curiosity and a clear-eyed view of the realities of the workplace.

    In some ways I might also include Milton Hershey.

  24. 24.

    Betty Cracker

    Speaking of James Caan, have any of y’all watched “The Offer,” a limited series streaming on Paramount? Highly recommended for fans of “The Godfather”!

  26. 26.

    Citizen Alan

    @debbie:  I generally don’t believe it’s possible to become a billionaire without also being an awful person if not an actual sociopath. Decent people who obtain exceptional wealth usually give away too much of it to reach the status of billionaire.

  33. 33.

    Tony Jay

    @Nicole:

    Hugh Grant may be partially responsible (along with Stephen Fry and Joanna Lumley) for the rehabilitation of ‘poshness’ that made Flobalob’s career possible, but he’s still okay in my book.

  34. 34.

    Gvg

    @Betty Cracker: didn’t he choose some quackery to try to beat cancer instead of science, thus dying when he might not?  I don’t recall anything else….but I never paid much mind to personal lives of famous people. A lifelong friend of my dad did the same type of thing about the same time and made my dad sad, so I sort of recall this, but I could be misremembering.

  35. 35.

    Mike in NC

    @Betty Cracker:  He was basically a nihilist. Would park his car in handicapped spots because he didn’t believe the government had the authority to regulate anything. Had no driver’s license, no car insurance, etc. The ultimate glibertarian.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Looking at the list of honourees: of the 17, I was familiar with nine of them prior to the ceremony, and had never heard of the other eight.

    That strikes me as a very good balance for awards such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Roughly half of them are well-known, almost household names, being honoured for accomplishments most of us know about. The other half are names unfamiliar to us, and call to our attention the important achievements that happen behind the scenes every day, or that happened long ago. Good mix. Congratulations to them all.

  40. 40.

    UncleEbeneezer

    If Dem messaging works for the MAJORITY of Blk Voters & Asian voters & Latin voters & indigenous voters

    Perhaps we don’t have a MESSAGING PROBLEM

    We have a White voters vote for White Supremacy problem

    We have a White voters blame EVERYONE ELSE for their voting habits problem – Michelle_BYoung

  45. 45.

    raven

    @Immanentize: GED grad. He was supposed to be the “virtual” speaker (long before it became a thing) at the state literacy conference and the technology failed and the state director had a fit! She later was fired for hiring her family members to bullshit Jobs in the department!

  49. 49.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Mike in NC:

    I don’t care how rich he was, how the hell was he allowed to drive without a license or car insurance?!

  51. 51.

    Alison Rose

    Watching the replay and wow, this is quite a group of people. I’ll even accept McCain since everyone else is awesome. Especially Diane Nash, my absolute hero!!!

  52. 52.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: Gardens of Stone came out just before I went into the army.  One of my classmates from OCS though the Artillery OBC and Airborne School had served with the Old Guard.  One of my grandfather’s brothers had that as his duty during WWII.

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @raven: A little more than half our class was prior service.  The other bunch were, like me, just out of college with only BCT as military experience.

  59. 59.

    JML

    Caan was great. Loved him in the weird and funny Honeymoon in Vegas, among all the classics.

  60. 60.

    raven

    @Omnes Omnibus: Wow, I had no idea. But, then again, I was telling my buddy the other day how educational attainment was crucial in the military today unlike Project 100,000.

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    @Mike in NC:

    Speaking of people who revered Jobs and shouldn’t have.

    Silicon Valley executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani has been found guilty of deceiving investors as part of a plot with ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes.

    He falsely and repeatedly claimed that their company, Theranos, had a device that could detect hundreds of diseases with a few drops of blood.

    Holmes was found guilty at a separate trial in January where she accused Balwani of abuse – which he denies.

    Both Holmes, 38, and Balwani, 57, will be sentenced by a judge in the autumn.

    Holmes is facing around 20 years in prison and is currently free on bail. Balwani also faces up to 20 years in prison as well as millions of dollars in restitution payments to his victims.

    Theranos was once worth $9bn (£7.5bn), but was based on blood testing technology that did not work.

    The verdict was read on the fifth day of jury deliberations at a courthouse in San Jose, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Balwani was found guilty of all 12 charges against him.

    During closing arguments on 21 June, prosecutors showed text messages sent by Balwani to Holmes.

    “I am responsible for everything at Theranos,” he wrote in 2015. “All have been my decisions too.”

    Assistant US Attorney Jeffrey Schenk called the message an admission of guilt. “He’s acknowledging his role in the fraud,” he said.

    TBF it was Holmes who think’s Steve J is “neato.” Balwani seems enamored of money and power.

  66. 66.

    James E Powell

    @trollhattan:

    Balwani seems enamored of money and power.

    And a woman 20 years younger, no doubt.

    Just yesterday I was wondering what was taking so long with that trial. Half assed internet search revealed jury questions.

    I have no experience with federal sentencing guidelines, but some jackals do. What do you all think these two will get?

  67. 67.

    Martin

    There you go. Feinstein will support a filibuster carveout for abortion.

    I’m telling you, her top priority right now is not embarrassing herself in front of a zillion cameras defending a position that the rest of the party opposes. She might be slow getting there, but she’s just a party line vote now. The calls still help the process along, so keep them up.

  71. 71.

    rikyrah

    Who is Sandra Douglass Morgan? Meet the NFL’s first Black female president hired by Raiders
     

    Sandra Douglass Morgan made history on Thursday as the first Black woman to assume the role of president of an NFL team.

    The Raiders announced Morgan as the team’s new president via an internal letter (acquired by the Las Vegas Journal-Review’s Mick Akers) sent from Morgan to the rest of the organization. She replaces interim president Dan Ventrelle, who after resigning claimed he was fired in retaliation for reporting a hostile workplace environment to the NFL.

     

    ………………..

     

    Morgan’s name may be unfamiliar in NFL and football circles, but she is well-known in Nevada and Las Vegas, where she formerly served as the chairwoman Nevada Gaming Control Board from 2019 through 2021 — a role in which she also broke the gender and color barriers.

    Here’s everything you need to know about Morgan as she takes over as president of the Raiders:
    Who is Sandra Douglass Morgan?
    Morgan is a Las Vegas native with a wealth of experience traversing the gaming industry in Nevada and the Raiders’ new home city, making her an obvious candidate for the Raiders’ open president position.

    Per the Journal-Review, Morgan earned a bachelor of arts in political science from University of Nevada, Reno, before earning a juris doctor from UNLV’s Boyd Law School. She served in the following capacities prior to taking over as the Raiders’ team president:

    • Litigation attorney, MGM Resorts International
    • City attorney, North Las Vegas (2013-16)
    • Director of external affairs, AT&T Services Inc. (2016-19)
    • Chairwoman, Nevada Gaming Control Board (2019-21)

    https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/sandra-douglass-morgan-raiders-president/vcq94dwekcemwkks33bdtsbq

  75. 75.

    Ohio Mom

    Steve Jobs had a rare type of pancreatic cancer that western medicine actually has a treatment for — most pancreatic cancers are quickly terminal. They are symptomless until they are very advanced and have spread, and no effective chemo has yet been identified/developed.

    But Jobs was too arrogant to do what the doctors recommended. He threw his life away.

  78. 78.

    misterpuff

    @JML: since we are commenting on early 70s movies in this thread, what does everybody think of Serpico?

    Much like Rollerball, that flick had a big impact on me in high school when I saw it.

    But then I also saw Death Wish multiple times (hated the politics but that movie is a banger).

  79. 79.

    Jeffro

    I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to see Khizr Khan receive the Medal of Freedom.  He and his wife’s bravery in speaking up at the 2016 DNC brought tears to my eyes (as it did, for vastly different reasons, the way the GQP quickly capitulated to trumpov when he attacked the Khans, then doubled down some more on the attacks).  I loved his book and told him so when I ran into him here in Cville a couple years ago.

    Amazing person and a TRUE American, unlike that scum Rush Limbaugh who the former guy gave the MOF to.  Run THAT ad, Dems: “compare and contrast, America, compare and contrast!”

  82. 82.

    sab

    @Omnes Omnibus: My son law drove illegally for years. The advantage of no license is they can’t put points against your license for speeding etc. if you have no license. And if you drive well they might never stop you.

  83. 83.

    Suzanne

    I just read the piece in The Atlantic about Kevin McCarthy and Lindsey Graham, and it gave me that sweet, sweet rush of contempt. Talk about bad hires.

  84. 84.

    Anyway

    @sab:

    Re Jobs: Easy to take a chance driving without a license if there’s low likelihood of being stopped for DWB  :-/

  85. 85.

    Emma from Miami

    @Ohio Mom: ​*shrug* It was his to throw away. I might not agree with his choice but I don’t see it as arrogant. It was simply personal. There are a number of terminal illnesses I wouldn’t care to treat intensively.

  88. 88.

    J R in WV

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    …how the hell was he allowed to drive without a license or car insurance?!

    He had a dealer’s plate on his car, and when it expired he bought another new vehicle — it’s just $134,000 after all. And insurance is a foolish expense if you have more money than most insurance companies. He just did what he wanted.

    We saw his yacht when we went whale watching to the southern end of Baja California Sud. Larger than the tiny National Geographic ocean liner we traveled on. I posted pics in On the Road of the many giant yachts down there.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    @J R in WV:

    We saw his yacht when we went whale watching to the southern end of Baja California Sud. Larger than the tiny National Geographic ocean liner we traveled on

     
    It was a houseboat.

  92. 92.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Martin: 

    There you go. Feinstein will support a filibuster carveout for abortion.

    I’m telling you, her top priority right now is not embarrassing herself in front of a zillion cameras defending a position that the rest of the party opposes. She might be slow getting there, but she’s just a party line vote now. The calls still help the process along, so keep them up.
    ​

     Awesome! I left voicemail this morning – many thanks to the jackal(s) who suggested it – and said that I’d proudly contributed to her first Senate campaign because of her strong pro-choice leadership, and I hoped she would be a strong pro-choice leader again for the filibuster carve-out.

    Whether it’s Feinstein or her staff who are pondering the feedback, it never hurts to tell a Senator that you admire their leadership… especially if they could be doing a bit more on that front. :)

  95. 95.

    misterpuff

    @Baud:

    We saw his yacht when we went whale watching to the southern end of Baja California Sud. Larger than the tiny National Geographic ocean liner we traveled on

    It was a houseboat.

    A Mansionboat

    or a Manchinboat.

    Your Pick.

  96. 96.

    Steeplejack

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Ringo is a great drummer! I laid it out in a post long ago (as related to me by a professional drummer), but the short version is: he had a flawless sense of timekeeping; his drumming adapted as the Beatles’ music developed; and he was a steadying influence in a pressure-cooker environment with at least two, arguably three, fractious geniuses.

    Someone—maybe at Stereogum?—made the point that you can identify almost any Beatles song just by the drumming. Hats off on his birthday to Ringo, “the biggest fool that ever hit the big time.”

    A classic Ringo outing: “Ticket to Ride.”

  98. 98.

    raven

    @Mike in NC: He’s lucky he didn’t run into my buddy (RIP). he didn’t fuck around when he saw non-permitted people parking in handicapped spots!

  99. 99.

    Mai Naem mobile

    This is not on any priority list for me. Giving Steve Jobs a medal of freedom posthumously just a waste of a medal. I understand giving a posthumous medal to some discriminated minority who would never have gotten one during their lifetime or somebody who died doing something heroic, but Steve Jobs?  Another rich white guy whose widow is doing the charity stuff. Hell, give it to Mrs Jobs. If you’re going to do posthumous entrepeneurs do the HP guys.

  100. 100.

    Ivan X

    I actually met Jobs, and interacted with him from a distance one at a company meeting, when I worked at Apple, and he had freshly come back from exile as a technology has-been. I also met him after I no longer worked there when they launched the 5th Ave 24-hour Apple Store next to Central Park.

    I think he was a genuinely complicated person, a raging narcissist who was also a legit visionary who could be cruel and also care. At the company meeting not long after his return, I asked him (from the auditorium) what the most challenging part of his work was, and he stopped, thought, and answered (paraphrasing) “laying off people who really care about this company.” And it felt like he meant it, too. I mean, sure, he’s responsible for the Reality Distortion Field, but if you know anything about Apple in the 90’s, this answer makes perfect sense. I personally don’t think he was a two-dimensional terrible person. That’s not to say he didn’t do terrible things, but as others have suggested, what captains of industry haven’t?

    I also met Woz and that guy is a total sweetheart.

  102. 102.

    geg6

    @Betty Cracker:

    Is it worth watching if you absolutely hate The Godfather and think it’s a genuinely shitty movie?  In other words, is it a good hate watch?

  103. 103.

    Ivan X

    @Doug R: to be fair, as an Apple II enthusiast, the most important computing paradigm changer was Mac, which was not Woz. And much later on it was iPhone, and, well, that was very much Jobs.

    Not that Woz wasn’t a genius who should be celebrated much more than he is.

  104. 104.

    geg6

    Fuck Steve Jobs (as she types this on her iPhone).  Rich Trumka got one posthumously, deservedly so.  A truly great American and I’m proud that he was a fellow Pennsylvanian.

  106. 106.

    Ivan X

    @misterpuff: I believe in pulp art! In High Exploitation!

    Death Wish II, on the other hand, is the Citizen Kane of sadistic gang rape movies.

  108. 108.

    There go two miscreants

    @Betty Cracker: ​The current court would do a better job if they actually did try to guess what the ghost of Jefferson intended, instead of being guided by their prejudices.

  111. 111.

    Miss Bianca

    @Steve in the ATL: Ringo Starr is a great and very underrated drummer. His beats sound simple but man do they SWING. To compare him to Pete Best is kind of an insult, really.

  114. 114.

    DMcK

    I’ll take the occasion of Ringo’s b-day to proclaim my unabashed love for “Caveman”. An objectively mediocre movie that nonetheless incorporates a pretty darn good cast, quite a few funny gags, some terrific stop-motion dinosaurs, and above all, a genuinely sweet-natured disposition in favor of misfits, geeks and outcasts a-la “Revenge of the Nerds”.

    And “Death Wish III” (my favorite of the series) is a highly entertaining insight into certain elements of the cartoonishly hardcore Republican mindset. Like…they think it’s a fucking documentary or something.

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