Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Trump makes a mockery of the legal system and cowardly judges just sit back and let him.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

So many bastards, so little time.

T R E 4 5 O N

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

You are here: Home / Politics / Politicans / President Biden / Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Presidential Medal of Freedom

Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Presidential Medal of Freedom

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A selection of people who genuinely represent the best of America, and the President who takes delight in recognizing every facet of American greatness!

Per the Washington Post [gift link]:

… During a ceremony held at the White House on Friday, Biden said he had the “extraordinary honor to bestow the nation’s highest civilian honor to 19 incredible people whose relentless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity and hope have kept faith in a better tomorrow.”

On Friday, Biden introduced all the nominees with brief descriptions of their work and contributions to the nation.

Biden joked that he was forced to write short introductions or else, “we’d be here for 12 hours.”

“[There is] much more to say about them,” Biden said. “But you all know how incredible they are.”…

During his presidential tenure, Biden has awarded the medals to a range of figures, including Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington, inventor Steve Jobs and Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse in New York who treated patients during the pandemic…

Here’s the complete ceremony via YouTube, if you want to watch some very happy & deserving people (or their families) be recognized, in alphabetical order. The actual medal-awarding starts at approximately 23min; fan favorite Nancy Pelosi comes on at ~43min:

Reader Interactions

91Comments

  1. 1.

    beckya57

    Anyone besides me remembering Biden’s reaction when Obama gave him this award?  Worth watching on Youtube if you’ve never seen it.

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @beckya57: Remember it well. I’ll have to dig it out and watch again. That was such a wonderful relationship they had.

  7. 7.

    JML

    Hey, Frank Lautenberg made the list! Shame it’s posthumous, but mad props to the man who got smoking off of airplanes.

    Liddy Dole being on there though…that’s a “we need to be bipartisan, who’s someone sort of inoffensive, even if they never really accomplished anything?’ pick if I ever saw one.

  8. 8.

    Jackie

    @beckya57: I rewatch it now and again 😊 Biden’s dawning realization once he grasps that HE was the recipient… 🥲

  9. 9.

    narya

    That’s quite the list of honorees!

    OT: I have FOUR bowls of sourdough starter in the fridge: one is my regular starter (the mother), one is for two loaves of seeded whole wheat bread, one is for pizza, and one is for a cherry coffeecake. Yes, I will be baking all day tomorrow. Trying to get some stuff done before Monday’s (6 am arrival, 7:30 start) surgery. I had originally thought to stay overnight, but since I’m first on the schedule, I’ll likely come home; it’s usually done as outpatient surgery (parathyroidectomy).

  10. 10.

    Chris Johnson

    What the fuck did Bloomberg do besides gracefully bow out after getting obliterated by Elizabeth Warren?

    That’s a real question, by the way. If it’s because he’s close enough to the Biden team that he’s on board with which media entities are wholly owned by Russia, and he’s believably told the Biden people that he is not siding with Russia, to me that would be enough. If he’s tattling on his media owner peers to the point that Biden and his team know not to even bother acting like the NYT is normal, doubly so.

    There are things a wealthy arrogant pig of a billionaire can still do to deserve such a medal, but they’re mostly related to being a wealthy arrogant pig of a billionaire ON OUR SIDE. So naturally, I’m curious.

  13. 13.

    Starfish

    It was interesting to see Medgar Evars and Opal Lee on that list.

    I went to read more about Father Gregory J. Boyle, and this man that looks like Santa Claus has the biggest gang intervention and rehabilitation organization in the US. That is awesome.

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    FYI (may or may not apply to your locality).

    Went online to schedule the next COVID shot (every sic months for me). Found out my local Costco’s pharmacy no longer keeps the vaccine in inventory. Long’s Drugs (local iteration of CVS) still does, however. There’s one several hops and skips up the road; made an appointment there

  16. 16.

    Layer8Problem

    @CliosFanBoy:  “Contrast with the collection of jackasses Trump gave it to.”

    This is why the good lord invented the asterisk:  “* Yet another example of TFG giving the award to a fascist.”

  18. 18.

    gene108

    @Chris Johnson:

    What the fuck did Bloomberg do

    Maybe this:

    Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence.[7] Everytown was formed in 2013 due to a merger between Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.[8]

    SNIP

    Everytown for Gun Safety is largely financed by Michael Bloomberg.[10][11]

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everytown_for_Gun_Safety

  20. 20.

    Ohio Mom

    @narya: That all sounds delicious but post any surgery, you need protein to provide your body with what it needs to knit itself back together.

    How about some hard boiled eggs as snacks and turkey or other cold cuts for sandwiches on that bread? Yogurt and cheese too. Some people sprinkle protein powder on everything but I am not convinced that is necessary.

    Anyway, hope your surgery goes well and your recovery is swift, problem-free and complete. Keep us posted.

  21. 21.

    Suzanne

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Rush Limbaugh is still dead 

    Repeated for emphasis.

    It also just makes me really happy.

    THAT MOTHERFUCKER IS DEADER THAN A DOORNAIL!

  23. 23.

    Leto

    @Suzanne: In the same vein:

    A phone rings at the 700 Club.

    Hello?

    Hi, I’d like to speak with Pat Robertson

    Oh, sorry to inform you that he has passed. Click.

    Again the phone rings.

    Hello?

    (Obviously the same person): Hi, is Pat Robertson there?

    I’m sorry to say he is no more. Click.

    Phone rings again.

    Hello?

    (Same voice) Hi, can you get Pat Robertson for me?

    Sir, as I told you before, he is gone! Click.

    Again ring ring

    Hello? Hi, can Pat Robertson come to the phone?

    Listen, I told you he’s dead. D.E.A.D. Don’t you understand that?

    Oh, I understand all right.

    Then why do you keep calling!?!

    I just like to hear that he is dead!

  24. 24.

    Suzanne

    @Leto: I found a picture of his gravestone with a huge piss splatter on it, and I periodically reshare it on my Book of Faces page. It’s always a pick-me-up.

  26. 26.

    Rusty

    @Chris Johnson: His foundation is a big supporter of the arts.  My daughter works for a black dance troupe that was a recipient of a substantial grant from  Bloomberg. The foundation not only gives money but provides other kinds of support such as networking, management training and more.

  28. 28.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Dole got it cuz Biden has known her and her late husband for a loooong time.

    betcha didn’t know that for years she always took credit for the center mount d brake light on vehicles which happened when she was DOT Secretary

    I have a dear friend who is on the Dole Foundation board and knows her well. Disagrees with dole’s politics on just about everything but has immense respect for her.  Probably Biden’s take as well

  29. 29.

    narya

    @Ohio Mom: oooh, hard-boiled eggs sounds like a good idea. Apparently softer foods are preferable to start. I also like to make microwave scrambled eggs and melted cheese burritos, and I have a freezer full of beans, too. Fingers crossed . . .

  30. 30.

    zhena gogolia

    @narya: We’ll be thinking of you! Yes, eggs are a great post-surgery food. Also consider chocolate-flavored high-protein Ensure!

  36. 36.

    sdhays

    From Daily Kos: Real Men Wear Diapers:

    After noticing a trend of pro Donald diaper merch at rallies throughout this year, I hit up President Trump’s latest event in rural Pennsylvania last weekend with the express purpose of seeing if his faithful were still flying their diaper flag. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

    The best I can guess is that MAGA thinks that they’re “taking over the joke” like liberals did with Dark Brandon? But they’re missing that Dark Brandon was actually a joke – the (nasty) joke was that Biden is actually feeble and impotent, and then a bunch of stuff actually passed and he didn’t look so impotent any more. Their narrative was turned on its head.

    Trump in diapers isn’t a joke, it’s a rumor. A rumor that, I guess, is accepted as true now? I don’t see that working well for them.

  37. 37.

    FelonyGovt

    @Starfish: Yes, Father Boyle is amazing. His Homeboy Industries here in LA has provided jobs and stability for so many former gang members. He receives them with love and compassion.  A remarkable individual.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    @narya

    I have a freezer full of beans, too.

    Mental picture of being like Fibber McGee’s closet.

    “Don’t open that freezer door, narya!”
    “SPLOOSH.”
    :)

  40. 40.

    mrmoshpotato

    @sdhays:

    The best I can guess is that MAGA thinks that they’re “taking over the joke” like liberals did with Dark Brandon? But they’re missing that Dark Brandon was actually a joke – the (nasty) joke was that Biden is actually feeble and impotent, and then a bunch of stuff actually passed and he didn’t look so impotent any more. Their narrative was turned on its head. 

    Isn’t the “Brandon” part lifted from that NASCAR crowd chanting that crap about Biden but the reporter not being able to say “Fuck” on TV, so he “misheard” the chant?

  41. 41.

    sdhays

    @mrmoshpotato: Yes, I believe so. Dark Brandon is a brilliant reclaiming of what originated as some nasty taunting.

    But I don’t see how reminding people that Trump is allegedly incontinent helps him. 🤷

  43. 43.

    mrmoshpotato

    @narya: Dice up some cooked breakfast sausage too!  (Why deprive yourself?  As time and healing allows.) 😁😋

    Hope you have a quick recovery.

  44. 44.

    lowtechcyclist

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: ​
     

    Dole got it cuz Biden has known her and her late husband for a loooong time.

    And IIRC, her late husband was a big part of the reason we didn’t get universal health care back in 1994. My recollection is that he figured that if it passed, the GOP would be in the minority for years to come. Gotta put party ahead of the well-being of the American people, and all that.

  46. 46.

    narya

    @NotMax: It’s not far from the truth . . . I have a whiteboard where I track what’s in the chest freezer (venison, wild turkey, assorted fish from the fish share, fruit from the farm share, and beans, mostly), and I currently have somewhere north of 40 meal-size containers of beans. SO much stuff in there . . . banana leaves, anyone? How about some ground venison? Scallops? Shrimp? Salmon? Shells for fish stock? Bones for chicken stock? Already-made chicken stock? As you can tell, the whiteboard really became necessary so I could be reminded of things that needed to be used up.

  47. 47.

    mrmoshpotato

    @sdhays:

    But I don’t see how reminding people that Trump is allegedly incontinent helps him. 🤷 

    I don’t either.

  50. 50.

    Jackie

    @NotMax: I assume Barron’s daddy will hover over his shoulder while he fills out his ballot.

    Remember in ‘16 the video of TIFG looking over the voter partition to check Melania’s ballot? He knew she didn’t want him elected!😂

  51. 51.

    lowtechcyclist

    If I were Barron, I’d probably be thinking, “I’ve just got to tolerate him until he’s too far into dementia to change his will.”​

    ETA: And then I’d apply to a bunch of colleges on the west coast so I’d only have to see him once or twice a year in the meantime.

  53. 53.

    MomSense

    @beckya57:

    One of the best ever.  He looked so humbled and honored and Obama was obviously so pleased to present him with the medal.

  54. 54.

    japa21

    Re Al Gore.  I have never understood the criticism of his gracefully accepting the (illegitimate) decision of SCOTUS that gave the election to Bush .. Ignore anything about supposed results of counting in FL.  He may or may not have won.

    Regardless, what the hell did people expect him to do?  He couldn’t appeal the decision.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @Another Scott:

    Oh, I hope so. They’re still not getting any aid past the IDF. Half a million people could starve to death. I’m reading that once a famine takes hold it’s very difficult to stop. That window is rapidly closing. 

    Cindy McCain is out advocating for urgency on humanitarian intervention. I’m glad someone is. Media love the McCain’s. Maybe they’ll cover it.

    Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, said she believes there is a “full-blown famine” in northern Gaza.
    McCain said that while there has not yet been an official declaration of famine, based on what her organization has seen and experienced on the ground, she believes there is a “full-blown” issue in Gaza.
    “It’s horror. It’s – You know, it’s so hard to look at and it’s so hard to hear, also,” McCain said in her interview.

  57. 57.

    MomSense

    I should be doing chores but I’m watching a young man fish off his boat in the cove in front of me.   The birds are making all kinds of lovely sounds and it looks like Carl Sprinchorn painted the sky.

  58. 58.

    cmorenc

    @Layer8Problem: agree that Trump hugely devalued the award by giving it to the likes of rush Limbaugh.  Under Trump, it was as if he went out of his way to select characters who would have been comic-book villains, except they were doing substantial real-world evil.

  62. 62.

    Ohio Mom

    @Kay: Of course I want peace, and an end to famine and death, and two states for their own stakes.

    But part of me is also “Please let this all get resolved quickly and fairly so Biden can re-elected handily.”

  64. 64.

    scribbler

    @MomSense:  It sounds utterly lovely.  You’ve worked very hard the past few months-let yourself enjoy some quiet moments!

  65. 65.

    narya

    @mrmoshpotato: Yup. I only keep ice cubes and flour (whole wheat, almond, pizza, bread, and hazelnut flour, atm) in the freezer that’s part of the fridge. One of the best investments I’ve made. It’s really nice to be able to make batches of things (beans, stock, gnocchi, roasted tomatoes)

    ETA: and thanks for all of your good wishes, you jackals.

  66. 66.

    Kay

    @Ohio Mom:

    It would be good but honestly it’s too late for that. By the time a famine is officially declared a lot of people are already starving and once they’re starving they need not just food but medical care – most of the medical care facilities in Gaza are gone. Gaza had 36 hospitals. Only 12 are left standing, partially functioning. They’re going to get hit with a second wave of people needing urgent medical care – much, much bigger than the first. It would need an extraordinary effort at this point. Full focus.

  69. 69.

    Kay

    @Ohio Mom:

    As I said yesterday I don’t think it’s a real threat to Biden politically. Most people will probably oppose the protests (as most people have opposed all protests in the US over the last 100 years) and I don’t see any huge concern for people in Gaza out there. It hurts him on the margins with very politically active young people and certainly Arab Americans and Muslims, but I don’t think most Americans care if they all starve. I think the people who are most active opposing this will be profoundly affected politically – it will change their views of both political parties permanently, but most people? They won’t care.

    Biden isn’t going to pay politically for this except with a small portion of voters – that doesn’t change the substantive horror or actual death toll, obviously, or the (frankly) failure of the US ot get the aid they promised repeatedly in to the people who need it. We failed at getting them aid in time. That’s the only metric that will matter – we either did it or we didn’t.

  71. 71.

    Kay

    @Jackie:

    I wish it were a high profile Democratic advocate for humanitarian aid on Meet The Press, but it’s good someone is saying it. I recognize we’re busy arresting and charging college students, however. That’s our focus. Arresting the messengers. Because that’ll fix it – or at least make it possible for Americans to pretend it isn’t happening.

  75. 75.

    Kay

    I don’t think the US should have promised the aid unless they knew they could get it past. We spend billions of dollars on intelligence and they’ve been in thse negotiations for months – surely they had some inkling the “guarantee” that aid would get in was bullshit. It feels political – like they made the statement for domestic political consumption. At the very least they should stop overpromising. They, in fact, did not reach any kind of deal to get aid in or the aid would be getting in.

  76. 76.

    Jackie

    @Gloria DryGarden: I wondered about that at the time… he may have been given leeway as a spouse, and Melania didn’t object, so 🤷🏼‍♀️

    I would have raised hell, myself, or chosen a different booth.

  77. 77.

    glc

    @gene108: Seems likely. He’s a terrible person, but as billionaire philanthropists go, better than the Sackler crime family.

  79. 79.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Chris Johnson: ​There are things a wealthy arrogant pig of a billionaire can still do to deserve such a medal, but they’re mostly related to being a wealthy arrogant pig of a billionaire ON OUR SIDE–.

    Who is hopefully figuring out a legal way to dump a few hunnert million into Democratic downballot campaigns – and then dropping the rest of the billion he found under the seat cushions into the Johns Hopkins University endowment so they’ll continue to refrain from hassling me for $$$ for the rest of my unnatural life…

    (FTR I am uneasily anticipating the day when my alma mater changes its name to Michael Bloomberg University. Hey, Johns Hopkins was a robber baron too, and the Most Rapacious Nonprofit In The Multiverse has already sold off the naming rights to just about everything else in their neverending hunger for coin of the realm… )

  80. 80.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @zhena gogolia: I was just praising Al Gore to a student the other day.

    For what? For running fulltilt away from his personally flawed but still popular boss and throwing himself into the arms of the sanctimonious shithead Lieberman, thus handing the White House to the Thugs for eight wholly unnecessary years during which everything started to go seriously wrong?

    Or were you thinking of something else? ;^D

  82. 82.

    wjca

    @Baud: Passed over yet again.

    Perhaps pants are required?  Some kind of secret protocol in the original bill authorizing the Medal of Freedom maybe?

  83. 83.

    wjca

    @NotMax: Now that he’s come of age, inquiring minds curious who Barron’s going to vote for (or rather against?).

    Traditionally, young people of that age rebel against their parents.  (Unless their parents are exceptional. In a good way.)  Just sayin’

  85. 85.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @TBone: Wow. Real men wear diapers? JFC those people are truly nuts. My favorite is the flag.

  87. 87.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: I remember when I was a kid in the 50s and early 60s and all the history I learned seemed like true HISTORY, in that I didn’t have to worry about it happening again: WWII, the Great Depression, the Black Death, Nazis, Civil War, Lincoln’s assassination, etc. The adults had it all under control. Ha. The first nail in that assumption coffin was JFK’s assassination,  and the 1968 really started things downhill. But in the last decade, or so things have really gotten out of hand. And now I am living mostly in a dystopian sci-fi movie. And how is it possible it is the year 2024

    ETA Things are so bad weather wise now that massive flooding in Texas and Brazil are barely a blip in the news. And 130 mph tornados in the Mid West?

  90. 90.

    Miss Bianca

    @Leto: I first heard that joke told about Buddy Rich, legendary jazz drummer and bandleader, and equally legendary asshole, apparently.

  91. 91.

    ChrisSherbak

    @Starfish: Thanks for the shout out to Fr. Greg – was going to post about his great work but you beat me to it. He’s done amazing work in LA and is a great example of what Roman Catholic (and esp. Jesuit) faith leaders are doing for our society. Well deserved!

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