Heavy Medal

The White House has announced its annual recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Most of the names on the list certainly appear deserving. There's an economist, a political prisoner in Cuba, and a DNA reasearcher, among others. However, there is one name which does stick out like a sore thumb, and that is Henry Hyde.

Hyde is a former Republican congressman from Illinois and perhaps best known for his efforts to outlaw abortion. This is rather odd, since the Medal of Freedom is supposedly intended to honor those who work to further the cause of freedom. Yet while he was in congress, Hyde worked to restrict a woman's right to choose. How does working to impose a minority's religious beliefs on an entire nation qualify a person for the Medal of Freedom?

Then again, does the Presidential Medal of Freedom still matter? Is it really that much of an honor? The award was pretty much trivialized several years ago when Bush honored Paul Wolfowitz, Paul Bremer, and George Tenant with the medal.

And if the three principle architects of the Iraq fiasco qualified for the Medal of Freedom, then you may as well start selling the damn things on eBay.