Bush to honor Ali, Greenspan and others

[sabra]

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/breaking_news/13123225.htm

Bush to honor Ali, Greenspan and others

Associated Press


WASHINGTON - Former boxer Muhammad Ali, retiring Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and singer Aretha Franklin are among 14 people being honored Wednesday with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian award.

President Bush is scheduled to preside over the White House at 2:30 p.m. ET.

The honorees included entertainers, athletes, authors, and hotelier Paul Rusesabagina, whose courage and compassion in sheltering people at the hotel he managed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide was depicted in the movie "Hotel Rwanda."

This time Bush steered clear of any political choices for the award. There was criticism when he gave the medal last year to former CIA director George Tenet and L. Paul Bremer, who ruled Iraq in the aftermath of the war.

[saigon68]

1. Well unlike the CHIMP --ALI didn't go AWOL

[YDogg]

4. As Meatloaf said, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

[Burma Jones]

2. I thought the Medal of Freedom was a sign of Failure???

It looks as if things are a little better.

[catmandu57]

3. I heard about this

Carol Burnett and Jack Nicholson are supposed to be among those receiving a medal. I hear Jack is something of a koolaid drinker, but I can't imagine Carol letting an opportunity to tell this slimey piece of shit what she really thinks about him go.
It might be fun.

[Divernan]

8. Carol has sold out & is pimping the horrendous new Medicaid drug program.

Haven't you seen her TV ads pushing this program for some private provider?

It is a terribly complex program which may benefit some people, but if your health goes from needing a minimum amount of Rxs to needing a lot of expensive Rxs (as will happen to most of the elderly at some point), you find yourself facing a several thousand dollar uninsured "gap", and if you don't have the money to pay for those drugs, you can't get to the other side to have the program start paying for your Rxs again.

Plus, it is set up with a punitive provision that if you don't enroll during the first month you are eligible, the costs keep increasing every subsequent month. This is designed to panic the elderly into signing up even when they don't understand how the program works.

She has a lot of credibility with the public, especially the over-60 crowd. She reminds me of legislators pushing some legislation which they reallly don't understand - but they got a big donation from the lobbyists who wrote it.

[fbahrami]

5. More like an insult than an honor

coming from Bush ...

I wish Ali - who faught against the Vietnam war - would refuse.

[madmark]

6. "Mr Greenspan, I would like to present you with this Medal Of

Freedom for assisting me in destroying the fiscal well being of this country."

[WinkyDink]

7. Is he still pResident?

Yawn.