Medals of Freedom freely criticized
They are probably the last Medals of Freedom President Bush will award -- and some conservatives are upset he did not use the opportunity to honor more Republican heroes.
To be sure, there was veteran federal judge Laurence H. Silberman, whose controversial role in national security issues has made him a champion to conservatives, and retired Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who was denied a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and reviled by gay groups for his opposition to gays in the military.
Bush also elected to give the honor to recipients whose place in history no one could dispute -- doctors Anthony S. Fauci, a leader in the understanding and treatment of HIV/AIDS, and Benjamin S. Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon, along with, posthumously, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Burlingame), the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress and a longtime leader on human rights issues.
But the one that set conservative tongues wagging was educator Donna E. Shalala, president of the University of Miami and secretary of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration.
"I have no great brief against Donna Shalala, Sec'y of HHS in the Clinton administration, but a Medal of Freedom? " wrote Andrew McCarthy in a post on National Review's Corner last week. Given the likelihood of a Democratic victory in November, he continued, "now may be the last time a Republican gets to grant this honor to deserving recipients for a very long time. And this is how the president chooses to use his opportunity?"
After looking up the list of recipients, he noted, "Judge Robert Bork, now 81, has never gotten one. Wouldn't that have been nice?"
-- James Gerstenzang and Johanna Neuman
Photo Credit: Bob Hope Archives
