Good God! The Biden presidency has turned a presidential awards program into another vehicle for mendacious political propaganda. I am referring to the presentation of the Presidential Citizens Medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I take personal umbrage since I was the person to propose the special presidential award for exceptional voluntary actions by common citizens during the Nixon administration \u2013 the ancestor of the current award. I was part of a special 10-member White House Task Force set up by the President Nixon \u2014 and headed up by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development George Romney. (Mitt\u2019s dad).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this point, I will engage in a bit of personal information as historical background.\u00a0 Besides, I love to tell this story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My proposal for the award program was not well received by other members of the task force \u2013 with the possible exception of Romney. Weeell. One evening I ran into Nixon coming out of the Cincinnati Club \u2013 and we struck up a conversation while he waited for Pat to come out of the building. (Yes, you could do that in those days). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nixon asked what I did in Washington. I said I worked for him. He asked in what capacity \u2013 and I told him about my proposal. He seemed to like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next day, when my proposal was being discussed \u2013 and not favorably \u2013 I blurted out \u201cBut the President seemed to like it\u201d \u2013 at which time the members of the task force looked at me incredulously.\u00a0 Except for Romney who had a Cheshire Cat grin on his face.\u00a0 He then said to the group, \u201cLarry is right.\u00a0 I got a call from the President this morning \u2013 and he likes Larry\u2019s idea very much.\u201d\u00a0 And suddenly, so did all the other members of the Task Force.\u00a0 And thus, the presidential awards program for voluntary action was born.\u00a0 We also created the public sector Office of Voluntary Action. (Now you know why I love to tell this story).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Award program transformed over the years \u2013 most notably when President Bush the First dubbed it his \u201cthousand points of light\u201d program. Today is the Presidential Citizens Medal program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea was to reward exceptional service by ordinary citizens over a broad range of activities. It was never intended to be a political cudgel. But that is how Biden operates. He has used \u2013 or misused \u2013 the awards to reinforce the Democrats\u2019 false narrative of a Republican insurrection and fictional coup attempt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of Biden\u2019s Medals went to folks involved \u2013 directly or indirectly \u2013 in the events surrounding the breeching of the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.\u00a0 The list of awardees is composed of those who have been most active in supporting and spreading the Democrat political narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is nothing wrong with honoring the Capitol Police who defended the building \u2013 Congress already did that. But the recipients were not those who took the most heroic actions on that day, but those who took the most anti-Trump positions on television since that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was also a posthumous Medal for Officer Brian Sicknick, who died of \u201cnatural causes\u201d unrelated to his presence on Capitol Hill that day (as the Medical Examiner clearly stated in his official report). There were also Medals for two officers who committed suicide in the days after the riot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden used the awarding of the Medals to advance his repeated lies about January 6th<\/sup> \u2013 again implying that five police officers died on that day, or as a result of their presence on Capitol Hill on that day. Neither claim is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other awards were even more political \u2013 notably the one given to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Incidentally, \u201ccitizen\u201d awards \u2013 as I originally designed them \u2014 and previous Presidents used them \u2014 were never intended for public officials. But it is just another example of the left\u2019s empowering the public sector over the common folks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my opinion, Biden has sullied the program that was meant to honor common unsung citizens for extraordinary service to the community or the country in various ways \u2013 not to hand out \u201cawards\u201d based on allegiance to a dubious partisan political narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, there tis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n