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SERIOUSLY?
Mike Allen reports:
“Pastor Rick Warren will present President George W. Bush with the first International Medal of PEACE from the Global PEACE Coalition in recognition of his contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Dr. Warren will engage both President Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush in candid one-on-one conversation on past accomplishments and priorities moving forward regarding international health issues.”
There's no argument that Bush has done some genuine good in pushing America's HIV/AIDS policy forward, but giving Bush the International Medal of PEACE is like giving the Dalai Lama the International Medal of WAR. You can find a rationale, but it demonstrates a genuinely insufficient sensitivity to irony.
And in case you were wondering, the "P" in "PEACE" stand for "promote reconciliation."
COMMENTS (10)
As long as you hate teh gays, you are a man of peace and brilliance.
Posted by: Gore/Feingold '16 | December 1, 2008 10:11 AM
Rick Warren just excluded himself from the set of Evangelicals Worth Taking Seriously.
I'm not sure if the set's empty or not, but I'm sure it's pretty small.
Posted by: low-tech cyclist | December 1, 2008 10:45 AM
Bush has done some genuine good in pushing America's HIV/AIDS policy forward
Not being necessarily up on everything the Bush administration has done in this area, I'll try to hold back a little judgement.
Still, last time I checked condoms were an incredibly important part of the fight against HIV/AIDS, and Bush's crackpot "abstinence only" programs were doing about as much harm as good around the world.
So I'm not really clear on how that's "pushing America's HIV/AIDS policy forward".
Posted by: jack lecou | December 1, 2008 11:19 AM
Anybody remember when W was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize b/c his pre-emptive war would spare so many lives in the long run?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1801773.stm
At least this one is for something that's ostensibly peaceful. Although it's a terrible forum for this particular recognition.
Posted by: Daverock | December 1, 2008 12:09 PM
jack-
There's no question Bush's policies could have been much better, and his insistence on abstinence education at the expense of other methods is a glaring example. Still, to his credit, the level of US funding for AIDS/HIV treatment and prevention is far higher than before his term.
Posted by: BP in MN | December 1, 2008 1:01 PM
BP-
That's something at least, and I wasn't aware of that.
Of course, many of the programs receiving the extra funds are harmful, so it's still kind of difficult to view increased funding as an unalloyed good.
Hopefully the next administration can maintain or increase the funding while also spending money on programs that actually do work...
Posted by: jack lecou | December 1, 2008 2:10 PM
I guess his new book The Purpose Driven War should have been a tip off.
Posted by: Bob Oso | December 1, 2008 5:22 PM
The P is for Prick Warren.
Fuck him and the media whores he rode in.
Posted by: Roger Ailes | December 1, 2008 10:01 PM
Congrats on the Rachel Maddow name check.
Posted by: - g | December 1, 2008 11:06 PM
Well, if the stars of Fear of a Black Hat can claim a certain vulgarity stands for "political ... unrest ... stabilize ... society ... yeah!" then I don't really see the problem here.
Posted by: Jack Roy | December 2, 2008 9:15 AM