Filmmaker Steven Spielberg, composer Stephen Sondheim, violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman and baseball great Willie Mays are among a number of notables who will be presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Singer and actress Barbra Streisand, NASA mathematician Katherine G. Johnson, Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski will also receive the award.
New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, who died in September at the age of 90, will be awarded the medal posthumously.
“I look forward to presenting these 17 distinguished Americans with our nation’s highest civilian honor,” Obama said in a statement when the recipients were announced earlier this month.
“From public servants who helped us meet defining challenges of our time to artists who expanded our imaginations, from leaders who have made our union more perfect to athletes who have inspired millions of fans, these men and women have enriched our lives and helped define our shared experience as Americans,” Obama said.
Singer Gloria Estefan, her husband music producer Emilio Estefan, Bonnie Carroll, lauded for her work on behalf of veterans, singer James Taylor, former U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton and former Environmental Protection Agency head William Ruckelshaus will all also receive the award, the White House said.
Billy Frank, Jr., an advocate of Indian treaty rights, Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress, and Japanese-American civil rights activist Minoru Yasui will also be awarded the medal posthumously, the White House said.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/obama-honoring-spielberg-streisand-more-medal-freedom-n469106
“… will be presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.”
What freedom?
But which group is receiving the most medals?
Definitely more than the 2% of the population that they’re purported to be.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is a complete joke, and it will remain so until it is awarded to Edward Snowden along with a full pardon.
I guess this will keep the idiot from making trouble for a few hours, but otherwise it’s a waste of time.
I’m curious. How or what have these three done in any way to bring Freedom to our country that merits their medal? And by the way, when did they go to war? I don’t remember them being in military gear, taking on anyone. Last time I checked, you had to be in a war to actually receive any medals. Now we’re just giving them out to any one for no reason? Kinda defeats the purpose of that “special” medal now, doesn’t it? I mean if everyone is “special” then the word, “special” no longer has any mean now, does it?
They are all special Ks NC! But, you are right, when you give medals to people just because they are rich and famous, the meaning is completely lost.
Couldn’t have picked a better bunch of commie losers…
I’m having a big warehouse sale after the holidays, lot’s of tools, etc. I’ve been debating whether to put “Free Noble Prize medals too” at the bottom of the street signs….