Which One of These Does Not Belong?
Tomorrow General Peter Pace, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) will join an elite club that includes Neil Armstrong, Jonas Salk, Martha Graham, Harper Lee and Friedrich Hayek when he receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush. The medal is our nation’s top civilian award and has previously been bestowed upon a host of distinguished Americans.
Armstrong was the first human being to walk on the face of the Moon. Salk discovered a vaccine for Polio. American dancer and choreographer Martha Graham revolutionized the art of dance and is considered one the of 20th Century's great artists. Harper Lee wrote the American literary classic To Kill a Mockingbird, and Friedrich Hayek defended American ideals of classical liberalism and free-market capitalism against communism and socialism.
In contrast, General Pace, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.) used his position as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a platform to judge and degrade patriotic Americans during a time of war. In a 2007 interview with the Chicago Tribune Pace called lesbians and gays “immoral” before adding, "I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts.” He stands behind the failed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that denies qualified lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans the right to serve our country. Under his watch, in order to meet personnel goals, the Pentagon relaxed enlistment standards regarding age, physical fitness, and education and criminal records.
Does Pace really deserve to be included among the ranks of these great Americans?
-Adam Ebbin
Labels: peter pace
06-18-08
1 Comments
Comments for this entry are closed.Karl Olson on December 31, 1969 at 02.00 pm
The “‘elite’ club” also includes General Tommy Franks, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and former Coalition Provisional Authority head L. Paul Bremer, all of whom deserve full credit, and got it with President Bush’s Medal of Freedom, for their contributions to our nation’s security.<BR><BR>I, for one, think that General Pace is in appropriate company.
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