Yesterday President Obama awarded 16 people the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for their service to mankind. It was begun in WWII to recognize civilians for their service and revived by President John Kennedy to recognize individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." (source) These were the recipients of this award for 2009:

Nancy Goodman Brinker
Pedro José Greer, Jr.
Stephen Hawking
Jack Kemp
Sen. Edward Kennedy
Billie Jean King
Rev. Joseph Lowery
Joe Medicine Crow – High Bird
Harvey Milk
Sandra Day O’Connor
Sidney Poitier
Chita Rivera
Mary Robinson
Janet Davison Rowley
Desmond Tutu
Muhammad Yunus

Some of these people we all know well, some not. All have served in the interest of bettering mankind through all fields of interest. Some of us are lucky to have been able to have met a few. Some of us were lucky to have voted for them as our elected representatives. Some us found a new way of seeing the universe by reading. Some of these people broke barriers that we may have not thought could happen. Some marched for civil rights, and still do today. Some of us have had the wonderful pleasure of enjoying the work they did in entertainment while knowing the tireless work they did in civil rights. Some were beautiful to watch compete as athletes, knowing they served a higher calling in raising up people who had less. All made the world a better place. You can read the short bios on these people here.

Compare that to some of the more highlighted recipients of the past administration : Prime Minister Blair, Prime Minister Howard, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Tommy Franks, George Tenet, L. Paul Bremer, General Peter Pace and General Richard B. Myers.

I say highlighted because former president Bush did award the medal to some very fine people such as Julia Child, Arnold Palmer and B.B. King. However in awarding this honor to people like George "Slam Dunk" Tenant and Paul Bremer he truly lowered the bar. It kinda gave the Medal of Freedom a bit of the taint. Amanda Terkel (Think Progress) said it quite well: "The award seems to be finally regaining the honor that it largely lost during the tenure of President Bush, who doled it out to his cronies."

I fully concur. It is nice to see the bar being raised again and shine coming back.
and
Raine