The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
Accountability Journalism
Yesterday President Bush conferred the Presidential Citizens Medal, “to recognize U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for the nation,” on 23 people. Some of them, like James Billington and Robert P. George, have done work in education or the humanities. Others, like Mitch Bessler and Forrest Bird, made their mark in science or medicine. Donald Powell and Robert Woodson have helped needy Americans. Two of the men who received the medal only recently became civilians: Gen. Wayne Downing and Adm. James Watkins, both retired military officers.
One of the honorees was Charles Colson. As the White House Web site explains:
For more than three decades, Chuck Colson has dedicated his life to sharing the message of God’s boundless love and mercy with prisoners, former prisoners, and their families. Through his strong faith and leadership, he has helped courageous men and women from around the world make successful transitions back into society. The United States honors Chuck Colson for his good heart and his compassionate efforts to renew a spirit of purpose in the lives of countless individuals.
Colson, chief counsel to President Nixon, became a prison evangelist after his own religious conversion behind bars. He went to prison after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice during the Watergate investigations.
So how does the Associated Press headline the story? “Bush Gives Medals to Watergate Figure, Others.”
Who Was Dick Simpson?
He is a political scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago whom Reuters quoted yesterday (as we noted) as saying, “Obama is not related to the corruption pattern in Chicago,” and, “He has not been pressing for any person to replace him in his Senate seat.”
Simpson is also a former Chicago alderman–a fact that seems relevant, but that Reuters omitted.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
