Replies

Barnacle says in two posts:
My guess is that the head of of your religion has not received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
and
Clinton is not awarding the medal to John Paul II. Bush is. What does that say?

I find your my-religious-leader-is-better-than-your-religious-leader comment condescending and not catholic in the universal sense.

That said, I will expand my point. If you check the lists at http://medaloffreedom.com, you'll note some of the recipients. I obviously am being selective to further highlight my point:

Recipient	President
Pope John Paul II	George W. Bush
Charleton Heston	George W. Bush
Roberto Clemente	George W. Bush
Dave Thomas	George W. Bush
Bill Cosby	George W. Bush
Nancy Reagan	George W. Bush
Fred Rogers	George W. Bush
William Joseph Brennan	William J. Clinton
Thurgood Marshall	William J. Clinton
George Mitchell	William J. Clinton
Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter	William J. Clinton
Lloyd Bentson	William J. Clinton
Wesley Clark	William J. Clinton
George McGovern	William J. Clinton
James A. Baker	George H.W. Bush
Ronald Reagan	George H.W. Bush
H. Norman Schwartzkopf	George H.W. Bush
Colin Powell	George H.W. Bush
Richard B. Cheney	George H.W. Bush
Friedrick A. von Hayek	George H.W. Bush
Isaac Stern	George H.W. Bush
Earl Warren	Jimmy Carter
Warren Christopher	Jimmy Carter
Walter Cronkite	Jimmy Carter
Lyndon B. Johnson	Jimmy Carter

My secondary point is that the Pope, whom I agree with most people here when I say that he deserves the PMOH for his anticommunist activities in the 80s, will be in both good and dubious company when he is added to this list. My primary point is that the Bushes used proper judgment in choosing who properly fulfills the requirements of the PMOH, that is, those people who actually perform meritorious service in support of our country.