Medal debased

When I watched the State of the Union address, I didn't expect there would be anything our president said that was truly unusual, but, wow, was I ever surprised. Though most of the speech was as expected and consisted of false claims of lower prescription costs, record job creation, higher wages, etc., our president did something that debased his administration and our nation.

I am talking about his award of this country's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to a man who has made it his life's work to promote bigotry, homophobia, misogyny, xenophobia, and hatred. The criteria for awarding this medal is "for especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security of national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." Rush Limbaugh has been pandering to right-wing zealots for decades and has done nothing to deserve this type of honor except that he is a standard-bearer for Donald Trump's bigotry and hatred.

Both men have done far more damage to this country than good. Nothing that Rush Limbaugh has done fits into any of the three categories listed above.

Other Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients include Helen Keller, John Glenn, Jesse Owens, Stephen Hawking, Nelsen Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr., to name only a few. These recipients stand far above most people and earned this honor by their positive actions.

By including a man like Rush Limbaugh in this distinguished group of people cheapens the award and diminishes the value of the great contributions to society made by the other recipients.

Instead of giving that medal to Rush Limbaugh, it would have been far more fitting to award it to Charles McGee, the Tuskegee airman who was introduced at the SOTU address.

Cyndi Kehoe

Elk Grove Village