Bush, Kim Jong Il, and a Hero Who Doesn't Brown Nose

Dedalus at Blah 3 brings us two stories worth noting, the second one especially.

First and it would be hysterically funny coming from Bush if not so damn pervertedly sad...

From today's press conference with Canadian PM Paul Martin, over the recent missile tests by North Korea:

Bush said the nations' message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was clear: "We expect you to adhere to international norms. We expect you to keep your word."

Oh, go ahead and fill in your own list.

Just for starters: Tossing aside the Geneva Conventions. Torture. "Extraordinary rendition." Guarantees over WMDs. The cost of the war. The length of the war. Getting warrants for wiretaps. And to quote Yul Brynner: "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!"

And then there's this and I say three cheers for the soldier:

Sgt. Matthew Bee, an Ohio Marine, has been awarded 6 medals of commendation for his service in Iraq. However, one of them he's decided to return to sender:

The medal is the War on Terrorism service medal, and Bee calls it "eye candy" from Bush.

So, he took something noble and honorable and made it kind of dirty. And I always thought that medal was the one he pinned on us and said, 'This is my war. This is my stamp in history,'" said Bee.

Bee said he is not anti-war, but rather pro-peace. He plans to travel to Washington, D.C., with a small group of Marines who feel the same way he does. They will all try to return their War on Terrorism medal to Bush personally or to members of Congress.

The good sargeant has this exactly right: Bush cooked up a misguided war and he decided he needed his own special medal to commemorate the occasion--the medal was created just one week before the invasion of Iraq. You get the medal by participating in a "designated operation" ...

So Sgt. Bee is right that Bush is using this medal as a gimmick to put his "stamp" on history. And he's created a medal so special, he might as well just give them out in boxes of Cracker Jacks.