Congressional Medal Awarded to Holocaust Hero Wallenberg
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on July 12th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
Congressional Medal Awarded to Holocaust Hero Wallenberg
Christina Breitbeil, RealClearPolitics
Congress posthumously awarded Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, known for saving the lives of an estimated 100,000 Jews during the Holocaust, with a Congressional Gold Medal — the highest congressional civilian award — in a ceremony Wednesday. “The descendants of those whose lives were spared because of his courage and conviction number like the stars,” said Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. Hoyer and other lawmakers lauded Wallenberg not only as a World War II martyr whose heroism shines through the horrors of the Holocaust, but also as a reminder of the tremendous impact one…
An Overriding Need for Reform Now
Eugene Robinson, RealClearPolitics
WASHINGTON — There’s no objective need for President Obama to visit the Texas-Mexico border and see the immigration crisis first-hand, but he shouldn’t have claimed that “I’m not interested in photo ops.” The line about photo ops was so absurd that it’s a good thing he wasn’t under oath. Every president since Abraham Lincoln has been interested in photo ops. Posing for the cameras amid artfully chosen people and props is something presidents do every day. Obama is very good at it, and there are times when he actually gives the impression that he enjoys it. Not all photo ops are created…
Where Goes Jazz as the Greats Move On?
Froma Harrop, RealClearPolitics
A jazz great died this month. Though revered by fans around the world, Horace Silver is not a household name in his own country, where the popular taste tends more toward rock and country than it does toward jazz. Silver’s most widely recognizable tune, “Song for My Father,” is recognizable mainly because the rock band Steely Dan used it in the opening riff of one of their biggest hits, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” No mention of that was made at Silver’s memorial service at St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. I attended with an older friend, who knew…
