Awards once meant something. There was a time not that long ago when they were given in recognition of important accomplishments. Today, we tend to value celebrity over steady achievement. Fame is paramount. It matters little how one attains it. The Kardashians are just one of many examples.
We now give "participation" awards to schoolchildren so they won't feel left out, or suffer injury to their "self-esteem," should they be on a losing team.
Other awards have become politicized. Isn't that why Oscars and
With only a few exceptions, the Pulitzer Prizes in journalism go to mostly liberal and secular writers (
Last Sunday at the
In his remarks, Obama defended the Affordable Care Act, his signature legislative achievement, which quickly became known as Obamacare. Though it is failing nearly everywhere as insurance companies pull out of the exchanges and premiums continue to rise, the former president asked
"I hope they understand that courage means not simply doing what's politically expedient, but doing what, deep in our hearts, we know is right."
That line made me laugh. Obama's entire life has been about doing what was politically expedient. Anyone who reads -- or just reads the reviews -- of
These decisions included his relationships with women. According to Garrow, Obama fell in love and moved in with a white woman named
Though he proposed marriage to her, Jager tells Garrow that Obama thought marrying a white woman would not be politically expedient because it would not sit well with the
Garrow also writes that Obama's embrace of Christianity, which included his public display of carrying a Bible to the surprise of friends who never considered him "religious," was designed to appeal to that demographic.
It is why he joined Rev.
Obama has not been a profile in courage, but a profile in calculation.
Cal Thomas, America's most-syndicated columnist, is the author of 10 books.