Did Bill Belichick make the right choice in rejecting Trump’s “medal of freedom” joke award?

Back in the old days, the Medal of Honor had meaning. It was a sign of respect from our leaders and an acknowledgment that the recipient had done something to serve it.

In the Trump era, the Medal of Honor was handed out like bubble gum, and was given by a person of no respect and honor himself (trump).

I imagine that Belichek saw himself as getting tainted honors from a tainted person, and he felt that the medal would always bear some sort of a taint because of that. He also, no doubt, felt he was being used as a populist political puppet.

My guess is that Biden will make a similar offer and Belichek will accept the honor.

Presidential Medal of Freedom, not Medal of Honor.

Yes, Bill Belichick did the right thing. But I’m torn between welcoming people who finally see the problem of Trumpism and being disgusted that they did not see the light earlier. He would have accepted the medal before the 6th.

Well, we cannot be sure of that. Once Limbaugh was handed the “honor”, wouldn’t you consider “the cat out of the bag”?

Belichick is a friend of Trump. His rejection of this medal is as meaningless as the medal itself.

So he had just as well accept it?

^ Well with the rejection of it, people can pretend that he isn’t dogshit.

There is in the end something to be said for pretense. You have to credit him for at least understanding that it is required.

Anyone who got a Medal of Freedom from Trump will go down in the historical list of recipients with an asterisk next to their name.

Trump debased the award like me debases everything he touches. Trump is the anti-Midas; everything he touches turns to shit.

Belichik did the right thing in turning down the medal.

Yes, he did. And I respect him for it, not that I care about sports, which I don’t.

@stanleybmanly: “There is in the end something to be said for pretense. You have to credit him for at least understanding that it is required.”

Self-preservation or public image damage control isn’t something worth celebrating. That’s all I’m saying. It’s common to see awful people make superficial public shifts, and are celebrated as taking a bold or principled stand. In reality, these people are awful, and their actions are self-serving.

But which is worse: The realization that you SHOULD be ashamed or indifference to whether you are shameful or not?

^ Neither.

We shouldn’t celebrate anything about Belichick and these rich assholes.

Not necessarily “celebrate”. But aren’t we compelled to tolerate the rich? After all, like the poor, aren’t “they always with us”?

^ ?

I mean there’s no denying the glaring relationship between obscene wealth and grinding poverty. Nor is there any denying that the former is the culprit behind the latter