Mega-Donor to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

They donated 112mm to Republican PAC's. The stated reason for the award is their philanthropy particularly in establishing substance abuse centers.

Also, giving it to Elvis, Babe Ruth, Orrin Hatch and Justice Scalia. Seems like a pretty low bar for the highest civilian award if you can buy it or earn it for performing or athletic accomplishments.

I also find it nuts that appointments for ambassador are given out as repayment for support. Seems like important positions that likewise can be bought.

 

And why have these campaign contribution rules at all (and send people to jail over varying degrees of violations) if they are going to have so many ways for the Uber wealthy/corporations to funnel money anyways? Seems crazy what we allow.

 

he is no forest gump that's for sure.

 

Eh, I despise the tragedy of Trump, but ambassadorships in non-hotspot countries being shiny objects for rich donors has been a thing for a long time, well before the endemic corruption of Trump and his gangster cronies for s semi legit reason:

1. Ambassadors in nonhotspot countries are largely superfluous as world leaders can simply call each other when there's a big problem which means that:

2. Their primary job is as a cultural conduit/party planner for host country bureaucrats, a lot of which they actually have to cover out of their own pockets in most cases, so having a rich society person as Ambassador is actually way more effective than forcing some schlub on a government payscale to do it.

 

Yeah, I understand the pay to play ambassadorships have been around a long time, but I assume they do serve some utilitarian purpose -- even if it is just to put a live human being as a representative of our country. I get that being wealthy may be a necessity but basing it on contributions seems off. We are used to it so we don't take offense.

If so, why do we care about an award that doesn't come with any position?

 

Seems more important than an award given to dead people:

WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF A DIPLOMAT?


A public affairs officer addresses Libyan media.
(State Department image, U.S. Embassy Tripoli)

WHEN U.S. DIPLOMATS negotiate atreaty, attend a state dinner, or arrange a visa for a traveler to the United States, they all have the same mission—to represent the interests and policies of the United States. Beyond that, diplomats’ roles and responsibilities are immensely varied.

An ambassador is the President’s highest-ranking representative to a specific nation or international organization abroad. An effective ambassador has to be a strong leader—a good manager, a resilient negotiator, and a respected representative of the United States. A key role of an ambassador is to coordinate the activities not only of the Foreign Service Officers and staff serving under him, but also representatives of other U.S. agencies in the country. At some overseas posts, personnel from as many as 27 federal agencies work in concert with embassy staff.

https://www.state.gov/discoverdiplomacy/diplomacy101/people/170341.htm