Freedom Medal Awarded to Tony Blair...............

[nhboy (Premo)]

Texas university honours Tony Blair with thousands of pounds and an honour reserved for war heroes

"EVEN though it is eight months since he left Downing Street, Tony Blair has once again laid himself open to an unfortunate combination of the words “cash” and “honours”.

A Texas university with close links to President George W Bush will this week pay Blair thousands of pounds and hand him an honour usually reserved for Republican grandees and American war heroes.

Blair has turned down an honorarium that goes with the Medal of Freedom but has asked for a cash fee to speak to students and children from deprived backgrounds after the award ceremony.

He will become the sixth recipient of the medal awarded by the Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas since it was inaugurated in 1997 in honour of a Republican senator and foreign affairs adviser to Bush’s father.

Presented every two years to an individual said to have “furthered the cause of freedom throughout the world”, the award places Blair in a select group including President George Bush Sr and Senator John McCain, the man widely expected to become the Republicans’ presidential candidate.

Retired Generals Colin Powell and Tommy Franks were awarded the honour, and in 1999 Baroness Thatcher became the first"

Texas university honours Tony Blair with thousands of pounds and an honour reserved for war heroes - Times Online


Not to be confused with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.....

Presidential Medal of Freedom - The Highest Civilian Award For Distinguished Americans and Humanitarians from every walk of life!


Anyone have a picture of SMU’s John G. Tower Center Medal of Freedom?

[aps45819 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by nhboy

"EVEN though it is eight months since he left Downing Street, Tony Blair has once again laid himself open to an unfortunate combination of the words “cash” and “honours”.

Blair has turned down an honorarium that goes with the Medal of Freedom but has asked for a cash fee to speak to students and children from deprived backgrounds after the award ceremony.

Is he a greedy boogyman because he wants a speaker's fee?

[aps45819 (Premo)]

I

guess this is a reward for sacrificing his country's foreign policy in order to support Bush's war in Iraq.

Christopher Hobe Morrison, Pine Bush, Ulster County, NY, USA

As Blair's EU presidential war chest is topped up with US oil money the extraordinary legal process currently investigating the authorship and delivery of the '45 minute' speech to Parliament may rule him out of the job as untried war criminal.

Nick Ward, Cambridge, England

He was a traitor to the British people as far as EU and the WARS on terrorism and possibly a war criminal. Trust the US to honour him and the EU to give him a job

Alan, Chelmsford, UK

Is he GW's twin?

[nhboy (Premo)]

Originally Posted by aps45819

Is he a greedy boogyman because he wants a speaker's fee?

I don't know, did it strike you as notable? Perhaps the stipulated cash fee is larger than the honorarium and it's just good financial planning on his part.

[remaxrealtor]

Originally Posted by aps45819

Is he a greedy boogyman because he wants a speaker's fee?

John Edwards Charged $55,000 to Speak About Poverty, Media Mum | NewsBusters.org
Because he NEEDS the money, it's different?

[aps45819 (Premo)]

Guess it's OK if you're a convicted felon.

Clinton's speaking tour in 2005 included 43 speeches in 14 countries. He began in February and averaged about four speeches a month, usually charging about $150,000 per event. On occasion, the price was much steeper.

On October 18, 2005, for example, he addressed about 8,500 business executives at a "Power Within" motivational speaking conference in Toronto, Ontario, for a price of $350,000.

The next day he addressed a similar group at a "Power Within" conference in Calgary, Alberta, for $300,000.

When factoring in his $125,000 fee for remarks to a different business group delivered via video-conference before the Toronto event, the former president's total two-day haul was $775,000.

[remaxrealtor]

Originally Posted by aps45819

Guess it's OK if you're a convicted felon.