"Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
“I’m not saying we should bring [slavery] back, I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark.”
“Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to the mainstream of society."
“Women still live longer than men because their lives are easier.”
"When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it's an invitation."
“There are more American Indians alive today than there were when Columbus arrived or at any other time in history. Does this sound like a record of genocide?”
“You know how to stop abortion? Require that each one occur with a gun.”
A few folks you might have heard of
Thornton Wilder, for significant contributions to Literature 1963
Aaron Copland, for significant contributions to Music 1964
Edward R. Murrow, for significant contributions to Journalism 1964
Martin Luther King Jr., for significant contributions to Activism 1977
Georgia O’Keeffe, for significant contributions to Art 1977
Ariel and Will Durant, for significant contributions to Philosophy and History 1977
Rachel Carson, for significant contributions to Science 1980
George Balanchine, for significant contributions to Dance 1983
Lech Walesa for significant contributions to Foreign Statesmanship 1989
Arthur Ashe, for significant contributions to Sports 1993
I. M. Pei, for significant contributions to Architecture 1993
Alan Greenspan, for significant contributions to Business and Economics 2005
Andy Griffith, for significant contributions to Television 2005
Stephen Hawking, for significant contributions to Science 2009
Toni Morrison, for significant contributions to Literature 2012
Bob Dylan, for significant contributions to Music 2012
Sally Ride, for significant contributions to Space Exploration 2013
Tom Hanks for significant contributions to Film and Theater 2016
Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, for significant contributions to Computing 2016
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded by the president of the United States "for especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”
The above lists just a few of the remarkable past recipients, along with the year received.
The most recent is Rush Limbaugh for significant contributions to the divisiveness of our nation, bigotry, and the enabling of hate.