Congratulations to Senator Joe Lieberman

Winner of this quarters "Medal for Free and Original Thought"
For his remarks on the Senate Floor - November 15, 2005

"It is no surprise to my colleagues that I strongly supported the war in Iraq. I was privileged to be the Democratic cosponsor, with the Senator from Virginia, of the authorizing resolution which received overwhelming bipartisan support. As I look back on it and as I follow the debates about prewar intelligence, I have no regrets about having sponsored and supported that resolution because of all the other reasons we had in our national security interest to remove Saddam Hussein from power – a brutal, murdering dictator, an aggressive invader of his neighbors, a supporter of terrorism, a hater of the United States of America. He was, for us, a ticking time bomb that, if we did not remove him, I am convinced would have blown up, metaphorically speaking, in America's face.

"I am grateful to the American military for the extraordinary bravery and brilliance of their campaign to remove Saddam Hussein. I know we are safer as a nation, and to say the obvious that the Iraqi people are freer as a people, and the Middle East has a chance for a new day and stability with Saddam Hussein gone...."

Full Text

The Medal for Free and Original Thought is awarded to those individuals who display honest, personal belief, free of political bias or expediency, whose remarks originate from the mind of the recipient, and above all else express a desire for doing what is right.

Eligibility Requirements-- This award is based on a single expression of Free and Original Thought, not on a Pattern of such thought. The Medal is awarded to anyone, great or small, who displays a recorded (which can be quoted, and/or linked to from a verifiable source) moment of Free and Original Thought. Recipients can win this Prize as often as their remarks display Free and Original Thought. This Prize is awarded quarterly.