Awards and prizes
In 2001, the Kennedy family Profile in Courage Award was given to former president Gerald Ford. It was controversial since it was for pardoning Richard Nixon in 1974 soon after he resigned as president. There were many folks, including myself, that felt the pardon was a bad decision, since it would give the impression that Nixon could be above the law. By 2001, most folks changed their minds and saw Ford’s decision as a way to overcome what was called “our long national nightmare,” namely Watergate. It was felt the nation had healed thanks to Ford.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote about the courage and compassion of the people of the Twin Cities coming to the aid of their neighbors in standing up to ICE. Soon after, the 2026 Profile in Courage Award was given to The People of the Twin Cities, Minnesota for “civic courage and protecting human rights during a major federal law enforcement operation.” In a March 29 New York Times letter to the editor, Steven L. Winter from Detroit wrote in response to Friedman’s article: “It inspires a thought: The Nobel committee should award the 2026 Peace Prize to the people of Minneapolis-St. Paul.”
Maybe we healed in 2001, but we also forgot and are now paying the price of letting Nixon get away with a crime. The Kennedy family seems to have learned. We have a lawless president who clearly covets the Nobel Peace Prize. Giving it instead to the people of the Twin Cities would be clear message of what the rest of the world thinks of him and his administration.