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If you’re like me, you had an unplanned crying session on Thursday while you watched President Barack Obama hand out his last, and possibly greatest, Presidential Medal of Freedom to his Vice President, Joe Biden. Biden’s tears were apparently unplanned, too, as the veep only knew that Obama was paying tribute to him, not that he was awarding him with the highest available civilian honor: the medal was given “with Distinction,” an honor previously bestowed on Ronald Reagan, Colin Powell, and Pope John Paul II.
Fortunately, there is a support group for people who were inundated with feelz about the Obama/Biden bromance: it’s called Twitter. People gushed, posted sob emojis, and hashtagged their love for the POTUS/VPOTUS friendship all over the place.
Well, almost. While the overwhelming response to Biden’s honoring has been positive, some people on Twitter are using it as an opportunity to continue complaining about the Obama-Biden administration — including a former congressman.
So in this brave new era of making sure we listen to — or are at least aware of — what the other side is saying, here’s a run-down of weirdly negative and aggressive reactions to what is clearly one of the best best friendships in Presidential history.
Firstly, here's the glorious friendship bracelet meme:
It's not all sunshine and rainbows, however.
Complaint: Biden Doesn’t Deserve The Medal
Even though the President carefully enumerated Biden’s many contributions over his entire career, I think this speech about campus rape was enough of a contribution to society to qualify him for the medal.
Complaint: Obama Only Gives Medals To Leftist Friends
Sure, if running one of the most successful charities in history, progressing LGBT rights and visibility in Hollywood, and developing the computer systems that helped NASA get to the moon is “leftist.” I enjoyed this person’s response.
Complaint: Obama Only Gives Awards To Himself And His Friends
The Republican-controlled house tried to repeal Obamacare dozens of times, and the Republican-controlled Senate deprived Obama of his Constitutional right to fill Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Who should he be giving the awards to?
Complaint: Obama Giving Out Medals “Like Candy”
It’s hard to look at the list of recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and say they’re unworthy. These people probably deserve some candy too.
Complaint: The Medal Is Basically A Participation Award
We’ve had some legitimately bad Vice Presidents in our time — one of them shot Alexander Hamilton! — so saying that Biden “just participated” is pretty weak sauce.
