Senator Aaron Reed, the Navy Seal turned cosplaying cowboy, has posted several times to his Facebook page about awarding the “First Annual Senator Aaron Reed Defense of Freedom Award” to high school students in his district.
The award starts out with the following wording:
The Senate
Commonwealth of Kentucky
To All To Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greetings:
Know ye that __________ is recognized and honored upon being named the worthy recipient of the prestigious First Annual Senator Aaron Reed Defense of Freedom Award for demonstrating outstanding patriotism, unwavering dedication to the values of liberty, and a firm commitment to the defense of our great nation.
It details the accomplishments of the student, makes sure to mention Aaron Reed again in a bigger font, and at the bottom is embossed with the seal of the Kentucky Senate and the signatures of Senate President Robert Stivers and Aaron Reed.
First, let me say that I have ZERO problem honoring or recognizing any student for their accomplishments and admire and honor any student who has courageously decided to enter military service after high school.
I have no problem with a legislator sending congratulations or providing recognition of graduates for their accomplishments.
I also have no problem with our state legislators developing ways in which to honor students for their accomplishments. If the legislature wanted to develop and pass a program to provide such honors statewide, I’d fully support it.
But when an honor appears to be more about the person giving the honor than those receiving it, it’s problematic to me. The “prestigious First Annual Aaron Reed Defense of Freedom Award” raises several questions.
- Putting the legislative seal and President Stivers’ name on the award makes it appear that this is Senate sanctioned. Who prepared these and under what authority?
- What is the purpose of putting Aaron Reed’s name on the official title of the award itself? Perhaps Reed was inspired by his friend Trump’s continual creation and support of monuments to himself.
- The award says “First Annual.” Are we to assume that there will be more? What happens when Reed is no longer in office?
- How does someone qualify for this honor and who chooses?
- How did schools in Reed’s district get word of this award and what factors played into the decision to include it in their awards ceremony? Was there any consideration of the ethics involved in allowing a politician to give an award named after himself at a public ceremony. Did anyone realize it would function as a political photo op for Reed?
- If this was so important to Reed, why didn’t he sponsor legislation or a resolution to offer students in all 120 counties? Can we assume he realized he couldn’t put his own name on it if he did that? Surely a military man would understand putting the greater good over his own needs or ego, right?
- Can any legislator do this and expect the leadership of the House or Senate to sign off on the awards in their name? Is it possible that next year we’ll see the TJ Roberts Incels for the 2nd Amendment award being given out in Boone County Schools next year?
Of course, this is the Kentucky State Legislature, which can’t even recognize sexual harassment as an ethics violation, so I’m sure a proclamation like this is perfectly fine for all involved.
Still, you have to wonder about the ego of a Senator who feels the best way to honor students is by giving them an award named after himself.
Of course, this is Senator Tex Stetson. He may not know much about branding cattle, but sure knows how to brand himself.
Now if we could just get this Navy Seal to remember military code for wearing headgear indoors.
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