Presidential Medal of Freedom Awarded to Republican-Bashing Chavez Admirer Dolores Huerta

The Presidential Medal of Freedom stands as the highest honor a civilian can receive from the President of the United States. Nor are potential recipients limited to civilians - some of the previous recipients have included UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr, Walter Cronkite and Ella Fitzgerald.

And now those august people have been joined by an openly socialist admirer of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who makes no secret of the fact that she believes that "Republicans hate Latinos," and who encourages illegal immigrants to join with unions in agitating against their employers.

Yes, that's right. Dolores Huerta, a favorite topic of coverage here on the Blaze for her unhinged behavior and beliefs, has just been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Watch President Obama's brief speech on awarding her the medal below:

Well, to paraphrase a phrase that Huerta apparently coined, "Ella si puede." Or, in English, "yes she can."

In celebration of Huerta's extraordinary accomplishment, here's a recap of some of the famed socialist's greatest hits for your edification.

Huerta first came to the attention of the Blaze, as some of you may recall, in September of 2010, when our own Jon Seidl dug up this video:

Here's what Jon wrote at the time:

[Huerta] does not keep her political leanings a secret. She is an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America and after praising dictator Chavez in 2006 for his policies in Venezuela, she asked, “why can’t we do that here in the United States?”

Got that? She's an "honorary chair" of the Democratic Socialists of America. Just to get some perspective, here's who else is an "honorary chair" of that august organization:

Honorary Chairs

Bogdan Denitch

Barbara Ehrenreich

Dolores Huerta

Eliseo Medina

Eugene "Gus" Newport

Frances Fox Piven

Gloria Steinem

Cornel West

One wonders how long it will be before Frances Fox Piven herself gets the Presidential medal of freedom. For now, back to Huerta. Glenn Beck, then still at Fox News, covered Huerta's words on his show in a segment transcribed at Fox News. Here are the words he quoted from Huerta:

DOLORES HUERTA: The average pay of CEO of a Fortune 500 company is $3 million to $9 million a year. What are you going to do with all that money, right? I don't care how much money you make. You can only eat three meals a day, you know? You can only wear one suit of clothes a day, you know?

So, the idea a lot isn't wrong as long as use it for the people, like what Hugo Chavez is doing in Venezuela.[...]

HUERTA: They have 20,000 Cuban doctors that are coming to Venezuela. They are setting up these neighborhoods with factories and jobs for the people and the medical clinics and their co-op right there in every single neighborhood in Venezuela.

Now, we are the richest country in the world, right? So, why can't we do that here in the United States?[...]

HUERTA: Our tema, our theme will be: Republicans hate Latinos, OK? Republicans hate Latinos.

Much later, in late March of this year, Huerta was specifically mentioned by name and honored by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis for her actions alongside Cesar Chavez, one of the few socialist agitators in America to attain almost universal political respect. The Blaze's Becket Adams reported:

“Today, we celebrate one of America’s most powerful stories of courage and victory. The farm worker movement was begun by people who didn’t have money or clout. Many were new to this country and lived season to season,” Solis said before an audience that included Huerta.

“They were hard-working people of the land who asked only for dignity and fair treatment, and today we are proud to give them the Department of Labor’s highest honor.”

She continued:

I want to honor a trailblazer who was there from the very beginning. She’s a luchadora who endured arrests, death threats and beatings — a fearless woman who had her bones broken in the struggle but never her spirit. I’m proud to call her my teacher, my role model, and mi hermana. Brothers and sisters, let’s show our appreciation for one of the living legends of the farm worker movement, Dolores Huerta.

“Dolores worked mano a mano with one of the most celebrated icons of the American civil rights movement: the great César Estrada Chávez, who was inducted into our Hall of Honor in 1998,” Solis added.

For those who don't know, a "luchadora" is a reference to the name for Mexican wrestlers, IE "Luchadors." However, perhaps a better Spanish sport to compare Huerta's performance to would be bullfighting, making Huerta a matador. After all, based on her record of public statements, Huerta certainly raises enough red flags.