And the Award For Sycophancy Goes To...

The House of Representatives has voted to award a congressional gold medal, the highest honor Congress can bestow, to British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Congress has only awarded such medals twice: posthumously to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1969, and to a sitting head of state, Nelson Mandela, during his final months as president of South Africa.

As Congressman Jim McDermott, a Washington state Democrat who opposed the war in Iraq, says: "this award to Mr Blair is either too late or too soon. If the medal had been awarded when it was first introduced [proposed], before these deceptions were discovered, it would have been smooth sailing. If it is brought up later, perhaps Mr. Blair will have cleared his name. But at this moment we are pre-judging, and perhaps trying to influence the outcome of some very serious investigations."