Billie Jean King and Obama

Yesterday, Billie Jean King received the Medal of Freedom, along with 15 others.

President Obama took a break from the vitriol of the health care debate on Wednesday to bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom on 16 luminaries in theater, sports, science, the humanities and politics, including Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the tennis great Billie Jean King, the actor Sidney Poitier and the physicist Stephen Hawking.

“This is a chance for me — and for the United States of America — to say thank you to some of the finest citizens of this country and of all countries,” Mr. Obama said at the ceremony in the East Room of the White House, praising the recipients for reminding Americans that excellence is still possible “in a moment when cynicism and doubt too often prevail.”

It was Mr. Obama’s first chance to award the medal, the highest civilian honor a president can bestow, and there were some emotional moments. When the president hugged Mr. Poitier, it was a poignant reminder of how the actor, who broke racial barriers, had paved the way for Mr. Obama’s own journey to the White House. Ms. King, who was honored for her work advocating for the rights of women and gays, touched her medal to her lips when Mr. Obama draped it around her neck.

This article in the New York Times makes no mention of how Obama completely screwed up when he told of Billie Jean King's achievements on the tennis court.

From Politico:

Before presenting tennis legend Billie Jean King with the Medal of Freedom Wednesday, President Obama ticked off some of her accomplishments: 12 Grand Slam titles, 101 doubles titles, 67 singles titles.

“Pretty good, Billie Jean,” he quipped.

But he didn’t get any of it right, according to King herself.

“They didn’t get any of my facts right,” King lightheartedly noted afterward. “Did you see all the – how many titles I won? I was cracking up.”

“Not even in the ballpark,” she continued.

King found it amusing, and said her accomplishments on the court aren’t the most important.

“I thought it was adorable,” she said.

Asked what Obama got wrong, she said, “Well the Grand Slam’s at 39 not at 12.”

“That’s not what’s important,” she explained. So when Obama got it wrong, “I thought even was more cute...I go, ‘Oh that’s really sweet.’ Like, just move on, get off the tennis stuff. Tennis was a platform.”

How hard can it be for Obama's staff to get something as simple as King's career stats correct?

The Medal of Freedom is the "highest civilian honor a president can bestow."

This is a big moment. The event isn't just slapped together at the last minute. It's inexcusable to have Obama deliver the wrong information, straightforward facts, during the ceremony. Unbelievable sloppiness.

King was more than gracious about the screw-up. She thought it was adorable.

Can you imagine how the media would have pounced on President Bush if he had read off completely wrong career stats for a Medal of Freedom recipient? It would have been considered a slap in the face, lazy, and disrespectful.

If the Obama administration can't get Billie Jean King's tennis record straight, are we supposed to trust it to get the numbers right when it comes to health care?
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