TIME's Person-of-the-Year should be...

[saltpoint]

Poll question: TIME's Person-of-the-Year should be...

TIME magazine annually front-covers the person, idea, technology, etc. with the greatest impact on current events or the most promise to impact future events, whether for good or ill.

Who or What do you feel will be on that issue's cover for 2009?

[Drunken Irishman]

1. I know he won it last year...

But with how influential Pres. Obama has been in his first year, it would not surprise me if he won it again.

There certainly hasn't been anyone more influential.

But I'm sure they'll pick something stupid like Twitter. :eyes:

[saltpoint]

3. I do worry about TIME sometimes. They can get it right one minute then

miss the boat entirely the next.

Obama's impact is strong already these last couple years and may be greater abroad. There's a loud chorus of extreme right-wing resentment and contempt for him, so it tends to block out the praise.

[Louisiana1976]

57. Or even worse, Facebook.

[rucky]

2. Unemployed Worker: Love the idea!

[saltpoint]

4. Hi, rucky.

It would be a useful look into a very big crisis that is tearing up a lot of lives. I don't know if TIME is the magazine to handle it, but on the other hand, if it did undertake a topic like that, the magazine would be in every airport newstand in the world for at least a week.

It would have some clout among the business-flight customers at least.

[Peace Patriot]

18. While I was tempted by that one, given what Time magazine is--

a corpo-fascist 'news' monopoly that has inflicted great harm on our country--I think it would be more appropriate for them to name, as "persons of the year," those whom they truly admire: The multi-millionaires who are getting the multi-million dollar bonuses for utterly fleecing the people of this country unto the 7th generation. They often reward the filthy rich with fawning news stories and even covers. I'll never forget the cover they did for Arnold Schwarzenegger, giving this famous actor multi-millions in free publicity, for a weird election in California that had 125 candidates on the ballot. They are a completely corrupt organization and I wouldn't want to see American workers insulted by their completely hypocritical, lying scumbag "honor."

[rucky]

32. Sweet Jesus - they're going to pick Sarah Palin, aren't they.

[JonQ]

5. Well they already did everyone

so who is left?

[saltpoint]

8. LOL. After TIME named me Person of the Year, I expected a book deal

and lavish global recognition.

And dammit, so far the phone hasn't rung ONCE!

[JonQ]

10. They probably understand that you're busy

creating the information age and all.

[saltpoint]

LOL. Or downloading videoclips of the balloon boy drama or Orly Taitz'

mission to expose Obama as a foreigner.

[JonQ]

20. Don't forget:

Dramatic gopher!

[saltpoint]

21. -- --

:thumbsup:

[arcadian]

15. That just illustrates this joke, the "person of the year"

Last I checked the Telecoms control the Information Age.

[liberalpragmatist]

58. As a friend said, "Can I put that on my resume?"

nt

[arcadian]

6. Barack Obama? Really?

Idol worship? Is that what has become of us?

[saltpoint]

Again, the cover nod can go to someone whose impact is yet to be

fully realized or registered, which would certainly apply to any U.S. president but especially to this U.S. president.

[DJ13]

9. Waiter, this person needs a stronger dose in the Kool Aid

Cherry or Grape?

[Drunken Irishman]

13. Kiss my ass.

You're both pathetic. It's not idol worship to state a fact. Who's been more influential this year than Pres. Obama (for good or bad)?

Jesus Christ. :eyes:

He deserves it more THIS year than he did last year.

I'd wager every year a president should be considered - regardless of party.

[rhett o rick]

19. I think the Boy King made it twice. Time seems to like him. nt

[Drunken Irishman]

29. Most two-term presidents make it twice.

Clinton made it for 1998 (along with Ken Star), FDR three times, I believe.

[Marr]

64. Granted, Obama hasn't been in office long, but if he continues as he's begun,

GW Bush will have been a much more influential president. No sane person would agree with the direction he chose, but he did grab the rudder and yank it about 90 degrees. Obama seems content to let Congress and K Street come up with some ideas and then maybe nudge the rudder a degree or two now and then.

[rhett o rick]

77. Yes I see what you are saying. How can anyone be more influencial than one that

totally destroys everything this nation stood for.

[arcadian]

22. Nice language.

Have a wonderful day.

[Drunken Irishman]

28. Oh and you're so awesome!

Fuck your have a nice day. It was fine until you said those who would even have the audacity to suggest Obama as Time's POY are Idol worshipers.

Screw that. :eyes:

[arcadian]

43. Well, since we are being so blunt.

I take issue with your choice of usernames. I'm Irish and I find it to be offensive.

[Drunken Irishman]

74. Too fucking bad.

[JonQ]

12. Well he did single-handly

fix our economy, end the war, bring home the olympics and get a nobel peace prize, all in his first week in office.

Well, 1 out of 4 ain't bad.

[Drunken Irishman]

14. LOL!

Steal that one from freerepublic? :eyes:

So, the only person who should get it is the one who saved the US economy and ended the war?

Well who the fuck did that? :shrug:

[JonQ]

16. I'm suggesting that perhaps

giving him 2 time "person of year" awards is a bit of a stretch and is starting to border on hero worship.

What has he done since the last one to justify it?

[Drunken Irishman]

31. I don't think you understand this Person of the Year Award.

It isn't necessarily about doing everything. It's not an MVP-type award. It's about who has had the greatest impact internationally over the last year.

Do you not deny Pres. Obama has made a huge impact, even if he hasn't been entirely successful? I do.

Who else has done more over the last year than he has?

[JonQ]

38. It may have started out that way

but since then it has been very political, not merely who had the greatest impact. Or else osama bin laden would have won in 2001, or hitler for man of the century. It is extremely political.

And I wouldn't have much of a problem with him getting it this year if he hadn't also gotten it last year (for what exactly?).

[Drunken Irishman]

75. I do agree they've gone PC.

Bin Laden should have won it in 2001 and they chickened out. Hilter was their first choice for POC and again, they chickened out.

[sandnsea]

7. Ted or the Unemployed Worker

I go with the Unemployed Worker because I think Ted would have preferred it, which is why it really ought to be him. And it would make freepers' heads explode and I'm always up for that.

[saltpoint]

11. Great post, sandnsea. "And it would make freepers' heads explode

and I'm always up for that." LOL! Perfect.

Your insight on Ted's wanting the unemployed worker to receive acknowledge for his or her struggles is right-on, IMO.

[tblue]

51. Those were my top choices, too.

There won't ever be another opportunity for Teddy to be so honored. His accomplishments, his passions, his legacy can all be judged right now. He helped Obama win the Dem nomination and HCR was his baby as much as anyone's Obama's best days, including his success at influence, are hopefully yet to come and he'll be TImes's choice again.

Unemployed workers, unfortunately, don't have nearly the level of influence in this country that the should.

The people who are having the most influence this year, (really, really) are the damned Blue Dogs and the despicable Health Insurance industry.

[phasma ex machina]

17. The Unemployed Worker nt

[Michael_UK2]

23. It's got to be Palin (and I'm not trolling)

I think Palin should win, because she personifies the slow decline of the GOP into irrelevance

[saltpoint]

26. Hi, Michael. Welcome to DU.

Palin is a newsmaker, a generator of comment, no question.

And she appears to know how to draw a crowd.

It will be interesting to watch her as her handlers try to cast her in the "leader's role," which maybe difficult, considering how vacuously stupid she is. Also I don't think she enjoys unanimous support in her own party.

It could be that she enters the Republican Primary, does not win in Iowa -- the first state to hold a caucus -- and then "goes rogue," declaring an independent third-party run.

The dark heart of the Palin cloud is exactly what you call it -- "the slow decline of the GOP into irrelevance."

[ClassWarrior]

52. And anything to help her bid in 2012...

:rofl:

NGU.

[RedCappedBandit]

24. Should or will?

[saltpoint]

27. Good point. We're dealing with a mainstream media entity, so we're

likely confined to "will," although a separate thread on "should" would be terrific.

If you want to run with that one, I think it would be a big plus, and I'd be very inclined to support and recommend it.

My "should" list is a lot different from my "will" list.

[RB TexLa]

25. TIME's Person-of-the-Year should be...

given the respect the award deserves: None.

[saltpoint]

30. Well, we don't have to concur with their editors' pick.

Mainstream media disappoints us many times because we feel it waters down or blocks out the essential stories an informed populace should have at its disposal.

Wolf Blitzer, to select one example, is disappointing. He could do better if he wanted to, or if the corporate board he works for wanted him to, but the fix is in and we get this mashed-potato analysis of almost everything.

On the other hand, business travelers move in and out of the world's airports' newstands and it is helpful to see TIME's annual cover highlighting a global person or idea in terms of historical impact. TIME does not own the franchise on annual news analysis, of course. But it has one of the biggest temples.

[spanone]

33. sarah got 2 votes on d.u. ? woe is me.

[saltpoint]

34. I'm thinking the votes were for her notoriety and not endorsements of her

politics.

[Nikki Stone1]

35. Anyone wanna bet it will be Glenn Beck?

He has a Christmas book out too!

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Sweater-Glenn-Beck/dp/141659485X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259262447&sr=1-4

[saltpoint]

37. Hi, Nikki. I don't think it can be ruled out.

Beck could be the cover-boy for poll choice no. 1.

He certainly has done a big-splash belly-flop on the hate-host scale these last several months.

[gmoney]

59. If I was wagering, I'd put my money on Beck.

After all, they did name Hitler "Man of the Year"

[Captain Hilts]

36. It could be someone off the wall like Susan Boyle. I wouldn't count out something like that. nt

[saltpoint]

39. The Susan Boyle story works for me because it was an affirmation of

the woman's talent and rises way above the "junk" stories of the last twelve months like Orly Taitz' subversive nonsense and the balloon family's fraud, etc.

In a very cynical world Susan Boyle is a kind of Cinderella figure. When we heard her voice, we gasped that the glass slipper fit someone who had been so overlooked.

[Captain Hilts]

76. Yes, she's got a chance, a great story and an amazing voice. nt

[TransitJohn]

40. Other: My mom.

For obvious reasons.

[saltpoint]

41. -- --

:thumbsup:

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

42. Barack Obama

weight of the world on his shoulders


Will be: Sarah Palin

[enigmatic]

44. The unemployed worker

No contest.

[Blue_Tires]

45. other: Lula...

he had a better year than just about anyone...

[saltpoint]

46. An interesting choice. I hope TIME would be up for that.

A global choice makes sense. I tried not to hew too closely to U.S.-only choices in the poll, but the gravity is very strong.

[FrenchieCat]

47. Teddy Kennedy.

[saltpoint]

48. A case could be made indeed.

And I'd read every damn word of it, too.

:thumbsup: :hi:

[optimal-tomato]

49. I'd say "Rupert Murdock".

Fox News and other conservative media outlets enabled and supported by Murdock. They have demonstrated this year the ability to motivate tens of thousands of idiots to protest against their own interests. Their success has led MSNBC to pursue a bizarro-image strategy to try to recreate their ratings success, and head-faked CNN into a shell of bland know-nothings. They've engaged the White House in a skirmish over what "news" is, and essentially won. Sarah Palin's media blitz across all of Fox News and little else is evidence of it's place as a haven for right-wing airheads.

No single entity has been more damaging to our country than Fox News, and in a larger sense: Rupert Murdock.

[saltpoint]

50. Murdoch masterminds the apparatus you describe.

I could see Murdoch as the poster-boy for a selection of no. 1 in the poll -- the influence, most of it comprehensively insidious, of right-wing media onto public discourse.

Good pick.

[Bucky]

79. It's true: in a democracy the people decide. We live in a Murdochracy

But ever since Obama took office, it's at least been an enlightened Murdochracy

[chollybocker]

53. Should win: Obama.

Will win: Tweeters.

[Warren DeMontague]

54. Danny Duberstein.

He's good at two things: Math, and fuckin'.

[saltpoint]

63. And may the world never think it could do without either.

[lpbk2713]

55. Sully and Sgt Munley both distinguished themselves this year.

They should be co-honorees.

[saltpoint]

61. They have to be placed pretty high on the positive side of the ledger,

definitely.

I still am in a kind of shock over Sully's feat.

[TicketyBoo]

56. With that

Nobel Peace Prize under his belt, I think it has to be Obama again.

[saltpoint]

62. Obama is a powerfully inspirational figure for people in other countries.

That is grudgingly acknowledged by his detractors, but the "powerful" part of that is very powerful indeed, and I think it could sustain his presidency.

People like this man.

[nsd]

60. I voted for Palin.

Being named Time's Person-of-the-Year isn't an award or an honor. It's just about notoriety and news-making ability. Remember that dirtbags like Khomeini have also been named.

I picked Palin because she's a stand-in for the Teabaggers and related wingnuts who've dominated the headlines.

[saltpoint]

65. Yes -- my first choice would be for a world in which Palin did not

qualify for that cover issue but you are right to suggest that she does.

And for the reasons you gave, too. The far Right is awfully good at shrieking and lying. They can grab a headline almost effortlessly. But it remains to be seen if they can convert that public relations squawking into political influence.

The shrinking Republican Party looks like a big red flag for them to me.

[Marr]

66. The Unemployed Worker should not be on that list.

He/she has zero influence in our system, and their plight is wholly ignored.

[saltpoint]

69. William Faulkner, in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Literature,

asserted that it was the writer's privilege to lift the hearts of the readers. I don't think he was air-brushing the gesture by the Committee or the point in question. He could rassle 'round with the gators in the wettest dish in Dixie when he wanted to.

So I agree with him and find his assertion persuasive. By extension, it is the journalist's privilege to illuminate the unseen. So an opportunity presents itself for TIME magazine. It can reflexively cover the easier, kindergarten block stuff or it can pick up a hot potato like the unemployed and put THAT on its cover at year's end.

I don't generally speaking look to mainstream media for illumination, but it does have its moments, and I believe this could be one of them.

We'll find out how they decide in a couple weeks.

[Major Hogwash]

67. David Letterman

It's about time he got the recognition he deserves.

After Dave skewered McCain for skipping his show last fall to go talk to Katie Couric instead - after McCain told Letterman that he was going back to Washington because the economy was "cratering" - it was fascinating tv.
You just don't get that anywhere else these days.

[saltpoint]

68. Letterman has had a high-interest year of a lot of personal dynamics

and career success.

Thank you for reminding me of how he handled being stood up by John McCain.

[saltpoint]

70. It would be disagreeable to see a "Reality TV" cover feature with Octomom,

the balloon fraud family, and so forth.

I could see -- but would most certainly not care to read -- a piece on the cultural disconnect with reality, one featuring ego-maniacal self-servers like the Octomom and the Heene family pushing and/or breaking acceptable standards of conduct to make money or to self-glorify.

Beck and Palin would appear to be the go-to saints of the culturally disconnected.

[saltpoint]

71. I think it's safe to rule out Michael Vick and Mark Sanford.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

72. Should probably be either Ben Bernanke or Glen Beck

Seriously.

[saltpoint]

73. A good features writer team could do a handsome job with either

of those subjects, IMO -- agreed.

The Beck piece would be the most colorful and would sell more copies off the newstand. But the Bernanke piece might be an award-winning historical piece, if done well.

[Bucky]

78. I'm gonna say the Secretary of State. She's going about quietly doing her job well

And yet her job matters. Where the US stands diplomatically in the world today--influential, compassionate, and cooperative--it's like last year took place on a whole different planet. Same problems, of course, but now those problems are actually being addressed. This is the Obama administration's style: quit fucking around with the extremists and get down to doing the people's business. But Mrs Clinton is doing the job better than anyone else and her efforts, if not headline making, are making a positive difference in the world.