TIME names Barack Obama its Person of the Year.
Really? No, really??  Did anyone see that coming? I mean after all, TIME’s Washington Bureau Chief is now VP-elect Joe Biden’s Press Secretary.
I think this puts Obama on the cover more than JFK, all of the Popes and Jesus combined.
In The Tank.
UPDATE:Â Jonah Goldberg shares my cynicism.
Why didn’t Time consider God for having the wisdom and compassion to deliver Obama to us? Or, for the more secular minded, why didn’t he thank the gamma rays that ignited the life-spark that ultimately created single-celled life-forms which, eventually through the magic of evolution, brought us the One?
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
UP-UPDATE (from Dan): OK, I kind of disagree with Bruce on this one. He’s right that the media has been in the tank for Obama, but, well, given that he did win the presidential election, he pretty much earned the “Man of the Year” title, though, I will note that TIME has ignored some Republican presidents when they won re-election (or election). And I recall that they dissed the real man of the decade as the 1980s drew to a close.
Sorry Bruce, the Blessed Virgin Mary still trumps BarryO for the most covers; she got 10 to date. They both share one thing, though.
Both have controversies surrounding their birth. The BVM with the whole Immaculate Conception issue and BarryO on the muslim, foreign born accusations. She makes a better cover by far… unless BarryO is frolicking in the surf in those board shorts for this cover?
BTW, I think conservative President Dick Nixon had the most covers, right?
More schoolgirl gushing from Time:
“By now we are all accustomed to that Obi-Wan Kenobi calm, though we may never entirely understand it. ”
“He possesses a rare ability to read the imperatives and possibilities of each new moment and organize himself and others to anticipate change and translate it into opportunity. (See pictures of Obama’s nation of hope.)”
“His arrival on the scene feels like a step into the next century — his genome is global, his mind is innovative, his world is networked, and his spirit is democratic.”
And then, there’s this:
Reporting John McCormick asks Chairman 0 about Ramh Emmanuel’s contacts with Rod Blagojavich. Chairman 0 cuts him off: “Let Me Just Cut You Off, Because I Don’t Want You To Waste Your Question. It would be inappropriate for me to comment…and I don’t want to get into the details at this point.”
Duly chastened, McCormick came up with a more acceptable question: “Do you or [Secretary of Education-designate Arne Duncan] have a better jump shot?”
Does Obama still take showers, or does the press corps just lick him clean every night?
Winners of presidential elections are seldom named Man of the Year by Time.
Clearly Fred Thompson would have been the more logical choice.
Hey Bruce, if you had been a Time editor, who would YOU have picked for MOTY (yeah, I still think of it as man of the year)?
PS> fellow Wolverine Michael Phelps would have been my choice for Time’s MOTY
David Petraeus.
One of my pet peeves is people using the phrase “Immaculate Conception” to describe the Virgin Birth. Here’s Wikipedia (surprisingly accurate) entry:
“The Immaculate Conception is, according to Roman Catholic Dogma, the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain (“macula” in Latin) of original sin. It is sometimes also called the Immaculata, particularly in artistic contexts. The dogma thus says that, from the first moment of her existence, she was preserved by God from the lack of sanctifying grace that afflicts mankind, and that she was instead filled with divine grace. It is further believed that she lived a life completely free from sin. Her immaculate conception in the womb of her mother, by sexual intercourse, should not be confused with the doctrine of the virginal conception of her son Jesus.” (Emphasis added.)
Thank you all for letting me rant.
Actually, Phelps and Petraeus would have been at the top of my list. Obama would have been too, of course.
Why didn’t Bush 43 think of limiting press conferences to THREE questions from the media?? I suspect his poll numbers may be better. Comrade Obama is settling in nicely don’t we think?
Interesting: Jay Carney of Time Magazine to join Obama Administration.
The cute quarterback just invited the gushing cheerleader to the prom.
Read a online snippet that the choices were between France’s Sarkozy, Sarah Palin andd Barack Obama.
George Bush was Time’s man of the year in 2000 and 2004 so perhaps its a new trend for Time, the President elected or re-elected becomes Man of the Year.
It would be a surprise if it were not Barack Obama
Were it not for the media’s constant cheerleading, complete failure to investigate Comrade 0’s background, utter disinterest in the ACORN and fundraising fraud, and total balls-to-the-wall hatchet job on McCain/Palin; Chairman 0 might not have been elected president.
Maybe the media should have named themselves ‘Persons of the Year?’
Keep in mind, however, that person of the year is simply a determinant of who was the biggest driving force in the news. It’s not an accolade per se. It’s not even an acknowledgement of accomplishment. It’s simply a question of what individual person drove the news the most.
Petraeus pretty much drove Iraq out of the news, since he calmed it. What news there has been was pretty much “Obama, Obama…” It was therefore the sensible choice. It’s an acknowledgement of the media’s preoccupation with him.
Someone suggested Hank Paulson for ‘Person of the Year.’ They have a point.
Julie,
You have hit on one of my pet peeves.
Thank you for getting the correct info out….at least some of us were paying attention during Catechism.
jeb
MICHAEL PHELPS
As for Man of the Year. Michael Phelps achieved what no other had done till now and all due to his OWN hard work.
He didn’t need lobbyist or spin doctors to do it.
And he represented the entire United States with pride and dignity.
jeb
B. Obama (D-Chicago machine) is the first BLACK president of the US. Of course he is man of the year. He is there because he is BLACK. Same reason General Powell chose to support him. The first WOMAN president will also be, er, a-a-a-a, woMan of the Year. The first HISPANIC president will be Man of the Year. The first ASIAN president will be totally ignored.
Time magazine has no standards and its whole Man of Year theme died before Obama finished smoking his first joint. (Shouldn’t Caroline Kennedy have been chosen for her bang-up job on vetting Biden in her V-P search committee job?)
The amount of time y’all spend kvetching about how the media is in the tank, how shallow Obama is, how the dems are stealing votes, how awful the lefties are for fighting for your right to marry, and on, and on, and on… Wow. I mean, wow. Truth is, there are problems with both parties, but the apologist-line I read here for the right, and the vitriol with which you write against the left… Meanwhile, Obama has picked two republicans to serve in his cabinet, and an anti-gay marriage preacher (Rick Warren) to do the invocation for the inauguration. You’re totally addicted to just ripping on Democrats and the left. Cue V the K, American Elephant, and the rest of the crew telling me how I’m being a hypocrit, the Democrats are far worse, and all the rest that just proves the point.
Where have you been for the last eight years, CR? Don’t you know that dissent is the highest form of patriotism? Attacking Obama means we’re the most patrioticest people of all.
Truth is, there are problems with both parties, but
the apologist-line I read here for the right, and the vitriol with which you write against the leftI only say that in an attempt to look moderate when the rest of my post makes obvious that I’m a hypocrite who is only interested in attacking Republicans for things that I would never attack a Democrat for doing.Fixed it for you.
Soooo…..we’re just gonna skip ahead about 92 years?
A few questions for ya:
1. Like who?
2. Why fight? Why not sit down for talks without pre-conditions?
3. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the so-called “fighters” to strategically “redeploy” to, say, Okinawa followed by the segregation of the “gay community”?
4. If I camped out in a ditch in Texas, would they stop fighting?
5. How about if I asked them nicely?
6. Shall I go on?
Besides, we all KNOW the so-called “fighters” are poor, uneducated morons who have no chance of doing anything better with their lives.
P.S. Do NOT doubt me.
Something conservatives CAN do in the next four years is finish off rags like TIME and the NYT once and for all. The NYT having a junk bond rating and having to mortgage their building to pay the bills has one foot in the grave already, TIME isnt far behind. If you still subscribe, stop, if you have a blog or website, don’t link to them, it only helps pay their bills, and encourage others to follow suit. It would bring me great joy to see those propagandists go out of business.
#21 – RIGHT ON, TGC.
I don’t doubt you and never will. You go, girl!
Regards,
Peter H.