Well, Duh

8 Random Items for 12/17/2008 #7

So, Time Magazine has named Barack Obama as the Person of the Year. In this year, was there really anyone else who would have qualified? I do dispute the notion by the AP writer that this is akin to winning a contest. The Person of the Year is meant to reflect that a person has had great impact on the world in the past year. That's not necessarily a blessing of that impact.

Of course, in a compromise of its journalistic integrity, shies away from controversial picks in the US. In 2001 for example, too many people are too stupid to accept the fact that Osama Bin Laden was clearly the Person of the Year. That's not an endorsement of Bin Laden, but a fact reflecting the state of the world, no different than naming Hitler in 1938 and Joseph Stalin in 1939 and 1942. (In 2001, Time named Rudy Guiliani Person of the Year. No, that isn't a joke.)

So, congratulations to Barack Obama.