Posted on 12/27/2007 9:15:46 PM PST by jazusamo
While I was in Fallujah, Iraq, embedded with a U.S. Special Operations Command Task Force, Time Magazine gave Russian President — and soon to be Prime Minister (and long to be ruler) — Vladimir Putin, the magazine’s politically correct moniker of “Person of the Year.” Time’s brilliant editors reasoned that Mr. Putin deserves the title because he has “brought Russia roaring back to the table of world power.”
There is no doubt that Mr. Putin has made a significant impact in Mother Russia. Given the record prices for petroleum and natural gas — which Russia has in abundance — it is easy to understand how he can finance his new government and military expenditures. He has also resorted to tactics that would make the iron-fisted rulers of the old Soviet Union proud.
Even Time concedes that “to achieve stability, Putin and his administration have dramatically curtailed freedoms.” They noted that Mr. Putin’s “government has shut down TV stations and newspapers, jailed businessmen whose wealth and influence challenged the Kremlin’s hold on power, defanged opposition political parties and arrested those who confront his rule.” Now there’s a record of achievement.
The magazine’s editors claim that their choice is valid because their “Person of the Year” is one [or more] who had the greatest impact on events that year, whether for good or evil. In choosing Vladimir Putin, Time picked an individual who is moving his 142 million countrymen back to a totalitarian future — and missed the opportunity to honor those who had a profoundly positive impact on hundreds of millions of people in 2007.
My “Persons of the Year” are men and women who voluntarily took an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies.” Though less than three percent of their countrymen know a single one of their names, they continue to make extraordinary sacrifices while wittingly and willingly going into harms’ way on our behalf. They are, on average, just 20 years old — yet they are brighter and better educated than their peers in the same age bracket. All of them have been entrusted with the awesome responsibility for the lives and safety of others, and all of them are held accountable for what they do or fail to do in carrying out those responsibilities.
During the past six years my “Persons of the Year” have spent an average of 31 months far from friends and family and the comforts of home. Tens of thousands of them have been wounded and more than 4,000 have been killed defending our nation from radical Islamic terror. Many celebrated Christmas this year on lonely patrol bases where even the most basic amenities —showers, sanitation facilities, drinkable water and hot food — are considered luxuries.
Like Time Magazine’s Vladimir Putin, my “Persons of the Year” ride around in armored caravans — because evil doers want to kill them. But unlike Mr. Putin, most of my honorees wear heavy protective vests and helmets and frequently have to use the weapons they carry.
Though Mr. Putin frequently speaks about “making life better” for his people at some point in the future — my honorees are actually doing it in two countries. During 2007, my “Persons of the Year” built more than 575 schools in two countries, opened nearly 500 public health clinics and hospitals, provided clean drinkable water for more than six million people and electricity to about the same number. While most Americans prepared for Christmas by hunting for gifts imported from China, my honorees were hunting for deadly improvised explosive devices (IEDs) imported from Iran.
If you haven’t already figured it out, my “Persons of the Year” are the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen and Marines serving in Iraq and Afghanistan — the very ones with whom I spent most of the month of December. Unfortunately, Time magazine, like most of the so-called mainstream media, has a long history of ignoring the good being done by young Americans in uniform.
Since Time began the tradition in 1927 by naming Charles Lindbergh as their Man of the Year, only twice has the magazine seen fit to bestow the title on U.S. servicemen. Though the magazine editors have frequently placed high-ranking military officers on their year-end cover, the troops they lead have received scant recognition. In 1950 — six months into the Korean War — the editors named “G.I. Joe” as the “Man of the Year.” And in 2003, the magazine picked “The American Soldier” for the honor.
It may be too much to hope — but perhaps 12 months from now the editors of Time will wake up to reality and name the young Americans who really make a difference as their “Person of the Year.”
For those of you who give 2 s***s what some spook thinks.
Ditto that.
If it wasn’t for Ollie North ...
there would be no Charlie Wilson.
;o)
.
NEVER FORGET
.
CLARITY =
Who Owns the Vietnam War?
http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58906
.
NEVER FORGET
.
Then it should have been the Iraqi Policeman who bear hugged the suicide bomber that rushed in to try to blow up a bunch of voters. The Iraqi Policeman pulled him out of the voting area and was killed with him when that guy tried to kill voters. So those people that voted in the Iraqi Elections voted in a Free and Fair Election. Now THAT is a Person of the Year.
My “Persons of the Year” are men and women who voluntarily took an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies.” Though less than three percent of their countrymen know a single one of their names, they continue to make extraordinary sacrifices while wittingly and willingly going into harms’ way on our behalf.
I concur 100%!!
Charles Lindbergh-1927
Walter Chrysler-1928
Owen D. Young-1929
Mahatma Gandhi-1930
Pierre Laval-1931
FDR-1932
Hugh Samuel Hohnson-1933
FDR-1934
Haile Selassie I-1935
Wallis Simpson-1936
Chiang Kai-shek/Soong May-ling-1937
Adolph Hitler-1938
Joseph Stalin-1939
Winston Churchill-1940
FDR-1941
Joseph Stalin-1942
George Marshall-1943
Dwight D. Eisenhower-1944
Harry S Truman-1945
James F. Byrnes-1946
George Marshall-1947
Harry S Truman-1948
Winston Churchill-1949
The American Fighting Man-1950
Mohammed Mossadegh-1951
Elizabeth II-1952
Konrad Adenauer-1953
John Foster Dulles-1954
Harlow Curtice-1955
Hungarian Freedom Fighter-1956
Nikita Khrushchev-1957
Charles de Gaulle-1958
Dwight D. Eisenhower-1959
US Scientists-1960
JFK-1961
Pope John XXIII-1962
Martin Luther King Jr.-1963
LBJ-1964
William Westmoreland-1965
The Generation 25 and Under-1966
LBJ-1967
Apollo 8 Astronauts-1968
Middle Americans-1969
Willy Brandt-1970
Richard Nixon-1971
Richard Nixon/Henry Kissinger-1972
John Sirica-1973
King Faisal-1974
American Women-1975
Jimmy Carter-1976
Anwar Sadat-1977
Deng Xiaoping-1978
Ayatollah Khomeini-1979
Ronald Reagan-1980
Lech Walesa-1981
The Computer-1982
Ronald Reagan/Yuri Andropov-1983
Peter Ueberroth-1984
Deng Xiaoping-1985
Corazon Aquino-1986
Mikhail Gorbachev-1987
Endangered Earth-1988
Mikhail Gorbachev-1989
George H.W. Bush-1990
Ted Turner-1991
Bill Clinton-1992
The Peacemakers-1993
Pope John Paul II-1994
Newt Gingrich-1995
David Ho-1996
Andy Grove-1997
Bill Clinton/Kenneth Starr-1998
Jeffrey P. Bezos-1999
George W. Bush-2000
Rudolph Giuliani-2001
The Whistleblowers-2002
The American Soldier-2003
George W. Bush-2004
The Good Samartians-2005
You-2006
Vladimir Putin-2007
Good post...Thanks Jaz
Totally agree !
Bravo Zulu
Thank you for posting the list - it makes me sick but thank you. Now I don’t have to wonder; I can go ahead and barf and get it over with...
Sometimes you just have to shake your head and keep walking.
BTTT! My “Persons of the Year” too! :-)
Maybe Time should change the title from 'Person of the Year' to 'Major News Event' .....get rid of the person component altogether. In this way, instead of Osama vs Giuliani it would have been 'Terrorist attack on 911,' and instead of Putin it would have been 'Russia's emergence and/or backtrack.' I doubt such 'titles' wouldn't have caused too much anguish.
In another dimension, if the 'title' was 'handed' out later in the year or early next year, then you would be sure that Ms. Bhutto would have 'garnered' it. Although even then there would have been people p!ssed off about it ....namely the Jihadis and certain sections of the Pakistani Government.
Time should just scrap the thing. Or turn it into an online vote (and I am sure people would vote for it big time ......after all, people will vote for anything that doesn't have any real significance. E.g. American Idol, what knickers Britney should (or shouldn't) wear. I am thus certain that the Time 'Person of the Year' "award" would get a whole lot of votes. Probably triple or more the numbers that usually turn out to vote for real elections .....
What I’d like to know is why anyone cares who Time names as “Person of the Year.” If that isn’t a bu****it award, I don’t know what is. I love Ollie, but I think he fell into a trap by even discussing it.
Great choice for 1986 (+/- a year or two) - who is the choice for this year?
Nevermind - reminder to self, always read more than the headline. Doh!
Just for trivia’s sake, do you know when it switched from MOY to POY?
Thanks and Semper Fi,
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