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Pity Ben Bernanke. The guy was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year and the reaction rivaled fish sticks in the enthusiasm category. Old Ben might well be the guy of 2009, but few know who he is or understand what he does. Being chairman of the Federal Reserve may have advantages, but public visibility is not among them. Here’s all you need to know: After being honored by Time, Oprah did not call Ben. When you think about people of the year, the list is short. Perhaps, Lady Gaga, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ... maybe the late U.S. Sen....

December 26, 2009 Iranian Student Protester Neda Soltan Is Times Person of the Year Neda Soltan did not vote in her country's election, but was appalled by the rigging of the result. Since she was shot in a democracy protest, her face has become an opposition symbol Neda Soltan was not political. She did not vote in the Iranian presidential election on June 12. The young student was appalled, however, by the way that the regime shamelessly rigged the result and reinstalled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ignoring the pleas of her family, she went with her music teacher eight days later to...

Obama's pick for man of the year: George W. Bush By: Chris Stirewalt Political EditorDecember 24, 2009 (Getty Images) In his year-end interviews with friendly news outlets like The Washington Post and National Public Radio, President Obama had a curious choice for his biggest accomplishment of the year: the bailout of the financial sector.It seems odd that a president whose mantra is change, change, change would pick a program initiated by his predecessor.While the Troubled Asset Relief Program is surely the least popular initiative of President George W. Bush among conservatives, it is also widely reviled by many liberals and...

The New York Daily News is demonstrating that PDA's (Palin Derangement Awards) just never go out of style - celebrating yet another triumph in liberal media condescension by judging Sarah Palin to be one of 2009's worst celebrity parents. Palin shares the limelight with the selfless and humble parents of the balloon boy, David Hasselhoff, the Pez dispenser emulating Octomom, and Courtney Love. Having recently secured Politifact's ‘Lie of the Year', in which one is seemingly bestowed the honor of liar simply for pointing out obvious questions involving a so-called ‘death panel' known as the Independent Medicare Advisory Board -...

Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has won the dubious honour of telling the biggest political lie of the year. A panel of experts ruled her claim the Obama administration was planning to introduce "death panels" was chosen as the most misleading statement of 2009. Palin, 45, made the claim on her Facebook page at the height of the debate over President Obama's plans to reform the US health care system. She wrote: "My parents or my baby with Down syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide whether they are worthy...

The True ‘Person of the Year’: the American Activist Posted by Tim Phillips (Profile) Wednesday, December 23rd at 12:20PM EST 28 Comments Note from Erick: Tim Phillips is president of Americans for Prosperity, one of the organizations I think actually does a good and effective job of harnessing grassroots energy for free markets and free people. It’s more than clear who the real Person of the Year is: the grassroots American activist. Just listen to the pervasive phrases in the country’s lexicon for 2009 – from “tea party” to “Hands off my health care” and “Listen to me.” Without a...

Playing her best at the most important events, Serena Williams re-established herself as the top player in women's tennis in 2009 and was a landslide choice as Female Athlete of the Year by members of The Associated Press. Williams received 66 of 158 votes cast by editors at U.S. newspapers that are members of the AP. No other candidate got more than 18 votes in the tally, which was announced Tuesday. Clearly, Williams' most infamous on-court episode - a tirade directed at a line judge after a foot-fault call near the end of her U.S. Open semifinal loss in September...

Sarah Palin Responds to Winning 'Lie of the Year' By Noel Sheppard Created 2009-12-23 10:40 Sarah Palin has responded to claims that her "death panel" comment concerning healthcare reform legislation is the "Lie of the Year." As NewsBusters previously reported [0], the Palin-hating press have been having a field day since she won this dubious honor from the website PolitiFact last week. On Tuesday, the former Alaska Governor responded [1] at her Facebook page, and did so with skill and aplomb (emphasis hers): Last weekend while you were preparing for the holidays with your family, Harry Reid’s Senate was making...

According to Philadelphia Eagles players, the most courageous man on the team in 2009 was one who started the year serving time in prison for an act of extreme cowardice. Today, the Eagles announced that Michael Vick was the 2009 winner of the Ed Block Courage Award, an honor given to a player who shows courage in the face of adversity. Vick's teammates voted for the award, thus demonstrating how tone-deaf and out-of-touch NFL players are with reality. ... According to the Ed Block Courage Award Foundation Web site: The Ed Block Courage Award recipient symbolizes professionalism, great strength and...

The top 10: 1. Snoopy 2. Texas A&M's Reveille 3. Scooby Doo 4. Eddie from the TV show "Frasier" 5. Pound Puppy toys 6. Painting "Dogs Playing Poker" 7. Song "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" 8. Georgetown's Jack the Bulldog 9. The song "Who Let the Dogs Out" 10. Brian Griffin from the animated TV show Family Guy For the complete list, see: http://www.akc.org/pdfs/press_center/top_125_dogs_in_pop_culture.pdf

Rush Limbaugh has been named Radio Personality of the Decade by Mediaweek, a leading industry magazine and Web site. In the December issue’s Best of the Decade feature, Mediaweek observed: “No radio host or personality comes close to Rush Limbaugh in size of audience or volume of political discourse. The man manages to stay in the headlines no matter who’s in the White House or who’s gunning for him.”

In Washingtonian “inside the Beltway” terms, the most amazing aspect of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s new clout is that he is achieving it the old-fashioned way: talking about public policy. He is not running for President or any other office. He has not formed a PAC or a D.C. lobbying firm. He is not dishing on former colleagues, not spreading gossip, not settling scores. He is, instead, writing a memoir about his extensive career in public service, and giving occasional speeches and interviews, mostly on national and homeland security policy, long his central focus. How is it, therefore, that...

(CNN) - He may have exited the national stage nearly one year ago, but former Vice President Dick Cheney has been named "Conservative of the Year" by the conservative Human Events magazine for his ardent and continuous criticisms of the Obama administration's national security policies. "What Cheney is saying, primarily on foreign policy, defense and anti-terrorism, makes sense to more and more American citizens growing increasingly worried by the Obama Administration's insouciance when U.S. national interests are threatened, both at home and abroad," former U.N. ambassador John Bolton writes for the magazine. "Since the only real, long-term way to deal...

PolitiFact's Lie of the Year: 'Death panels' By Angie Drobnic Holan Published on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 5:15 p.m. Related rulings: Seniors and the disabled "will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care." Sarah Palin, Friday, August 7th, 2009. Ruling: Pants on Fire! | Details Bookmark this story: Buzz up!ShareThis A winner in our "Lie of the Year" contest! Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood...

CNN: Sarah Palin's 'Death Panel' Comment Wins 'Lie of the Year' By Noel Sheppard Created 2009-12-20 18:44 If President Obama or any Democrat had actually won the dubious honor of committing PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year," do you think CNN would have reported it? Fat chance, right? Before you answer, consider the glee exhibited by CNN's Josh Levs Sunday when he announced Sarah Palin had "won" for her Facebook comment concerning a "death panel" in healthcare reform legislation (video embedded below the fold with transcript, h/t Story Balloon [1]): BETTY NGUYEN, CO-ANCHOR: Well, let's talk about politics, shall we? Something...

Tiger Woods has been voted Athlete of the Decade by members of The Associated Press, his 10 years of incomparable golf outweighing nearly three weeks of a salacious sex scandal. Just like so many of his 64 victories worldwide and 12 majors dating to 2000, it wasn't much of a contest. Woods received 56 of the 142 votes cast by AP member editors. More than half of the ballots were returned after his Nov. 27 car accident which set off the sensational tales of infidelity that have tarnished Woods' image. Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor who won the Tour de...

Even after a shocking sex scandal that tarnished Tiger Woods, it was tough to ignore what he achieved on the golf course. He won 64 times around the world, including 12 majors, and hoisted a trophy on every continent golf is played. He lost only one time with the lead going into the final round. His 56 PGA Tour victories in one incomparable decade were more than anyone except four of golf's greatest players won in their careers. Woods was selected Wednesday as the Athlete of the Decade by members of The Associated Press in a vote that was more...

The National Inflation Association today named Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke 'Villain of the Year 2009'. Although the mainstream media is widely praising Bernanke for preventing the next Great Depression, all Bernanke has done is create unprecedented amounts of inflation in unprecedented ways. When it costs $20 for a gallon of milk in a few years, Americans will have nobody to thank more than Bernanke. While Bernanke believes the artificial excesses of the past decade to be normality, NIA believes normality would be going through a much needed recession in order to correct the imbalances that Bernanke made worse in...

One of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's biggest critics said that he deserves Time magazine's "Person of the Year" award bestowed to him on Wednesday. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), one of Bernanke's greatest critic, said that the award is fitting because Bernanke is the "most powerful man in the world." MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said that Paul had admitted off camera that Bernanke deserved the award because of his economic power. Paul replied "He is. He is the most powerful man in the world. I believe a case can be made for that... He controls the supply of money, which is...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made runner-up as Time Magazine's person of the year, losing out to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. In a glowing profile, Time says Pelosi has "consolidated more power than any other Speaker in modern history." In an interview with reporters in the Capitol today, Pelosi outlined what is in fact an astonishingly long list of accomplishments this year, from a hair-raising bank rescue to the largest fiscal stimulus in U.S. history, to a climate change bill to health care legislation and millions of acres of wilderness, food safety, labor legislation and other major bills that have gotten...

A bald man with a gray beard and tired eyes is sitting in his oversize Washington office, talking about the economy. He doesn't have a commanding presence. He isn't a mesmerizing speaker. He has none of the look-at-me swagger or listen-to-me charisma so common among men with oversize Washington offices. His arguments aren't partisan or ideological; they're methodical, grounded in data and the latest academic literature. When he doesn't know something, he doesn't bluster or bluff. He's professorial, which makes sense, because he spent most of his career as a professor. He is not, in other words, a typical Beltway...

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Speaker Pelosi named finalist for Time magazine 'Person of the Year' By Jordan Fabian - 12/14/09 05:21 PM ET House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is among the seven finalists chosen for Time magazine's annual "Person of the Year," according to media reports on Monday. Other finalists in the realm of politics include last year's winner President Barack Obama, Afghanistan commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. "Look, she's the first woman Speaker of the House. She's the strongest Speaker of the House in decades," Time managing editor Richard Stengel said of Pelosi on NBC's "Today" show. "She...

You've heard of the Person of the Year and the Sportsman of the Year -- get ready for PolitiFact's Lie of the Year. For our year-in-review coverage, PolitiFact soon will be announcing our Lie of the Year -- the most significant falsehood of 2009. Our staff is examining the claims we've rated False or Pants on Fire and will be choosing the one that reached all-star status and played an important role in the nation's political discourse. We're also inviting PolitiFact readers to vote on the most important lie. Here are our eight nominees:

Beginning Monday, the "Today" will begin three days of "Person of the Year" coverage with Time magazine's announcement set for Wednesday's show. Time managing editor Richard Stengel will discuss this year's top candidates and the selection process. On Wednesday, Stengel will reveal the 2009 Person of the Year.

NASHVILLE (The Borowitz Report) - President Barack Obama stunned the country music world today by picking up its highest honor, Country Music Entertainer of the Year. Mr. Obama was chosen unanimously, according to the Country Music Association, beating out such favorite as Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith.

Finally, an award he deserves.

Green Car of the Year Finalists Announced Posted: Oct. 08, 2009 10:10 a.m. Steady gas prices have made Kermit's words come true: It's not easy being green. Still, despite American car buyers not exactly being red-hot for green cars, automakers are rolling them out, determined to meet government deadlines for fuel economy standards and emissions -- as well as being prepared for the next time gas prices spike and car shoppers start clamoring for the latest in alternative fuel and ultra-efficient cars. The L.A.Times says "diesels and hybrids dominate the roster of finalists for the 2010 Green Car of the...

https://secure.glamour.com/magazine/sweeps/nominate_woyy_2009/entry/long/

Leigh Wolf graduated from San Francisco State University this spring and most recently served as Co-Chair of the California College Republicans. In 2008 under Leigh's leadership, SFSU was named College Republican National Committee Chapter of the Year. Ultimately, he was successful in leading the most effective chapter in the country. Leigh will be honored on Friday during our Biennial Convention in Washington, D.C. During the convention, we'll also be electing the next National Chairman of the College Republicans. A special thanks to all of our nominees for their hard work and continued efforts to the conservative cause. Don't forget to...

GAINESVILLE, Virginia (May 20, 2009) – Tertium Quids has named Sen. Ken Cuccinelli as its inaugural “Legislator of the Year” in the Virginia Senate. “Virginia would not have passed a law to put the state budget online or a law to prevent Kelo-like eminent domain abuses without Senator Cuccinelli steadfastly pushing for them for several years in the Virginia Senate,” said John Taylor, president of Tertium Quids. Cuccinelli’s budget transparency bill to put more of the state’s budget, revenues, taxes, and expenditures on the Internet in a format easily understandable and accessible to the general public was signed into law...

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have long been fiercely opposed to KFC. PETA even operates a website called "KentuckyFriedCruelty":PETA is also the group that made Oprah Winfrey their "Person of the Year" in 2008 for her shows highlighting animal cruelty. Now, Oprah's pushing KFC coupons on her website: I'm as confused and suspicious as Pamela Anderson's kid during the balloon toss game at the cosmetic surgeon's mother/daughter picnic.

MANORVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been named "Honoree of the Year '09" by the Independent Group Home Living Foundation (IGHL; www.ighl.org), a Manorville, New York-based not-for-profit organization providing programs, services and support for people with developmental disabilities in New York State.

Outdoor Mag: Obama is 'Gun Salesman of the Year' @ 10:47 am by Walter Alarkon President-elect Obama is the Gun Salesman of the Year, according to The Outdoor Wire, a news service for outdoor sports. "Manufacturers are months behind on orders for semi-automatic pistols, AR-style rifles, and anything with so-called 'high-capacity magazines'," declared The Outdoor Wire's publisher, Jim Shepherd. "Buyers we’ve surveyed across the country seem to have a single explanation for their rush to purchase firearms — Obama." Guns are in demand because sportsmen are wary of Obama's support for gun control laws, Shepherd said. "Mr. Obama has consistently...

Obama Named Gun Salesman of the Year Barack Obama's election has definitely stimulated one segment of the economy: Outdoor Wire Names Obama "Gun Salesman of the Year"­ BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In recognition of the unprece­dented demand for firearms by nervous consumers, The Outdoor Wire, the nation’s largest daily electronic news service for the outdoor industry, has named President-elect Barack Obama its “Gun Salesman of the Year”. With the selection, Outdoor Wire publisher Jim Shepherd says it is time the firearms industry recognizes the fact that without President-elect Obama’s frightening consumers into action, the firearms industry might be suffering the same...

DETROIT -- The Detroit Three auto industry received a much-needed shot in the arm Sunday when the 2009 Ford F-150 pickup was named truck of the year at the North American International Auto Show. (please see url for full article)

DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) -- The Hyundai Genesis won the prestigious Car of the Year Award Sunday at the start of media preview days for the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. The redesigned Ford F-150 won the Truck of the Year award. To be eligible for the top prize, a vehicle had to be all-new, completely redesigned or "substantially changed," and available to customers during calendar year 2008. From among those vehicles, a jury of 50 automotive journalists from the United States and Canada narrowed the list down to three cars and three trucks that were eligible for the final award. The three...

Honorable Mentions: Bill Ayers, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Juan Cole, Kent Conrad, The Daily Kos, Bill Delahunt, Glenn Greenwald, Alcee Hastings, Christopher Hitchens, The Huffington Post, Jesse Jackson, Jesse Jackson Jr. Caroline Kennedy, John Kerry, Ezra Klein, The L.A. Times, Mike Malloy, Rachel Maddow, Michael Moore, MoveOn, Michael Newdow, The New York Times, Michelle Obama, Rosie O'Donnell, Keith Olbermann, Michael Pfleger, Ted Rall, Bill Richardson, Randi Rhodes, Al Sharpton, Cindy Sheehan, Ted Turner, Oprah Winfrey, Jeremiah Wright, Matthew Yglesias 20) Chris Dodd: Dodd, who ran a perfectly awful campaign for President, was one of the few candidates who didn't get...

Washington, Jan 4 : Despite her failed U.S. vice-presidential bid, Sarah Palin has emerged as the top political newcomer of 2008. The Alaska governor was a significant political figure in her own right before 2008, but in the span of just a few months the former Wasilla mayor exploded onto the national scene to become the first woman nominated for national office by the Republican Party and one of the most controversial political figures in the country. Caroline Kennedy landed the second spot. The last living child of President John F. Kennedy, the 51-year-old Manhattanite emerged from her famously private...

Earlier this year Prospect teamed up with Foreign Policy to list the world’s 100 greatest living public intellectuals, a contest won (after some sharp-elbowed campaigning) by the Turkish cleric Fetullah Gülen. But who has had the most impact in 2008? We gathered an all-star judging panel (see opposite) from the worlds of policy, media and ideas to find out. The concept of “public intellectual” remains satisfyingly vague. Nonetheless, we instructed our panel to weigh up the field on three criteria: novelty, real-world impact, and intellectual pizzazz. Internal debate, along with soundings on our blog, First Drafts, created a shortlist of...

INDIANAPOLIS – He overcame injury, odds and adversity. Five months ago, he was recovering from knee surgery, and just two months ago, his team was under .500 and he had just one more touchdown pass than interceptions. Now, Peyton Manning is something else, something historic. Now, he is the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. Again.

It’s a safe bet that Geert Wilders won’t be Time magazine’s Man of the Year any time soon. If anything, the unusually coiffed Dutch MP is a favorite hate figure of the Western media, which has spent years vilifying him as a “reactionary,” a “particularly dangerous type of demagogue,” a “racist” and an “Islamophobe.” Wilders would almost certainly plead guilty to the last charge, and with ample reason. His tireless campaign to sound the alarm about the growing threat of Islamic radicalism in the West has turned him into a target of Islamic jihadists and the object of untold assassination...

The most powerful woman in the world. So Hillary Clinton will become with the dawn of a new White House. Madam Secretary of State. A strong hand in a velvet glove, extended to the globe on behalf of the most anticipated presidency in generations. Short of Barack Obama, no American today­ has a greater opportunity to shape international history than does New York’s departing ­junior U.S. senator. And, short of Barack Obama, no American played a greater role last year in influencing the choice of the 44th President of the United States. Clinton galvanized 18 million voters and made her...

The influential conservative newspaper Human Events has named Alaska Governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin "Conservative of the Year." For embracing the vocation of motherhood and articulating conservative Christian views as a political figure, she deserves the title. But it turns out that she is not so conservative on some critical economic and international issues. We had asserted during the campaign that "Palin is a target and possibly in harm's way because she is being perceived as someone who can take a bold stand against George Soros and his nightmare vision and turn the country around on such critical...

Sarah Palin wins HUMAN EVENTS’ prestigious “Conservative of the Year” Award for 2008 for her genius at annoying all the right people. The last woman to get liberals this hot under the collar would have been … let's see now … oh, yeah: Me! The entire presidential election year was kind of a downer for conservatives. Once the “maverick” John McCain won the nomination, the rest of the year was like watching a slow motion car crash. Except at least a slow-motion car crash is occasionally entertaining. So it was going to be a long year. Until Palin. When McCain...

Norfolk, December 20: Oprah Winfrey, who features in the lists of world’s most influential, impressive and not to mention ‘the rich’ lists, has been bestowed with yet another honor: animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has named her its ‘Person of the Year.’Winfrey has used her "powerful voice to defend those without one," said PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk on Friday.PETA will present her with a plaque and a letter of appreciation -- like when your kid gives you a "World's Greatest Mom" t-shirt.Winfrey used her famous talk show to throw some light on important concerns...

There are times when Nicolas Sarkozy resembles a force of nature rather than a conventional political leader. He has energy, ideas and vitality in abundance, as he showed in such matters as his handling of the Georgia crisis and the global economic downturn. Of course, as with any new leader, 18 months — Nicolas was elected President of France in May 2007 — is insufficient time to make a final judgment. But certain elements are already clear. First, Nicolas has the hallmark of any true leader: a capacity to take decisions and implement them. He sees a problem and wants...

COOL:

First black U.S. president trumps Clinton, Palin, Paulson, Phelps and others Could TIME magazine’s 2008 Person of the Year have been anyone other than President-elect Barack Obama?