Bernie Sanders
I generally like his policies, but I think his on again off again relationship with the Democratic Party is selfish, and his public anger about not being the presidential candidate was actively harmful.
Changing it up here …
Out goes Stephen King. So he’s a prolific writer. So are John Grisham and John Irving, just to name a couple others. Sorry, the Greatest Living American should have more in their c.v. than “wrote a bunch of books”.
-“BB”-
Buzz Aldrin again. He supports American fascism. To hell with him. You simply cannot be considered a great American if you actively support the authoritarian who is governing the country as a racist, homophobic, transphobic PoS, and is dismantling our Constitution.
Buzz Aldrin
I’m sticking with Buzz till he’s out.
Stephen King basically defined the horror genre for the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Saying that he only “wrote a bunch of books” is like saying Dickens “only wrote a bunch of books”.
Long after John Grisham is forgotten, people will be learning about Stephen King in literature classes. (If universities and/or literature still exists)
Tim Walz hasn’t done anything to change my mind in the last few days, so, still him.
The last I had heard of Aldrin was when he punched that moon landing denier, which - while punching strangers is generally bad - slightly tipped to the positive side of the ledger for me. I was unaware of his Trump support, so I went and did some reading, and this sealed it for me:
“At the same time, I have been enthused and excited by the great advancements in the private sector space economy, led by visionaries like Elon Musk,” he continued.
Idiot and puppet. A vote from me.
In defense of Buzz Aldrin’s nomination, the “Greatest” is not “The Best”, Napoleon, for example was a “Great Man”, he was not, under any interpretation a “good man”.
Guy wasn’t even the first to walk on the moon, Frodo.
‘Greatest’ isn’t defined here, as far as I know. You have your definition, I have mine.
Agreed.
Upon further review, I’m not going to vote for Simone Biles for a few more rounds. She set a good example of self-care and helped to destigmatize mental illness by withdrawing from some Olympic events due to psychological symptoms, she courageously went public as a victim of sexual abuse by disgraced Olympic physician Larry Nasser, and she’s been supportive of trans women in athletics.
Thank you for saying this more eloquently (and more tersely!) than I was going to.
I’m going to pick on Amory Lovins, who I’d never heard of before. If we’re going for a climate activist, seems like Bill McKibben or Al Gore are more prominent.
Agreed. He’s not only a great writer, but a brilliant observer of American society. Also, he’s outspokenly anti-Trump. I don’t think he’s a contender to go all the way, but there are several names I would cross off the list first.
I am still trying to thunk out what my criteria of “Great Living American” means from the prospective of a non-American, so my nominations will likely lack a certain consistency.
Simon Biles
I’ll go with Tim Walz for this round, mostly because there are several others still on the list in his area who IMHO are greater. I don’t see how he would qualify as greater than Obama, Bernie, Biden, and Elizabeth Warren. Since those are his competitors in his particular area, I’ll go with him.
Once again, Jose Andres.
I’m gonna go ahead and vote down Buzz Aldrin this round. Not because he’s a MAGA, but because he’s simply a representative of greatness. Aldrin got to where he was because of the single-minded efforts of thousands of anonymous people to put him (and Armstrong) in that particular spot at that particular moment.
Our votes this round:
Buzz Aldrin: Second on Moon - 6 votes
José Andrés: Humanitarian, chef - 1 vote
Joe Biden: President, uniter, overcomer - 1 vote
Simon Biles: GOAT gymnast - 1 vote
Stephen King: Great American writer - 1 vote
Amory Lovins: Physicist, energy activist - 1 vote
Bernie Sanders: Democratic Socialist leader - 1 vote
Taylor Swift: Musician, songwriter, icon - 1 vote
Tim Walz: Honorable political messenger - 2 votes
Say goodbye to Buzz Aldrin, second on the Moon but fourth out on the Dope.
Our remaining nominees:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Athlete, writer, activist
José Andrés: Humanitarian, chef
Joe Biden: President, uniter, overcomer
Simon Biles: GOAT gymnast
Judy Blume: Children’s literature icon
Warren Buffett: Level-headed billionaire
Bob Dylan: Poet of generation
Anthony Fauci: Physician, immunologist, scientist
Bill Gates: Futurist, philanthropist, billionaire
Amanda Gorman: Poet, activist, prodigy
Jesse Jackson: Civil rights leader
Magic Johnson: Superstar, survivor, inspiration
Mark Kelly: Senator, astronaut, aviator
Stephen King: Great American writer
Spike Lee: Filmmaker, Knicks fan
Jim Lovell: Apollo 13 astronaut
Amory Lovins: Physicist, energy activist
Barack Obama: President, statesman, lawyer
Dolly Parton: Artist, humanitarian
Bernie Sanders: Democratic Socialist leader
MacKenzie Scott: Philanthropist, prize-winning novelist
Steven Spielberg: Director, writer, entertainer
Bruce Springsteen: Singer, songwriter, activist
Taylor Swift: Musician, songwriter, icon
Tim Walz: Honorable political messenger
Elizabeth Warren: Fighting political foes
Janet Yellen: Economist, Treasury secretary
Eliminated
- Jim Gaffigan: Comedian, author, commentator
- Craig Ferguson: Polymath, director-writer, comedian
- Mitt Romney: Senator, impeachment juror
- Buzz Aldrin: Second on Moon
Voting for our second round will end at noon EST on Fri. June 27 (I may be a bit late tallying the votes that day, as I’ll be on the road).
I will again vote for Taylor Swift, for the reasons I earlier stated.