TIME's Man Of The Year - Predictions

Here’s how I break it down…

1. New York City - Of course TIME has never shackled themselves to the concept that their Man of the Year must be a person. They have chosen the Computer before, and I think the NYC may get the nod after all it has been through, but also because it was such an important center of trade and culture before Sept. 11.

2. Osama Bin Laden - The will of this single individual has chagned the world in so many ways, this would be like the time the picked Adolf Hitler as their MOTY.

3. Rudy Guliani - Probably no politician has gained in stature as much as the Mayor of NYC. He provided real leadership (and continues to do so) in his cities, and the countries most dire days. He has been strong and resolute and given us an example by which has helped many make it through.

4. George Bush - Well the President seems to always be a potential candidate, but this year the President was thrust into the firestorm and has emerged as the kind of leader we could have only hoped for.

5. Emergency Services Personnel - Firemen, Policemen, EMTs, these folks who have selflessly and without fanfare for as long as I can remember given of themselves are finally getting the recognition and appreciation they have always deserved.

Just IMHO, of course.

George W. Bush? No way. He’s proven to be a crummy leader to many Americans and to most non-Americans; his performance during this crisis can be considered mediocre, at best.

My prediction for Time’s Man of the Year is Rudolph Giuliani. Pretty incredible that he went from cantankerous autocrat to cool-headed crisis manager. Giuliani is truly at his best when things are at their worst. I never liked him before, but I have to admit, Rudy’s my hero.

Remembering that TIME chooses the person they think has had the most influence on the year’s news, whether for good or bad, I think Beard Boy is a shoe-in.

Unfortunately.

I think Time will go with Rudy. And to be honest, I don’t think you can name a better MOTY.

It’s actually called the Person of the Year now.

1. New York City - I agree. Patriotic, sentimental. However, as the Onion put it “Rest of America feels brief moment of empathy for New York”. Most Americans consider New Yorkers loud mouthed big shots. This was a national tradegy and all of America is suffering and donated to the relief efforts.

2. Osama Bin Laden - The obvious choice, but way too controversial and un-patriotic. Yes, they chose Hilter once, but in recent times they are wimpy and avoid bad guys. For instance, Sadaam didn’t make it in 1990 or 91.

3. Rudy Guliani - Interesting, but won’t happen. He was a lame duck mayor who is out of office now.

4. George Bush - “Well the President seems to always be a potential candidate”. You can say that again. It’s rather boring that they pick the Prez so much. Although, he really is the big newsmaker almost every year. However, they picked GW last year, so I doubt and hope they will pick him again.

5. Emergency Services Personnel - Patriotic, sentimental. Americans will gobble it up.

I think #5 is the winner.
Just IMHO, of course. **
[/QUOTE]

“so I doubt and hope they will pick him (GW) again”.
I meant “so I hopefully doubt they will pick him (GW) again”.

My rankings: 1. ESP 2. NYC 3. GW 4. OBL 5. Rudy

Either Osama bin Laden or George W. Bush, with an edge to Bush because bin Laden didn’t become reknown until after 9/11, while Bush has been futzing things up all year long…

i predict that asshole osama.

i hope someone anally masterbates with his toothbrush.

My new sig!

always happy to help! let em know where you heard it!


Three stalls, no waiting!

I’d vote OBL with the individual terrorists/Al Qaeda or the Taleban running as the dark horse. I don’t think Bush will get it since up until 9/11 he was a mediocre (gentleman’s Cs) president at best. The only that changed was 9/11. All Bush and the rest of us is doing now is reactionary. Now, looking at into cracked crystal ball, Bush may have a good chance next year if he can follow through on his “War on Terrroism” rhetoric and not rest on his laurels.

I don’t think it will be NYC because that disregards the people who died at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

Giuliani: not significant enough in the broader global scale to warrant the nod.

GWB: agree they won’t choose him twice in a row.

OBL: very likely.

ESP: another strong possibility.

I would add to the list the possibility that TIME will choose “The American People” as “People of the Year,” to be accompanied by a suitably maudlin story of how we’ve all come together as a nation, blah blah blah. Or they may choose “The Victims of Terror” and run pictures of all of the dead.

I agree it should be Osama Bin Laden. Who else has had so much impact?

I mean, it’s no different than when they chose Hitler?

Or perhaps they could do Kofi Annan?

This assumes, of course, that he uses one…

<letterman>
He lives in a cave!
</letterman>

I’ll go with either NYC or ESP.

My vote would be for bin Laden.

Just out of curiosity, who is in charge of the Red Cross? Or Red Cross fundraising? Something I haven’t heard mentioned, but which I think is noteworthy, is how wonderfully the Red Cross orginized all the donations. I mean, it’s not enough that people wanted to give–the Red Cross did a fantasitc job mobilizing all those good intentions, and is (by all accounts) doing a fantastic job distributing those funds. They’ve made it look easy.

Actually, the head of the Red Cross just resigned amid questions of how the fundraising and distributions have been handled. A lot of the blood that was donated is being destroyed because of lack of storage and lack of need. Because of public outcry about the way donations were being apportioned, the RC is now offering refunds.

Nope nope nope nope nope

Osama has absolutely no chance. Forget it. Ain’t gonna happen. There is absolutely no way Time wants to see thousands of copies of its magazines burning in front of every Pic ‘n’ Pay and Seven-11 in the nation.

Adolf Hitler? He was MOTY in 1938, after the Munich Pact. Time was marking Hitler’s ability to revive Germany and increase its international standing two decades after World War I.

Big media magazines like Time and Newsweek are intensely conservative and very reluctant to rock the boat. Time’s idea of cutting-edge satire is Joel Stein’s silly questions and Garrison Keillor essays.

GWB would be an easy choice, considering he’s gone from the Grinch Who Stole The Election to Big Chief without breaking a sweat, but it seems like a too-obvious choice. Time’s selection committee will be told to Pump It Up, to Think Outside The Envelope, to choose a winner that would make the magazine one of the company’s top sellers in history.

So, my slam-dunk bet-the-house choice would have to be something along the lines of 9/11 Victims and Heroes, or the Amurrican People, God Bless 'Em. We’re Number One!

Man of the Year? Why not Person of the Year? It’s awfully sexist if they choose only men.

On topic, however, I think they should (and just might) steer clear of 9-11 for this one. If somebody did something great in February, s/he shouldn’t be disqualified simply because some barbarian killed a whole bunch of people later on in the year.

If I had a say, though, I’d vote for myself. Nobody else has done anything smart this year.

I think that my boss, America’s Mayor, Sir Rudy, will win this one.

I hope it will be the Emergency Service Personnel who sacrificed their own lives to save tens of thousands of lives (with no thanks to the Port Authority!!), and to the ones who still scramble, maybe in vain, to save more.