Ooh, read this after I had made my post – the Iraqi voters: I think we have a winner. The Iraqi people as a whole is too large – you can’t give the award to an entire country. Perfect; I like it.
Those are opinions, not facts. and you are wrong in thinking the mainstream media is liberal.
Looking at mayor human rights reports like Amnesty international and Human Rights watch there is very little to accuse Chavez on this regard.
According to AI and HRW yes, but I do not agree on the extensive, any would be dictator that still allows free press (extremely right wing) can not hide those abuses.
Here I do see you are falling to the loony toon level of the extreme right wing, there was no evidence of electoral fraud, in fact it was that accusation and behabior of the opposition during and after the election and referendum that made me change many opinions I had before against Chavez.
I don’t support Chavez much, I support democracy rather than the option you and your ilk are implying.
Terry Schivo’s a good choice. I wouldn’t have thought of her.
I vote Ariel Sharon for pulling out of Gaza and for starting Kadima. Neither are perfect solutions to the Palestinian Question but taking drastic action in an attempt to end the stalemate deserves recognition, in my opinion.
I bet they give it to Condi though. Just a hunch.
Diogenes the Cynic, Terri Schiavo was the one that came to mind after I briefly considered Murtha. I think you have picked the designate. She certainly set America thinking, talking and acting.
Internationally speaking, they could always choose “Alqueda’s Third Most Wanted Terrorist.”
If it’s going to be an international person of the year, I hope it will be Ayaan Hirsi Ali as she has already been chosen, by Time Magazine, as one of the 100 most influential people of 2005.
And she deserves to get an award for giving up her freedom. [imho, ofcourse. 
]
[The link tells her story and also gives you a pretty good idea about what’s happening with ‘multiculture’ in the Netherlands]
I want to live in *your *world.
How about Dick Cheney? He’s the not-so-secret power behind the throne; a lot of the high-profile news this year (from Iraq to Plamegate) traces back in his direction.
The United States Military
Department of Homeland Security
Oddly linked and yet I am fine with the one, and wondering where the hell the other came from and what the heck they’re smoking.
How about Angela Merkel? First female Chancellor of Germany, first Chancellor from the former East Germany. If might be argued that she’s not had time to actually do very much other than win the election, though.
Alternatively, Pope Benedict XVI. First German Pope since the eleventh century and only the second non-Italian Pope since 1522, and he has started moving the Catholic Church in a more conservative direction to his predecessor.
How could it be anyone other than Pope John Paul II?
I’m afraid they’ll do the obvious and give it to “Mother Nature.” Katrina and the Tsunami were just too big of news to ignore. If you’d asked me on Dec 31 2004, “Will a major US city be completely evacuated this year?” I would have never believed it.
A long shot would be a combo of Schiavo and Sheehan.
Because with all due respect, what did he do this year except die? He did win the award in 1994 - if he hadn’t, I think you’re probably right.
Pope Benedict is a strong candidate in a weak field, so he has a chance. Certainly this year has seen more major changes from the Roman Catholic Church than we’ve seen since the 60’s. In effect we’re seeing a revision of where the Church stands in the world. Benedict’s position seems to be that the Church will give up any hope of being a powerful force in Europe or the United States, and will concentrate its efforts on the third world.
Chavez is a major newsmaker, love him or hate him. He’s extremely popular in Latin America, and he’s made some moves towards uniting a group of South American countries to work in tandem on the world stage. If his movement succeeds, it will be a force in world affairs for a long time to come.
Time might also pick “The Supreme Court”. They were all over the news too, with three new justices nominated and major rulings all over the place.
Exactly my thought when I first read the title to this thread.
Really??? He spent 2 years investigating a leak about a CIA agent, and he’s level no charges related directly to the leak. This is one small issue in the US… I just don’t see how that even remotely rises to “Man of the Year” material. Remember, it’s not an award for the “Man who most stuck it to Bush”.
Having said that… it does seem like a rather “slow news year”. I’m at a real loss to think of anyone ore anything.
Do people still read Time?
If they are true to their roots, they will look at any and all chief differences in lifestyles or outlooks around the world between the beginning of the year and the end.
Certainly the stagnant-if-not-deteriorating situation in Iraq has had far-reaching repercussions, but that’s traceable more to inaction than action. Unless they pick “The Iraqi Insurgents”.
However, I think the real headlines this year have been the record-breaking natural disasters, what the insureance companies who are now in overdrive would call “Acts of God”. Throw on top of that the change of popes in the midst of continued scandals in the Catholic church, the fact that the ancient Sunni/Shi’ite division casts a pall over the future of iraq and the rest of the Middle East, the Terry Schiavo case where we wrung hands and gnashed teeth about playing God, the current bid for legitimacy by the Intelligent Design movement, and the numerous Bush nominees that were examined by conservatives for their devotion to what they think of as traditional Christian principles, and I’d bet the Man of the Year will be:
God
<yawn>
who cares? Just why is Time so special that we care what their editors think?
But just to play along, I’ll name “The Blogger” as the People of the Year. These people may just save the republic by pursuing scandals the the mainstream media’s corporate masters won’t let them touch.
Seconded. It combines the “mother nature” element with the “George Bush” element with a “holy shit, political patronage has gotten so bad that a guy went from regulating Arabian Horse judges to running our national emergency management agency” element.
I think we have a winner. A nice, weasly non-person choice, with high tech, internet cachet. I think you are right about the role the bloggers are filliing, but I think choosing non-persons is a cop out.
I think “bloggers” was considered a strong possibility last year. I don’t know what they’ve done this year that would warrant a nomination. While the blogs are definitely a part of the media cycle, I don’t know what they’re contributing at this point that qualifies as potentially saving the republic.