• Blogosphere,  Time Magazine

    Time Magazine Person of the Year Watch: Flap and All of US

    timemagdecember16bweb

    In this photo released by Time, Inc., in New York, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006, the Dec. 25, 2006 “Person of the Year” issue proclaims that “You” are Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.” Time, citing the shift from institutions to individuals as part of the criteria for selecting their “Person of the Year,” has named anyone using or creating content on the World Wide Web as their 2006 winner.

    AP: Time Magazine’s Person of the Year: You

    Congratulations! You are the Time magazine “Person of the Year.”

    The annual honor for 2006 went to each and every one of us, as Time cited the shift from institutions to individuals – citizens of the new digital democracy, as the magazine put it. The winners this year were anyone using or creating content on the World Wide Web.

    “If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people,” said Richard Stengel, who took over as Time’s managing editor earlier this year. “But if you choose millions of people, you don’t have to justify it to anyone.”

    The magazine did cite 26 “People Who Mattered,” from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il to Pope Benedict XVI to the troika of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

    And Stengel said if the magazine had decided to go with an individual, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the likely choice. “It just felt to me a little off selecting him,” Stengel said.

    Indeed……..The blogosphere and internet is much more significant than Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong-Il.

    In fact, the blogosphere and internet media may well be those dictators downfall.

    Thanks Time Magazine! You finally got ONE RIGHT!

    Captain Ed says Time’s Award for this year was a Suck-Up Version.

    At least, however, they made a decision and selected someone. The entire point of a Person of the Year is to acknowledge that some people play larger roles in history. Naming all of us may make us feel good about our anonymity, but in the end it’s either pandering to millions of readers or a refusal to take a stand on anyone. Choosing everyone is an abdication on the entire purpose of the project.

    Even Salon did better than that — but not by much. In a year of so much turmoil and such electoral drama, they selected S. R. Sidarth, the opposition researcher for James Webb that got himself notoriety by being the target of George Allen’s weird “macaca” moment. It’s a silly selection by an unserious publication, perhaps much more demonstrative of Salon than it could possibly be of 2006.

    Flap thinks Ed needs to chill out. After all this is time Magazine, what do you expect – something profound? Or accurate?

    Others Blogging:

    Tammy Bruce

    Patterico

    Hot Air


    Technorati Tags:

  • Al Gore,  Barack Obama,  Evan Bayh,  John Edwards,  President 2008

    President 2008 Watch: John Edwards IN and Evan Bayh OUT

    edwardsdecember16aweb

    Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards speaks to Marg Stephens during a book signing in Columbia, S.C., Sunday, Nov. 19, 2006. Though he hasn’t officially announced any White House intentions, the former North Carolina senator is campaigning all the same.

    AP: Officials: Edwards to Enter 2008 Race

    Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards intends to enter the 2008 race for the White House, two Democratic officials said Saturday.

    Edwards, who represented North Carolina in the Senate for six years, plans to make the campaign announcement late this month from the New Orleans neighborhood hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina last year and slow to recover from the storm.

    Edwards also plans to travel from New Orleans through the four early presidential nominating states _ Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina _ as part of an announcement tour between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

    Among Democrats, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois are drawing the most attention almost two years before the actual vote.

    Edwards, however, is in a strong position as the leading candidate in Iowa. He was a top fundraiser in the race for the nomination in 2004 before he became Democratic Sen. John Kerry’s running mate.

    Could John Edwards with Barack Obama’s help become the “ANYONE BUT HILLARY” candidate?

    Very possible – now that John Kerry has self-destructed and Al Gore continues to rule out a run.

    Al Gore could take Hillary and end the race early. But, does he have the will to run?

    Doubtful

    And apparently Evan Bayh does not wish to run for Vice President.

    Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana announced on Saturday he will not seek the presidency in 2008, saying he believes the odds of a successful run were too great to overcome.

    “At the end of the day, I concluded that due to circumstances beyond our control the odds were longer than I felt I could responsibly pursue,” Bayh said in a statement. “This path – and these long odds – would have required me to be essentially absent from the Senate for the next year instead of working to help the people of my state and the nation.”

    Bayh from a RED STATE – Indiana had little chance in this race. It is doubtful that with either Hillary, Obama, Gore or Edwards as the presidential nominee that he is the right fit for even ticket balancing.

    Stay tuned as Edwards makes the push in Iowa and Obama splits away Hilary’s constituency.

    bayhdecember16aweb

    U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)(L) and Evan Bayh (D-IN)(R) listen to Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) during the testimony of U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee Robert Gates at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 5, 2006.

    Previous:

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani Leads McCain and Hillary Clinton in 2008 Presidential Poll


    Technorati Tags: , , , ,