I am the TIME Magazine Person of the Year

As one of the multiple millions who have been awarded the lamest award ever, an award that used to mean something to me personally. This award, that a highly respected weekly periodical used to use to determine the one individual who had the greatest impact on the world, whether it be good, bad, or evil in that particular calendar year. This once respected journal has gone and copped to the lamest excuse of just trying to sell magazines ever. They have stooped to ridiculous levels in following the mass media down the drain, in continuing to help dumb down the news.

That is right, Time Magazine has chosen you (and I) as the person of the year in 2006. I can now claim that I have won the same award as Adolf Hitler (1938), Joseph Stalin (1939), JFK (1961), Ayatullah Khomeini (1979), Pope John Paul II (1994), and I could not be more proud. I am planning on adding this award to my resume.

If you want to track the decesent of this award, I suppose we need to go back about 24 years. Back in 1982, everyone thought it was innovative to select the computer as the Machine of the Year. All things considered it was a pretty good decision at the time. Time had selected groups in the past (1950 - American Fighting Man, 1956 - Hungarian Freedom Fighter, 1960 - US Scientists, 1966 - 25 and under, 1975 - American Woman) but this is really the beginning of the end. in 2002, Time completed lamed out by choosing the Whisteblowers, from the FBI, Worldcom and Enron. Ironically it was all woman and perhaps the first time woman were honored for the doing their jobs, rather than forcing a king off the throne (1936) , being somebody's wife (1937) , being the queen (1952) or simply being a woman (1975), but I digress.

In 2003, it was the American Soldier, a repeat of 1950 (American Fighting-Man). Again at the time seemed reasonable to honor the soldiers who are doing their duty. Men and woman who we should always honor and respect. In 2005, they began the ultimate insult, by selecting Bill & Melinda Gates and Bono as People of the Year. These individuals are very intelligent, successful and their philanthropic endeavors are certainly noteworthy and very respectable, but certainly not worthy of this once heralded award.

I also find it very odd, that Osama Bin Laden has not been awarded this title even though he (in conjunction with President George W. Bush) is probably most responsible for steering America down its current path. Not since 1979, has a perceived bad guy won this award, and I think this has to do with the dumbing down of the American media. I think it has to do with Americans perceived need to feel good about ourselves, and that the media believes we could not accept a bad guy as the person of the year anymore. That is because today the media feels we need a feel good story to pump us up, a never ending human interest story, they believe the public is too dumb or apathetic to want or understand real news with real facts. Everything needs to be condensed to a sound bite to fit the ever shrinking american attention span.

I know I have ranted on this before, but it is the responsibility of the media to report the good and the bad. I would like to know that some mainstream media outlet is still willing to make a difficult decision on what to print and when. I realize the person of the year award is pretty lame and insignificant in the greater scheme of things, but it is endemic of of the bigger problem. A significant media organization laming out on a difficult decision in order to be more popular and sell more copy. Very sad, and unfortunately I only see it getting worse.

So with the sarcasm, disdain and that diatribe out of the way, I would like to say the following:

Thank you Time Magazine for giving me this award

I would like to thank my parents, Jim and Carol, for conceiving me back on that hot summer night in June 1968. (Which by the way is only the second and last time they partook in any kind of those activities, but that is entirely another story).

I would like to thank my radiant and beautiful wife Nancy, for watching General Hospital and giving me the time to spew, rant, theorize, research and otherwise create my view of the world here. I would also like to thank her for always allowing me to be me. Many times my humor and sardonic comments are often off-color, blunt, or in-your-face and she almost always takes them in stride. I am amazed and very happy when other friends comment about the leeway she allows me with my actions and comments, and says "that's just him".

On behalf of my children, Jacob and Mollie, who are also recepients of this award, I would like to say thank you, since I am sure they have absolutely no comprehension of the gravity of this award. Seriously though, I would like to thank my kids for being the best, funniest, brightest, cutest kids I could have ever imagined making. Never in a hundred years would I have expected to have to have kids this great, who have brought so much joy and happiness to me personally. Without them, I certainly would not be the person I am now.

Finally, I would like to thank you, the readers of the blog for making this award possible. One of the things that have made you, you (and I, me) according to Time, is the ability of individual to make news via blogging, YouTube, Google, etc. As you may have noticed, I have been playing around with the design and adding some new elements to attract new readers. I would love to hear from you, another Person of the Year about what you think of my rants. I would like to try to make this space more of an open dialouge, rather than a one way mirror, with you looking in on me like some kind of demented focus group for one.

So in conclusion, thank you again Time Magazine for making this award available to you (and me). Let me know what you think.