Recent commentary: Time's Person of the Year

Who should be Time magazine's Person of the Year?

(published 27-Nov-2006, Appleton Post-Crescent)

Adolph Hitler was Time's "Man of the Year" in 1938. Joseph Stalin was MotY twice. Brrrr! Time has recognized multiple people half a dozen times including last year. (Remember the unlikely duo of Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr in 1998?) How about a multi-maniac award? I nominate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Both of these worthies have bulled their way onto the international stage by making nuclear threats. In my humble yet deadly accurate opinion, nuclear diplomacy hasn't advanced much beyond the _____ or go blind stage. Thus, both leaders are betting that a nuclear first-strike by us is not in the offing. So both of them threaten their neighbors -- and us -- at every opportunity. An H-bomb kinda focuses one's attention, don't you think? Maybe Kim will get something more than a basketball signed by Michael Jordan in the next round of bribes.