Person of the Year - 2005

[Keystone Phil]

We are about a month away. Who do you think it will be?

[The Duke]

It will be some inventor or scientist we've never heard of.  Everyone is going to be shocked at how obscure this person is and then we'll never hear from them again even though they keep on doing important work.  Like the AIDS researcher who won in '96.

Or maybe Time will do the bullsh**t thing and name Patrick Fitzgerald.

[Nation]

It will be some inventor or scientist we've never heard of.  Everyone is going to be shocked at how obscure this person is and then we'll never hear from them again even though they keep on doing important work.  Like the AIDS researcher who won in '96.

Or maybe Time will do the bullsh**t thing and name Patrick Fitzgerald.

Yeah, it'll almost definitely be the latter, or something along those lines.

[Keystone Phil]

I hate when they pick someone we don't know. I also don't like the general awards either. For example, if Time was to say "The American Bus Driver." When they picked the American soldier, I wasn't upset. I wasn't saying the soldier didn't deserve the honor. It just takes away the excitement of it all. Then again, maybe that's not what we should dwell on.

[Beet]

I hope it's not "hurricane of the year", or even worse "disasters of the year: hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes"

[12th Doctor]

I hope it's not "hurricane of the year", or even worse "disasters of the year: hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, and earthquakes"

Probably something like that.  10/1 it's going to be negative.

[Moooooo]

Has anyone ever won 2 years in a row?

[Keystone Phil]

Has anyone ever won 2 years in a row?

I was wondering if it would be Bush, too, but it won't. To answer your question, I'm not sure. Wikipedia has an article on Person of the Year.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Nixon did: 1971-1972

[YRABNNRM]

Mike Brown, definatly.





Seriously it will probably be someone related to the Hurricanes in some way.

[Keystone Phil]

Mike Brown, definatly.

I was thinking about that actually.

[Citizen James]

Best Guess:

Chief Justice Roberts.  The begining of a "new era for the court", or so it will be spun (Here we know that CJ doesn't really have much more power than AJs do).  Newsworthy, just a hint of controversy but still respected even by many of his opponents.  Probably the best choice to sell plenty of copies.

Secondary guesses:

Pope Benedict XVI
Nature's fury
The red Cross

[riceowl]

Ray Nagin

Roberts is a good idea; but why would Time Magazine want to rehash a Bush victory?

I don't think Benedict has been in the news enough; maybe JP2 again?
Cheney? Delay?
Blair? (With the attacks and such)
Something to do with the tsunami?
The Iraqi people.  With the elections and stuff.

Realistically, the Red Cross would be a good choice, due to the tsunami and the hurricanes and the earthquake.

[Keystone Phil]

How about the Republican leadership? Think about it - Most of the news (especially towards the end of the year) has focused around either Bush, Cheney, Rove and/or DeLay.

[riceowl]

Well, realistically Bush is again the biggest newsmaker; no doubt.
But the same holds true for every year, and I don't see Time wanting to double up (in this case, triple up) on Bush.

[The Duke]

Some people have mentioned it and it makes sense now that you do, but Mother nature could be picked and that would stink.

[Keystone Phil]

Well, realistically Bush is again the biggest newsmaker; no doubt.
But the same holds true for every year, and I don't see Time wanting to double up (in this case, triple up) on Bush.

That why they might go with just the GOP leadership (no specific mention of Bush as the lead person of the year).

[Jake]

Depends because there wasn't one guy who stood out like last year with Bush. I want to say that Zarqawi or Fitzgerald will win it, especially if there isn't any big turn in Iraq or if Rove is indicted.

[TomC]

I kinda hope it's Cindy Sheehan- just to piss the wingnuts off! It won't though, and shouldn't be.

[Everett]

[Cubby]

I've been wondering about this too! Glad to see I've got company.

I agree with Keystone Phil that while picking the American Soldier was a great honor, it didn't really fit the purpose of the award. The year before that (2002) Time played it safe again too and named "The Whistleblowers", which, while better then having Bush again, was still a letdown.

The last time I was happy with their choice was 2001, when they picked Rudy Guiliani, although it should be remembered that Time was threatened with loss of subscriptions and advertising money if they picked Osama, who undoubtedly affected everyone's life that year. Still Rudy was a great choice.

Until someone finds a link these are the most recent Time Person's of the Year that I remember:

2004    George W. Bush
2003    The American Soldier
2002    The Whistleblowers (From Enron/Worldcom/FBI)
2001    Rudy Guiliani
2000    George W. Bush
1999    Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon     (99% Sure)

Last year there was speculation that Karl Rove was going to be picked, or that he and Bush would be joint winners. What do any Republicans around here think of that idea? Would you have liked it? Rove was a very powerful figure in both election campaigns.

[Jake]

1987 Gorby
1988 ?
1989 Gorby
1990 Bush
1991 Ted Turner
1992 ?
1993 was Rabin/Arafat-de Klerk/Mandela
1994 ?
1995 was Gingrich
1996 was Ho (?) the AIDS guy
1997 was the Hungarian computer guy
1998 was Clinton and Starr

Those are those I remember recently. I really hope we don't get something like 2002 after which I remember throwing the issue out without even reading it.

[J. J.]

# 1990: George H. W. Bush (1924– )
# 1991: Ted Turner (1938– )
# 1992: Bill Clinton (1946– )
# 1993: Nelson Mandela (1918– ), F.W. de Klerk (1936– ), Yasser Arafat (1929–2004), and Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995)
# 1994: Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
# 1995: Newt Gingrich (1943– )
# 1996: David Ho (1952– )
# 1997: Andy Grove (1936– )
# 1998: Bill Clinton (1946– ) (2nd time) and Kenneth Starr (1946– )
# 1999: Jeffrey P. Bezos (1964– )
# 2000: George W. Bush (1946– )
# 2001: Rudolph Giuliani (1944– )
# 2002: The whistleblowers: Cynthia Cooper of Worldcom (?– ), Sherron Watkins of Enron (?– ), and Coleen Rowley of the FBI (?– )
# 2003: The American Soldier
# 2004: George W. Bush (1946– ) (2nd time)

That's from Wiki; I was looking at it in regard to my alternate history project.

My bet would be "Nature's Fury" or perhaps "Karl Rove."

[Platypus]

99.99% sure it will either be American or Iraqi, or relating to Katrina.

Nature's Fury might work, cos of the Tsunami, Pakistani earthquake and Katrina.

[Max Power]

It think it will be one of these:

• Cindy Sheehan
• One of the two popes.
• Tom Brady
• Those guys who flew into space.
• The president of Iran.
• The Google Gys
• Steve Jobs