Time choses Vladimir Putin as it’s “Person of the Year.”
Predictably, the typical cast of right wing media stars is complaining about the selection. Essentially, their objection to Putin boils down to this: he’s not pro-American.
Time’s stated criterion for the award is straightforward; it’s given to
“the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year.”
Yet rightist can’t seem to accept simply recognizing a world news maker. They instead view the selection as an award that should be bestowed on one of conservative America’s heroes. They apparently need every media outlet to validate their world view.
This phenomenon was most pronounced in 2001. Clearly Osama bin Laden was the person who had the greatest impact on world events. But political correctness prevented Time from selecting an anti-American figure, so it picked Rudolph Giuliani instead.
By the way, Time has archived all of its Persons of the Year (1927-2007) covers (with the articles) here.