Predict Time's "Person of the Year"!

Oystein

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Oystein
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On December 6th, Time will announce 2017's "Person of the Year". Trump tweeted the other day that they told him he'll be it a second year in a row, and that he declined. Time informed him that he is mistaken.

So who will it be? Remember that this is not the Nobel Prize for greatness, nor a polularity contest. Here is a list of all past PotY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Person_of_the_Year#Persons_of_the_Year

You will see that often the US President-elect is chosen - this happened with Trump in 2016, but also Obama (2008 and 2012), Bush II (2000 and 2004), Clinton (1992), Reagan (1980), Carter (1976) - obviously not in response to great achievements as President but merely for having won the election.

You will also see that it isn't always the nicest person who wins - Hitler (1938), Stalin (1939 and 1942) and Khomeini (1979) all were PotY, as well as dictators such as Haile Selassie, Nikita Khrushchev, Anwar Sadat, Deng Xiaoping, Yuri Andropov or Vladimir Putin.

Also three Popes.

Sometimes, they elect groups, some of them rather unspecific/unnamed, such as "The Peacemakers" (1993), "The Whistleblowers" (2002), "You" (i.e. everybody who contributes content to the internet, 2006), "The Protester" (2011), "The Ebola Fighters" (2014).
 
And here are my favourites:

1. Xi Jinping, President of China
He has consolidated power over China during the last 5 years like no one else has since Deng Xiaoping, is young enough at 53 years to see a long reign, and with the voluntary decline of the USA into irrelevance has emerged in 2017 as the de-facto leader of the World.

2. "The Fact-Checkers"
In the age of Web 3.0, social media bots, fake news, this new type of journalism may be saving us from totalitarianism

3. Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
While clearly inferior in power to both Xi Jinping and DJT, he is nonetheless the person in the world whose star has risen like none other, having been appointed as Crown Prince only in June 2017, and already having enough power inside the nation with the world's greated oil reserves to stage a sweeping coup and push an aggressive foreign policy.
 
I also declined a second person of the year.

However, like when I won it will be a group award. I think it will be all the women who have come forward and outed publicly the institutional sexual harassment in this country.
 
Yeah I see another "Group" getting Person of the Year, perhaps with a symbolic representative(s).
 
Oystein said:
And here are my favourites:

2. "The Fact-Checkers"
In the age of Web 3.0, social media bots, fake news, this new type of journalism may be saving us from totalitarianism
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JoeBentley said:
Yeah I see another "Group" getting Person of the Year, perhaps with a symbolic representative(s).
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I hate those group awards. But I could see one going to the Alt-Right.

Regardless of who is named, Trump is almost certainly going to tweet something stupid about it.
 
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Trebuchet said:
I hate those group awards. But I could see one going to the Alt-Right.
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I even found myself imagining the cover: Composite picture including Bannon, Gorka, and Trump along with Charlottesvill marchers with Confederate and Nazi flags.

I'm kinda hoping for Robert Mueller. Trump's head will explode.
 
My sensible suggestion would be Xi Jinping.

But if I was in charge the temptation to choose someone like say Sessions or Hillary Clinton would be almost irresistible!
 
Trump
Xi Jinping
Assad
Whoever punched Richard Spencer
The redhead cashier at my local supermarket
 
Trebuchet said:
I'm kinda hoping for Robert Mueller. Trump's head will explode.
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I'd save Mueller for next year, when he starts indicting Trump's inner circle causing Trump to panic and lash out with all the chaos that'll ensue.
 
I kind of hope that the selection is not directly about Trump - neither Trump himself or his clique, nor an overt Trump opponent. Xi would fit the bill perfectly. So would "The women that spoke out" against sexual harrassment.
 
Oystein said:
On December 6th, Time will announce 2017's "Person of the Year". Trump tweeted the other day that they told him he'll be it a second year in a row, and that he declined. Time informed him that he is mistaken.
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More amusing, he claimed that they told him he would probably be chosen again, and he declined because "probably" wasn't good enough. They responded that the process didn't work that way.
 
I agree that the women-who-spoke-out would be an excellent choice.

Another influential and news-making "type" in the U.S. this past year: the mass-shooter.

I was pretty much convinced it was going to be Trump again. If the decision went solely with the most-reported-on it would clearly have to be. But thinking about it, maybe not. Despite and apart from being constantly reported on, how influential has Trump actually been in 2017? He hasn't led his party in any new or successful direction (the last election results suggest quite the contrary) and he hasn't accomplished much actual change for good or ill.
 
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It will be the women who spoke out. No matter what they were planning a few weeks ago, this year has taken a dramatic turn.
 
TragicMonkey said:
If I were Time I'd pick Hillary Clinton just for the reaction from Trump.
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alfaniner said:
One of my thoughts also.
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Hell, I'd go along with it just to see Hillary's reaction.

"I came >this close< to being POTUS, and all I got was TIME's POTY instead."

But the way people talk about it, you'd think TIME's pick is more important than the Nobel Peace Prize. You get all excited about it, but the best you can come up with is, "hopefully it will annoy Donald Trump."

Frankly, I hope that the people who are really doing some good in this world get recognized by someone much more worthwhile than TIME Magazine.
 
theprestige said:
Hell, I'd go along with it just to see Hillary's reaction.

"I came >this close< to being POTUS, and all I got was TIME's POTY instead."

But the way people talk about it, you'd think TIME's pick is more important than the Nobel Peace Prize. You get all excited about it, but the best you can come up with is, "hopefully it will annoy Donald Trump."

Frankly, I hope that the people who are really doing some good in this world get recognized by someone much more worthwhile than TIME Magazine.
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Trump is the one who has elevated it to such heights by both faking covers for himself and now faking an offer to be on the cover again. Time is barely worth reading while waiting to see my dentist. But to Trump it seems quite important.
 
Besides not playing much football, and stirring up ineffectual controversy, what has Kaepernick done this year? Like, on a Vladimir Putin / Kim Jong Un level of impact?

What was his cause? BLM? How much have they advanced this year, as a result of his "activism"?

Hell, lately even Corey Feldman seems to be getting more traction than Colin Kaepernick.
 
Dr. Keith said:
Trump is the one who has elevated it to such heights by both faking covers for himself and now faking an offer to be on the cover again. Time is barely worth reading while waiting to see my dentist. But to Trump it seems quite important.
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And now everybody is playing along. It's like he's living rent free in your head.
 
theprestige said:
Hell, I'd go along with it just to see Hillary's reaction.

"I came >this close< to being POTUS, and all I got was TIME's POTY instead."

But the way people talk about it, you'd think TIME's pick is more important than the Nobel Peace Prize. You get all excited about it, but the best you can come up with is, "hopefully it will annoy Donald Trump."

Frankly, I hope that the people who are really doing some good in this world get recognized by someone much more worthwhile than TIME Magazine.
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Who said it was important? I speculate about the Stanley Cup, but it's only a game.
 
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