Time's "Person of the Year"

By now, I'm sure that most folks have heard that Time Magazine's Person of the Year is Vladamir Putin.

The leftist rag is in question seems enamored of leftists and communists, with the runners-up this year being, in this order:

 

"RUNNER-UP

Al Gore

Nobel laureate, minding the environment"  

Green being the unrequited love of the left, of course.

"RUNNER-UP

J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter creator, finally telling secrets" 

 ...Because it takes a lot of courage to make a fictional character "come out of the closet" for no apparent reason. Gay agenda? Check.

"RUNNER-UP

Hu Jintao

China's leader depends on both ancient wisdom and communist doctrine as guides to action"   

Maaaaan, Time sure is in love with Communism. No surprise, considering the leftists are exactly that: Reds in Green clothing.

And last but not least: 

"RUNNER-UP

David Petraeus

The commanding general in Iraq fought America's most difficult foreign war — and one at home"   

Oh. Well, I guess conservatives don't have any reason to complain, seeing that someone with infinitely more honor than any of the aforementioned made the last runner-up under commies and fiction authors. Yeah.

And what, you may ask, was Time's reason for picking Putin? (Emphasis mine.)

He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years. Whether he becomes more like the man for whom his grandfather prepared blinis—who himself was twice TIME's Person of the Year—or like Peter the Great, the historical figure he most admires; whether he proves to be a reformer or an autocrat who takes Russia back to an era of repression—this we will know only over the next decade. At significant cost to the principles and ideas that free nations prize, he has performed an extraordinary feat of leadership in imposing stability on a nation that has rarely known it and brought Russia back to the table of world power. For that reason, Vladimir Putin is TIME's 2007 Person of the Year.

As Mitt Romney said on the Glenn Beck show yesterday, it seems any good dictator is eligible. 

Romney hadn't heard the news before the interview and was "disgusted". Here's the transcript:

GLENN: Give me your thought on Petraeus not being Time magazine's man of the year but instead Vladimir Putin.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: Oh, you are kidding. Did they put Vladimir Putin on the cover?

GLENN: Yeah, Time magazine.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: That really, that's disgusting. I'm absolutely -- I mean, are you -- I mean, I haven't seen Time. Are you serious?

GLENN: No, I'm serious. It is Vladimir Putin, Time magazine man of the year. A guy who, you know, with all of the KGB stuff in the past, Time magazine says has transformed the country and congratulations. Time magazine man of the year, Vladimir Putin.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: Well, you know, he imprisoned his political opponents. There have been a number of highly suspicious murders. He has squelched public dissent and free press. And to suggest that someone like that is the man of the year is really disgusting. I'm just appalled. Clearly General Petraeus is the person or one of a few people who would certainly merit that designation and I know Time magazine makes a distinction. They say, well, people who had an impact, whether it's good or bad, is the man of the year. I think that's a --

GLENN: No, no, hang on.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: -- a false --

GLENN: Before you go too far down this road -- wait a minute. Before you go down this road, this is the quote why he's the man of the year, "For bringing stability and renewed... what was it, impact? Status. Renewed status to his country. That's why.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: Isn't that something. So a good dictator -- I guess Raul Castro will get it next. A good dictator that imprisons or murders political and media opponents and therefore brings stability, I mean, there's nothing like the stability that martial law provides or dictatorship provides. I find it a truly appalling designation.

GLENN: And the stability that he's bringing to the Middle East with the transfer of this last few days of nuclear technology to Iran.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: Yeah. I mean, he's once again supplying nuclear material to the Bushehr power plant and it's another example of Russia trying to destabilize the world, destabilize the Middle East. It does tell you something about Time magazine. I'm really -- I must admit I'm really disappointed. That's a real shock.

GLENN: I was --

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: Our mainstream media I think has just showed its hand.

Respectfully, Governor, the MSM has been doing just that for quite some time. They just haven't any shame any longer.