Time's "Person of the Year": Obama, again

Four years after he first won the award as president-elect in 2008, President Obama has again been named Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2012.

Time's short list included Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was the target of an assassin for advocating girls' education.

Time readers, in a separate poll, selected North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as the 2012 Person of the Year. The magazine's official Person of the Year is decided by editors, not readers.

• Kim Jong Un not Time's Person of the Year (yet?)
• Obama coalesces support for gun control

Time Editor Rick Stengel, announcing the selection on NBC this morning, explained, "We are in the midst of historic cultural and demographic changes, and Obama is both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America."

Obama, in an interview with the magazine, said his reelection "may have been more satisfying a win than 2008."

He explained, "We've gone through a very difficult time. The American people have rightly been frustrated at the pace of change, and the economy is still struggling, and this president we elected is imperfect, and yet, despite all that, this is who we want to be."

"That's a good thing," added the President.

Time's winner last year was "The Protester," a nod to the dissenters of the Arab Spring and domestic protest movements of Occupy Wall Street that captured the national attention.

Previous Person of the Year selections include U2 frontman and philanthropist Bono, former President George W. Bush, and Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg.

[KAISOMAN]

Did TIME really consider anyone else? Giving Hussain that honor is as bad as when that stupid and incompetent Nobel Peace Prize committee ridiculously awarded him a Nobel Prize for something he did NOT do. Once again prizes are being shown to be worthless.

[DOGGYPANTS]

Time Magazine has been a leftist rag for over twenty years. Why wouldn't a leftist publication not have the supreme leftist as its man of the year. But since Time is Leftist, why isn't it "Person of the Year"?

When was the last time I looked at Time? I browsed through it in an MD''s office.

Its really Toilet Paper Journalism.

[dutch-mill-68]

Type PRAVDA ENGLISH OBAMA into your search engine to view Russians' opinion.
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/10-12-2012/123106-obama_laughter-0/

[habu_71]

There's another Nobel Peace Prize coming, right after another round on The View, Letterman, and SNL. The UN and work are scheduled for sometime next year, unless vacations and golf interfere. First, they have to get all the scratches out of the antique furniture from his putting his feet up.

[Leftydems]

Stupid is as stupid does. Love that kool aid. Now you can have Allice B Toklas brownies, too. Just as long as the media and 51% of the countryis happy, why not.

[Leftydems]

LBNJ - 51% is "supermajority"? Only to you. To the rest of us it's become a divided country. Could it be so many people voted NO BAMA because they are not represented by him, his philosophy, or his agenda? Yep, I think that's it.

[TimeToEvolve]

The fact is that whatever anyone thinks of yet another right wing corporate media magazine, the facts speak for themselves.

Despite an entire political party of racist corporatist Republicons doing everything and anything they could to make Obama fail, they failed. He passed some modest health insurance reform, would down the Bush Wars based on lies (which is why he won the Nobel Peace Prize) and saved us from the Second Republicon Depression. And he was re-elected President. So there you go.

[Leftydems]

TTE - there just aren't words for it. Do you work for CBS or a PR firm, Josef?

[TimeToEvolve]

You righties lost and you have to deal with it. Let's have some respect for the President who has more compassion and common sense in his little finger than Wall Street and their Republicon Corporation slaves put together.

[TimeToEvolve]

Well Bushoccio lied us into war, broke numerous treaties and laws and was part of treasonous acts against the people and the basic principles of the Constitution. Does a war criminal like Bush who ends up with an approval rating of 20% deserve respect? I think not.

[madasabull]

You know what, let him have it, let him have that ridiculous award, and the other award, the even more ridiculous Nobel Peace Prize.

There are so many wonderful people out there, doing so many wonderful things for humanity, dedicating the whole of their lives and finances to a cause which they believe in and may probably get no thanks for, not that these people are doing what they do for thanks, they do it because the want to, they need to, because somebody needs to.

And the Peace Prize goes to yet another wealthy president just doing a job, poorly, using the taxpayers money and risking nothing. These prizes are as worthless as the UN Security Council.

[beck2448]

Time is beyond nauseating.

[Jonseen]

Considering this was an election year, seems to me it's Time Magazine's effort to rub it in the face of Romney supporters. Are they blatantly gloating??

It's a very shameful move on Time Magazine's part, IMO. I'm disgusted with Time Magazine for being so insensitive to Americans who are already very polarized politically. I can't see that President Obama did anything very remarkable this year to get it.

This is very strange, in my opinion.

[pasthype55]

it wasn't just this year, he did stop the madness, and he's not done! but if you don't like the US then leave!

[ToolMangler1]

Not so strange when you replay all the different ways the GOP controlled 'House' conspired to deny Obama any chance to rescue the economy "which he managed to do in-spite of them"..