This is the 90th time we have named the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year. So which is it this year: Better or worse? The challenge for Donald Trump is how profoundly the country disagrees about the answer....Points for resisting mentioning Hitler as a former Man of the Year as you remind us that it's not necessarily positive.
It’s hard to measure the scale of his disruption. This real estate baron and casino owner turned reality-TV star and provocateur—never a day spent in public office, never a debt owed to any interest besides his own—now surveys the smoking ruin of a vast political edifice that once housed parties, pundits, donors, pollsters, all those who did not see him coming or take him seriously. Out of this reckoning, Trump is poised to preside, for better or worse....Again with the "for better or worse."
Smoking ruin.... how about the smoking ruin of mainstream media?
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And his title is "the president-elect of the divided states of America."
Not hard to predict what the tone of the piece will be.
"for those who see [Trump's victory] as for the worse, the destruction extends to cherished norms of civility and discourse,"
Civility bullshit alert.
Time was surely up in arms about about the language used to criticize George W. Bush for 8 years. You now, back when we were operating under the cherished norms of civility and discourse.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
To emphasize:
...in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Dickens nailed you, TIME.
* * *
I was reminded of Dickens by the word "it" in your heading: There was just no way to weasel out of it
And thus, it was the best of times.
Weasel is a great wonderful appropriate verb.
Times time has timed out a long time ago.
Suggested but not stated: It only looks like smoking ruin if you didn't see it coming. Many of us have been observing and living in the slow and steady decay and neglect. And trying to do something about it.
We did something about it.
Well, of course. Who were they going to pick, Martin O'Malley? He occupied more media attention than anyone or anything else. That's pretty much how they pick person of the year.
And how many campaign rallies does a Trump have to walk down before they call him a MAN of the year?
Life outside the media "Bubble" is a scary place of unknown occupants and foreign values. To them, getting out of their space place is a trip into the Twilight Zone of Rod Serling.
1972: Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger
1973: John J. Sirica
Embrace the irony!
1998: Bill Clinton AND Kenneth Starr
Done!
Trump tweeted in response to being named Time's Man of the Year: "It's a great honor. It means a lot."
...
Which is actually the only Trump tweet that I disagree with since he became president-elect.
It's in poor taste to use the "smoking ruin" metaphor so soon after a terrible real fire.
Time didn't fold years ago??? Must have some lefty gazillionaire running it as a vanity project the way Bezos runs the Washington Post.
No wonder Hollywood guys are depressed and calling off holiday celebrations. Hollywood's Fake Reality Died! It is all over now, Baby Blue.
I just hope the Secret Service gets to the actor playing John Wilkes Boothe's role before he gets to DJT.
@Althouse, the article was probably written and typeset way before the Oakland fire.
How about the specter of "The Whirling Dervish Terrorist"?
If it wasn't for their Swimsuit Issue I wouldn't read 'Time' at all...
I am Laslo.
Good one, Laslo! Caught me by surprise.
On the upside, it will be a year before anyone mentions TIME again.
"For better or worse, in sickness and in health, till death do us part."
Coupled with the smoking ruins reference, Time conjures the Goldwater 64 ad (which Hillary repurposed.)
It seems to me the states are pretty united, it's a few metropolitan areas that are having trouble dealing.
OT- your last day of work today Althouse? Good luck and God Bless you with a long and fun filled retirement.
Time is still published ? Who knew ?
"It's in poor taste to use the "smoking ruin" metaphor so soon after a terrible real fire."
I doubt they are aware of any events west of the Hudson although San Francisco is a sister nation.
Blame the vast right wing conspiracy for the smoking ruins of the vast political edifice.
Mainstream media image search. Heh.
Talk about Faking The News, the Time assholes really wrote that DJT was really like Huey Long, Joe McCarthy and Father Coughlin. Those three were the losers and absolute enemies of FDR and Truman, whom good Americans elected President for five terms (20 years).
Smoking ruin.... how about the smoking ruin of mainstream media?
Excellent! :-) I'm not sure they have begun to smell the smoke. So very clueless.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, 50,000 new jobs have been offered courtesy of Japan. So their is hope out in the hinterlands.
They won't be journalism jobs so I guess it will still be a smoking ruin as far as the eye can see in journo-land. Maybe Obama can pivot to journalism and work the same magic he did on healthcare, the economy, and Middle Eastern peace.
I don't see how mainstream media in ruins over Trump election. They reported the campaign. They, along with their sources thought he'd lose the primary. Then they along with their sources thought he'd lose the general election. Now they, along with their sources think he's continuing to behave unlike any other president elect.
AA: Smoking ruin.... how about the smoking ruin of mainstream media?
To be fair to the MSM, they're not the only ones within that "vast political edifice that once housed parties, pundits, donors, pollsters, all those who did not see him coming or take him seriously" who are managing to miss the stench of their own charred flesh.
I'm observing this political anosmia on the individual level, too, when making my rounds these days. E.g., our own dear Chuck, who's convinced himself that 2016 was a resounding affirmation of Conservatism, Inc. (The cuck who crowed and thought he made the sun rise, as it were.)
TIME Announces New Version Of Magazine Aimed At Adults
Of course Trump is going to be very pleased and will mention this accolade repeatedly in his rallies. The award was made for situations like this and Trump will eat it up.
Wonder how long it will take for Godwin's Law to kick in and for someone (probably a Progressive) to point out that Time Magazine also named Adolf Hitler as its "Man of the Year"?
Oh, wait, I just did it! Heh!
Except the Republican Party is no smoking ruin. It's in the strongest position in decades, of course allowing for the slight change in direction under Trump. Dems, on the other hand, are pretty ruined.
There was just no way to weasel out of it.
I'm a little surprised that they didn't give it to the alt-right or nationalism and justify that by pointing to Brexit and other European populist stuff.
And when I heard they had given it to Trump I wondered what the over/under for Hitler references would be.
Time picked Hitler. Now they pick Trump.
Do you still want to argue that Trump isn't another Hitler?
Man of the Year. In company with Pierre Laval (shot by the French after the war - and he deserved every bit of it), Wallis Simpson (as the "Man of the Year"? Seems a bit harsh), Adolf, and Uncle Joe Stalin (twice).
So why does Time have Trump posing in such a shabby chair? The back of it looks like a thrift shop special.
Those three were the losers and absolute enemies of FDR and Truman, whom good Americans elected President for five terms (20 years).
They were also Progressives. Coughlin attacked FDR from the Left, not the Right. Ditto Long. And nobody can seriously argue McCarthy was a conservative guy.
MSM and SNL = same thing.
Also yesterday, some local charity no one has heard of gave some award to some citizen no one ever heard of.
I care just as much about that as I do about Time picking anyone for anything.
Time, the irrelevant shouting in an empty room.
Trump is running circles around these guys, and they don't even know it.
TIME is still a thing? Who knew
As long as he does not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, then we should be alright.
Amazing how much pro-Trump news there is, like this article. What's not to like? What can we expect from the Party of Stupid Dummies next? They'll probably try to use the new censorship tools for hiding terror or bad speech to stop the distribution of articles and comments. Is it me, or is the comment feature slowly disappearing from popular news sites? Looks like a business opportunity to me. A browser plug in plus general commenting capability against any page, including ability to co-display a link to original source page (might already exist). Good fun.
Doesn't the Party of stupid bullies realize that the internet flows around any obstacle? The priesthood will not be able to stop today's Luther no matter how hot the inquisition gets. Next up, disappearing AGW FDA pyramid, Pro Nuclear family focused on a Father's pride at the table served by a traditional Mom. No force fed PC or SJW in view. in either content or comments. Don't the serfs know we elites know what's best for them? Good news is the internet archive can be mined to see what's being disappeared so questions and those that censored can be identified, then again, maybe the archive's neutrality has been compromised. Still won't make any difference, WikiLeaks will just host a new service. And so on and so forth and so on. Next up rt.com - until we get to the great wall of china and the people revolt again.
"Sometimes there's a man, and I'm not talking about a hero, 'cause what's a hero? But sometimes there's a man, and I'm talking about the Dude here...well, he's the Man for his time and place, he fits right in there..."
Prediction: somewhere in Time Magazine’s server there is an alternate issue (created weeks or months before the election) that the editors expected to run declaring Hillary Clinton to be their Person of the Year. There is no mention of her presiding over the “divided states of America” and any passages in the current issue which say something to the effect of “dissent is the highest form of patriotism” are replaced with passages lamenting how the only people who didn’t vote for her were obviously racist, sexist, etc.
Smoking ruin.... how about the smoking ruin of mainstream media?
Or the smoking ruins of the individual heath insurance market?
Or the smoking ruins of the medical device manufacturing industry?
Or the smoking ruins of the Middle East?
Or the smoking ruins in San Bernardino, Chattanooga, Boston, Ft. Hood, Orlando... ?
I'm looking to buy a copy of Newsweeks "Madam President" edition. It's got some excellent analysis of "deplorables" like me.
Turns out Newsweeks eds did not even bother to read it before it hit the shelves.
WINNING!!
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/madam-president-newsweek-copies-sale-online-buyer-beware-n690411
"It seems to me the states are pretty united, it's a few metropolitan areas that are having trouble dealing."
Exactly true. These people have no idea who we are.
Maybe they should get out more.
Wonder how long it will take for Godwin's Law to kick in -
No no no. The Left suspended Godwin's Law so they could call Trump the next Hitler.
No takebacks.
I was really disappointed, I really wanted time to show its true liberal colors and pick Hillary. Liberalism is all about giving participation trophies
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I think Trump brought the incivility of discourse directly to the presidential campaign. It used to be that the surrogates (Harry Reid taking to the Senate floor to say Mitt Romney hasn't paid income taxes in years, etc.) did the dirty work. The Dem leadership of Pelosi and Reid have. Sen saying nasty stuff for years. And of course the culture has become more vulgar, coarse, and dishonest, like the national news media.
Trump jumped the blood brain barrier by saying outrageous things during the campaign. He was always his own surrogate.
Interestingly, Obama is the first sitting president to go on late night shows (and his appearance on internet shows like Between Two Ferns) and he filled out his March Madness brackets on ESPN. But Trump has taken the celebrity status of the president to a new level. I remember cringing when HW Bush did an interview with MTV in late October 1992. He didn't want to do it and thought it was below the dignity of the office but his campaign aides told him he needed to compete for young voters in the same way Clinton was doing.
Social norms erode slowly and then the erosion accelerates.
On the other hand, Trump was not named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine. That snub really hurt, but Trump declined to tweet about the injustice. And people say he has no statesmanlike qualities.
"smoking ruin"--would that it were so!
I think Trump brought the incivility of discourse directly to the presidential campaign
Was it his "bitter clingers" comment?
Or his "deplorables" comment that set you off?
Time Magazine--is there a better representative of the declining and dismal state of the lapdog media?
It makes for a good riff on the "tree falling in the wood" question: If you never read Time Magazine, would it matter?
@rightguy2 said...
Trump is running circles around these guys, and they don't even know it.
Yes, Trump continues his role-playing (he is not good enough to be called an actor) into the second act which is just like Act 1, stirring the pot to draw attention to the only man on earth that exists, everyone knows the Trumpster.
Today's "stream of consciousness" script will center on "How Great I Am." The power to act without authority will continue to worsen, so that by January 20, the Congress will be null and void and the Supremes will kowtow to The Donald ... or else.
The only problem with rightguy2's sage comment is that the "they" he refers to, is us.
This just in: the media's biased. More at eleven.
Not hard to predict what the tone of the piece will be.
Yep. Something you don't like is just sour grapes. When they don't like it it's "controversial" and "divisive".
Smoking ruin. Not hardly. The day you stop linking to the Times is the day we can consider ruins. We need them more than ever - me to find out what's going on; you to have something to ridicule, ostensibly though I don't really believe that. No, the good ones are going to very quickly rise to the top. I don't believe they're dead, not for one instant.
Prediction: somewhere in Time Magazine’s server there is an alternate issue (created weeks or months before the election) that the editors expected to run declaring Hillary Clinton to be their Person of the Year.
Correct. She was their second choice.
Citing the NYT, like using a semicolon, is like a secret handshake; it indicates that one went to college.
If you picked Hitler, you got to pick Trump.
Again with the "for better or worse."
Yes. Again. For this very unpopular president-elect.
It's not like he doesn't already have enough of his knee-jerk defenders, including you. Let the rational analysis of his anticipated persistent bungling continue.
lol. Trump says "It's a great honor"; followed by numerous reporters reminding Trump that it isn't an "honor" at all. Hitler, Stalin, Mossadegh, Khrushchev, Deng, Andropov, and Khomeini all were named Men [Persons] of the Year.
Smoking ruin.... how about the smoking ruin of mainstream media?
LOL, REALLY! It's kinda sad the state that the MSM has sunk to, i keep wondering if they will ever hit the bottom and get on the come back trail.
Coughlin attacked FDR from the Left, not the Right.
wiki
His radio addresses began to communicate a more political message in January 1930, when he began a series of attacks against socialism and Soviet Communism. He also criticized the capitalists in America whose greed had made Communist ideology attractive to many Americans.[6] He warned, "Let not the workingman be able to say that he is driven into the ranks of socialism by the inordinate and grasping greed of the manufacturer."[7] Having gained a reputation as an outspoken anti-Communist, in July 1930 he was given star billing as a witness before the House Committee to Investigate Communist Activities.[8]
In 1931 the CBS radio network dropped free sponsorship after Coughlin refused to accept network demands that his scripts be reviewed prior to broadcast, so he raised money to create his own national linkup, which soon reached millions of listeners on a 36-station hookup.
n 1935, Coughlin proclaimed, "I have dedicated my life to fight against the heinous rottenness of modern capitalism because it robs the laborer of this world's goods. But blow for blow I shall strike against Communism, because it robs us of the next world's happiness."[21] He accused Roosevelt of "leaning toward international socialism on the Spanish question". Coughlin's NUSJ gained a strong following among nativists and opponents of the Federal Reserve, especially in the Midwest. As Michael Kazin notes, Coughlinites saw Wall Street and Communism as twin faces of a secular Satan. They believed that they were defending those people who cohered more through piety, economic frustration, and a common dread of powerful, modernizing enemies than through any class identity.[22]
One of Coughlin's campaign slogans was: "Less care for internationalism and more concern for national prosperity"[23] which went well with the 1930s isolationist movement in the United States. Coughlin's organization especially appealed to Irish Catholics.
Chuck: lol. Trump says "It's a great honor"; followed by numerous reporters reminding Trump that it isn't an "honor" at all. Hitler, Stalin, Mossadegh, Khrushchev, Deng, Andropov, and Khomeini all were named Men [Persons] of the Year.
Trump was just being gracious. Everyone knows that Person of the Year has become a bullshit award and the Time is no longer relevant.
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