December 12, 2024

Time didn't have much choice: Trump is the "Person of the Year."

Here.

It's a very long article. Excerpt:

Trump’s political rebirth is unparalleled in American history. His first term ended in disgrace.... He spent six weeks during the general election in a New York City courtroom.... An assassin’s bullet missed his skull by less than an inch at a rally in Butler, Pa., in July.....

Trump has a ready explanation for his improbable resurrection. He even has a name for its climactic final act. “I called it 72 Days of Fury,” he says as the interview gets under way. “We hit the nerve of the country. The country was angry.”... While Democrats estimated that most of the country wanted a President who would uphold the norms of liberal democracy, Trump saw a nation ready to smash them, tapping into a growing sense that the system was rigged....

Whether Trump can actually fix the root causes of Americans’ anger is another question....
To many Americans, his defiance in the aftermath of the shooting—rising bloodied, fist in the air, chanting “Fight!”—made him an inspirational figure for the first time. “A lot of people changed with that moment,” Trump tells TIME, sipping Diet Coke from a glass at Mar-a-Lago....

Much much more at the link. 

100 comments:

Political Junkie said...

DJT is a fighter. I am thinking more positively of him now more than ever. Glad I voted for him this time. I hope DOGE can downsize/rightsize/streamline government. I still think DJT and R's should look at some effective tax increases for the well off. Federal debt/defict and wealth inequality are big issues. I know it won't happen, but if DJT did it, I think the MSM would really turn much more positive on him. Would be like Teddy and Franklin R, "Traitors to their Class". Cheers all!

RideSpaceMountain said...

The terminal patient and its dying ecosystem grasps frantically for a shred of leftover relevancy. Many such cases!

mikee said...

Trump's first term ended not in disgrace but in outrage after outrage attempting to disgrace him. Oddly enough, those in the pig pen trying to throw the muck at Trump seemed to many to be themselves much filthier than their target.

Original Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MadisonMan said...

Thank you for including the Diet Coke reference!

Original Mike said...

"Time didn't have much choice: Trump is the "Person of the Year.""

They could have picked Hitler again. That actually would have been kind of funny.

mikee said...

"uphold the norms of liberal democracy... a nation ready to smash them... a growing sense that the system was rigged...."

The writer cannot even tell he just wrote an illogical series of ideas here. If the norms are a rigged system, smashing those norms in favor of unrigged systems makes a helluva lot of sense.

Enigma said...

With his impossibly powerful assassination imagery and Kamala's adoption of many MAGA goals last fall, even the Democrats tacitly admitted that the Biden era fell somewhere between misguided and deranged.

While Trump was blocked from executing his agenda starting in 2017 per endless lawfare, he got a head start this time. (Despite the random acts of DC cockroaches as the scurry for cover.)

Wince said...

His first term ended in disgrace.

I like the spinning Trump head in the video...

Yours is no Disgrace (1971)

Yesterday a morning came, a smile upon your face
Caesar's palace, morning glory, silly human race,
On a sailing ship to nowhere, leaving any place,
If the summer change to winter, yours is no disgrace

Death defying, mutilated armies scatter the earth,
Crawling out of dirty holes, their morals,
Their morals disappear

Battleships confide in me and tell me where you are,
Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me where you are,
Lost in summer, morning, winter, travel very far,
Lost in musing circumstances, that's just where you are

Yours is no disgrace
Yours is no disgrace
Yours is no disgrace

PM said...

Fun Time: "strongman/revenge/punitive/bare-knuckle/cult/divisive/racist/xenophobic etc etc etc..."

Dave Begley said...

"Whether Trump can actually fix the root causes of Americans’ anger is another question...." This time, Trump has a plan and the right people to execute on the plan. The coastal elites are finished.

mccullough said...

How much did Time charge Diet Coke to mention it in the article?

mccullough said...

We hope. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

gilbar said...

Trump has a ready explanation for his improbable resurrection..

i have a ready explanation: Joe Biden!
Imagine, just for FUN! if Tulsi Gabbard had been nominated the Democrat candidate for 2020?
She'd be looking at her second term; and no one would even remember Trump

mccullough said...

Tax NBA player salaries at 65%.

robother said...

Democrats be like Cheers: Noorm!

Ambrose said...

Hitler was selected in 38- so that’s one more comparison for the left.

Lilly, a dog said...

He's the obvious choice. It would have been more fun for Time to pick Kamala Harris, and write an equally long article, excoriating her for "failing to save our dEmOCraCY."

Goldenpause said...

Note that the article refers to Trump as “the world’s most powerful man.” He doesn’t take office until January 20, 2025.

Goldenpause said...

Note that the article refers to Trump as “the world’s most powerful man.” He doesn’t take office until January 20, 2025.

RCOCEAN II said...

He is without doubt the most courageous and toughest man to ever run for President. He's had the entire Establishment against him, throwing every thing they had at him. Assassinations, impeachments, Criminal prosecutions, FBI raids of his house, nonstop 365/24/7 media investigations, lies, ridicule and attacks. Not mention civil suits, boycotts of his business, censorship of views, debanking, and harrassment and criminal prosecution of his associates, family, and friends. And of course, backstabbing "Friends", like Chris Christie and Mike Pence.

Yet he kept on and won. Hopefully, he will on winning against a dishonorable, disloyal, political establishment, that hates him and his supporters.

Dixcus said...

Was Adam Schiff not available? Peter Strzok?

Dixcus said...

They went with Literally Hitler this time.

Saint Croix said...

What a fucking rag Time Magazine is now.

I remember when I was a kid, and i thought Time was an adult political magazine. And then when I went to college, I ran into The New Republic: Mickey Kaus, Fred Barnes, Morton Kondracke, Michael Kinsley, and so on. Kinsley was editor for a while, and then Andrew Sullivan, and Michael Kelly. I began to see Time as a more pretentious version of People. (Their photography remains outstanding, but the words and ideas, ugh).

Democrats estimated that most of the country wanted a President who would uphold the norms of liberal democracy, Trump saw a nation ready to smash them

Now that's just a moronic take on the 2024 election. Most of the country wants to smash liberal democracy?

Just because Democrats call themselves "Democrats" doesn't meant the party who hates free speech, equal protection, and the right to vote are actually democrats. Time is too stupid to even question the administrative state or to see its anti-democratic tendencies. You want to see Trump as the Incredible Hulk? Trump Smash! Okay, but he's smashing calcified government bureaucracies that are way too big and corrupt. And four criminal trials of your political opponent is not a "norm" of liberal democracy, numbnuts.

Keep taking photographs, Time, and shut the fuck up.

Dixcus said...

Teddy Roosevelt once rode a moose on the campaign trail.

All Trump did was get shot.

Well, Roosevelt also got shot, but he ain't rode no moose yet.

Quaestor said...

Person of the Year. How weak. Did they consider SpaceX? That's a person with a shitload of epic accomplishments. Why not SpaceX, Person of the Year? We know why, don't we? It's because Time Magazine, back when being recognized on the cover of a December issue was significant, alway had a portrait picture with the legend "Man of the Year" underwrit. It could have been "Woman of the Year", but the women didn't care enough to take the risks involved, so it wasn't, at least not often. So Time changed it to "Person of the Year", even if said person is demonstrably and aggressively male, like Donald John Trump. This is Time Magazine practicing bulldozer egalitarianism -- make 'em equal by making 'em equally flat.

Dixcus said...

Time and Life Magazines used to be the epitome of American journalism

But that was back when they couldn't be fact-checked and community-noted in real time.

Lots of media cannot withstand such an environment, which is why Democrats tried so hard for so many years to control the narrative on Twitter.

Dixcus said...

I can't believe They\Them didn't get chosen.

Dixcus said...

The media doesn't realize how easy it would be to start Luigi-ing them.

Original Mike said...

"And four criminal trials of your political opponent is not a "norm" of liberal democracy, numbnuts."

Spot on.

Dixcus said...

$5.75/gas isn't norm.

$6/doz eggs isn't norm.

8% mortgage rates isn't norm.

Never-ending wars isn't norm.

Yes, we want to smash the Democrat norms. Right in their faces.

NKP said...

"...ended in disgrace." Says a so-called source of 'all the news fit to print'. The same tireless cheerleader for a president unfit to tie his shoes, much less govern the most powerful country in the world. And, at the last minute, decides the best fix is hiring an absolute fucking airhead for the job. Maybe the times should look for 'disgrace' closer to home. Mr. Bragg? Ms. James?

Has the Times mentioned that we are without a government at the moment? Who you gonna call, if the crap hits the fan? Can anyone answer the call? Joe Biden and Kamala Harris do not exist for any foreign leader. What a strange thing that we fire a government and give them over two months to clean out their desks and sabotage the winner before giving him/her the keys.

hombre said...

Not exactly a hit piece, but filled with skepticism about his victory and understated hope that Democrats will find a way to continue ruining the country.

Iman said...

“While Democrats estimated that most of the country wanted a President who would uphold the norms of liberal democracy…”

If what they were peddling was “norms”, they can go try to sell crazy elsewhere. Seriously… WTF.

NKP said...

Sorry about the riff on NYT. Not taking any of it back. Time Mag probably linked in the thesaurus.

Iman said...

Funny to see lyrics in print, I’d always thought it was “see the human race” not silly human race.

Aggie said...

A fine example of how to write on an empty stomach.

Leland said...

I voted for Trump to end the smashing of Democratic norms. I don’t think political partisans from the other party should decide who can legally be on the other parties ballot, I don’t think they should run a primary then nullify the results in the manner they did. I don’t think you should be allowed to vote without verifying your legal residency on the jurisdiction you are voting nor should your vote be received after Election Day. All this was normal before 2020 and most of it normal before 2024, but Democrats smashed those norms. Now they are giving pardons to their direct family members and mulling giving pardons in mass assuming a trial may happen in the future.

jaydub said...

Ever heard of the alternative minimum tax? That was supposed to tax a handful of wealthy people when enacted but eventually worked itself down into the middle class through inflation. Targeted taxes based on envy have never worked.

Christopher B said...

If Democrats don't win then you don't have democracy. So say the Democrats.

n.n said...

People want a constitutional republic that acknowledges individual rights and mitigates authoritarian progress.

Leland said...

I posted the above, decided to check Instapundit, find out Joe Biden pardoned individuals convicted during his Administration of espionage for China. The China that is not a democracy.

narciso said...

Time Magazine has become such a garbage publication that Henry Luce would repudiate it, if he could,

Kakistocracy said...

'History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren't there.' ~ George Santayana.

Discussing the great men of history is an enjoyable pastime principally because humans like to form a narrative about themselves which explains where they are and the heroes and villains of that story. It’s romantic journalism with selective data points depending what the writer is trying to prove. To make any sense of the progress of mankind it is innovation , agronomics and demographics that matters.

Trump is a 78 year old fat guy who hasn’t done anything but win a narrowish victory for the White House. We have no idea how long he’ll last or whether anything talked about actually happens.

wendybar said...

And WHAT have you ever done except whine about Trump???

Robert Cook said...

Trump's voters and admirers are stunted little Nazis, emotionally and cognitively simpleminded, mental adolescents driven by resentment and the feeling they have somehow lost out and haven't made the grade.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Sharing this optimism...

https://x.com/littlememzz/status/1867210849443840273

BUMBLE BEE said...

Well, he's also lied about Trump, so there's that.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Somebody fuck Cookie in the ear, maybe give him some brains.

Robert Cook said...

"Has the Times mentioned that we are without a government at the moment? Who you gonna call, if the crap hits the fan? Can anyone answer the call?"

Ridiculous! You have your city, county, and state elected officials, not to mention your state representatives in Congress. You seem not to understand how government is structured and how it works.

tcrosse said...

Not very resilient, are you?

Carol said...

Exactly my progression in magazine reading..Sullivan and Kelly led me wrong though.

Mason G said...

And yet, Trump won. And right on cue as expected when they don't get their way, the left shows themselves to be a bunch of whiny little bitches.

Here's to hoping Trump gives you more to whine about.

Robert Cook said...

"He is without doubt the most courageous and toughest man to ever run for President."

Hahahahaha! OMG! Are you 11 years old? He's just a scummy scammer scammin'!

Carol said...

Oh, the anguished subscribers, what's left of them.

"How COULD you???"

I mean if we ignore the obvious, maybe it'll all go away.

mccullough said...

Cook, you need to relax. It’s only rock-n-roll

wendybar said...

Thank GOD Trump won. He is the Man of the Decade. Biden is funding the Taliban. This whole administration is corrupt, and every single last one of them need to go.


Citizen Free Press
@CitizenFreePres
Antony Blinken confirms the Taliban has received $10 million from U.S. taxpayers since the Afghan withdrawal.

The actual number has been reported to be much higher.

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1867276986688655821

Cheese said...

Yo Cookie, you seem to be the one behaving as an 11 year old.

Yancey Ward said...

The election was decided, in retrospect, on July 13th when Trump was nearly killed by an assassin. The Democrats response was to try to change the subject by tossing Biden under the bus. However, Biden fucked them by endorsing Harris rather than letting the Democrats choose a better candidate.

Lilly, a dog said...

That''s not very nice, Robert. We were all gonna chip in and get you a fruitcake. Now you'll get nothing.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"mental adolescents driven by resentment and the feeling they have somehow lost out and haven't made the grade."

Translation: "Hmmmmph I'm taking my ball and going home! But before I do, I'm going to continuously hang around this place filled with people I hate and tell them all about me!"

Original Mike said...

"Ever heard of the alternative minimum tax?"

I've always thought of it as the mandatory maximum tax.

Rocco said...

Lilly, a dog said...
"That''s not very nice, Robert. We were all gonna chip in and get you a fruitcake."

I was thinking more like a charcuterie: https://x.com/stclairashley/status/1862243302940246499

Rabel said...

Dixcus and Cook / Matthau and Lemmon

Rabel said...

Not "The Odd Couple." The other one.

FullMoon said...

Many of us make fun of Robert Cook. However, credit to him for actually using his name here, and on his personal website.

Krumhorn said...

Cook doesn't need to lean in. I can taste his tears from here, bless his heart.

- Krumhorn

Deep State Reformer said...

The corporate entity known as Time© magazine hasn't existed as a real news outlet since the late 80's and this Time Person of the Year© thing is Time's© corporate owner's squeezing every last penny's worth of the of the brand name value Time© still has, DJT's amazing year not withstanding.

Tina Trent said...

Shot in the head (graze wound), then sipping Diet Coke.

That's a man unafraid of optics.

Yancey Ward said...

I don't think Dixcus is a moby troll- I think I know who he used to be here but will keep it to myself.

Tina Trent said...

Cookie, answer two questions:

Do you think JFK and RFK shared Marilyn Monroe, sometimes on the same day?

Do you think our intelligence agencies have proof that Martin Luther King was a rapist and engaged in the act with others looking on?

Among historians with the temerity to gain the FOIAs, there is proof of both.

Tina Trent said...

When presented with the evidence from the most reliable source, and encouraged to write my dissertation on these things, I decided against it. I didn't think it took away from MLK's legacy, except that he left three broken children and a very decent, broken wife behind. And she was still alive, which was a terrible consideration.

When it comes to the Kennedys, salt the earth with their reputations.

Big Mike said...

If America was craving change, it is about to see how much Trump can deliver.

If
America was craving change? Did the self-described journalists at Time sleep through November 5th and 6th?

Jerry said...

They've been sleeping for a decade - why would they wake up now?

wendybar said...

No, we are just sitting back, laughing at your whining. You and yours deserve every bit of scorn we can throw your way.

wendybar said...

He'd probably like that.

Saint Croix said...

Cookie silently acknowledges that the POTUS is AWOL.

Curious George said...

Trump drove Inga into exile. But he fucking broke Cookie.

narciso said...

https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1867275435266257261

walter said...

"Democrats estimated that most of the country wanted a President who would uphold the norms of liberal democracy, Trump saw a nation ready to smash them"
Sure, we'll give him the title to sell copies, but we'll take some shots.

Butkus51 said...

The crazy one on the corner yelling at clouds.

Skeptical Voter said...

You might be on to something there.

Skeptical Voter said...

Well Mr. Robert Cook I am one of those stunted little 6'5" tall "Nazis" who voted for Trump. Neither my body nor my brain is stunted. OTOH I'll give you props for being out loud and proud with your views.

Kakistocracy said...

If you have to spend 2800 words fact-checking an interview — with *anybody* — why publish it?

Fact-Checking What Donald Trump Said in His 2024 Person of the Year Interview With TIME
https://time.com/7201574/person-of-the-year-2024-donald-trump-fact-check/

Why isn't it part of the interview? It should be published in a two-column format — the “interview” on the left, the facts on the right.

Saint Croix said...

1000 to 1 that it was Trump who suggested that he be photographed kissing the flag.

Justabill said...

I’m always disappointed when the ad hominem arguments start. Detracts from the tone.

Saint Croix said...

Give it the ol' Lafayette!

Jim at said...

He's just a scummy scammer scammin'!

Maybe you should shoot him again. That'll teach us a lesson.

wsw said...

Diddy - "leader in the clubhouse" for 2025

Original Mike said...

"Trump drove Inga into exile. But he fucking broke Cookie."

Like a rented mule.

mesquito said...

This all started back in 2016 when teevee needed eyeballs, so Trump was promoted to the heavens at the expense of other GOP candidates, and Mrs Clinton needed a Ringer, so she could fulfill her Destiny. Oh the Allignment Of Forces, to put it in college Marxist terms.

n.n said...

It depends on how you define a man. I would have chosen the squirrel, who made the ultimate sacrifice, so that we may be free from persecutorial discretion.

n.n said...

The million fetuses... babies sequestered in clinic chambers, who are the victims of social progress through Diversity, Inequity, and Exclusion (DIE). Demos-cracy dies in darkness.

Dr Weevil said...

Then again, Curious George, we all know that broken cookies are just as delicious as the ones that come out of the bag intact.

Rabel said...

I keep seeing this asserted, i.e., the Democrats were responsible for the rise of Trump. Can you show any evidence that the Trump coverage, negative from the start, was anything more than the media chasing a popular celebrity story.

Other than a single email from a source outside the party structure, I haven't seen it.

Former Illinois resident said...

Time magazine really should have named Kamala Harris as their "(wo)man of the year", because she Broke the Woke in this 2024 presidential election, if not the national Democratic Party itself. As much a milestone as Trump's election to a 2nd term.

Former Illinois resident said...

The Economist magazine is even worse than Time magazine in its progressive-liberal bleating and constant barrage of Trump-Trump-Trump misinformation propagation and outright fearmongering. Economist is extremely anxious about Trump's 2nd term. I find myself fact-checking Economist in its coverage of Trump campaign, and now Trump cabinet appointments - plenty of whoppers from this British tome.

Robert Cook said...

"Do you think JFK and RFK shared Marilyn Monroe, sometimes on the same day?"

I can't know it, but I believe it is probably true in some form.

"Do you think our intelligence agencies have proof that Martin Luther King was a rapist and engaged in the act with others looking on?"

I've heard there was surveillance of Martin Luther King's sexual dalliances, which I've never had reason to doubt. However, I've never heard his sexual affairs characterized as rape.

walter said...

Since when do they run "fact checks" on their own Person of the year? The same reason they equate him with smashing "the norms of liberal democracy,". They can't help themselves.

Robert Cook said...

"Cookie silently acknowledges that the POTUS is AWOL."

Not at all. He's been busy handing out pardons in recent days, as I'm sure you're aware. My point is the obvious one: the president is NOT the only (or first) entity we turn to for "government" involvement in and of our public affairs and activities. There are countless levels of "government" between us and the Executive.