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Pluto
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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 Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:10 am Post subject: Time's person of the year is... |
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Vladimir Putin! 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22323855/
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Russia�s president beats out Al Gore, J.K. Rowling, other big names for title
Video
Putin is TIME Person of the Year
Dec. 19: Managing editor, Richard Stengel announces exclusively on TODAY that Vladimir Putin is TIME Person of the Year for 2007.
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Czech President Klaus meets Putin
Who is Putin?
A look at the Russian president's life and legacy. NBC's Ned Colt reports.
NBC News Web Extra
By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated less than 1 minute ago
Eighteen years ago, Mikhail Gorbachev was named TIME Magazine�s Person of the Year for leading the political revolution that tore down the Iron Curtain and broke apart the Soviet Union. This year, Vladimir Putin, the man who restored Russia to a leading role on the world stage, has taken that title.
The highly anticipated announcement was made live on Wednesday on TODAY by TIME managing editor Richard Stengel. He said that TIME�s readers had chosen author J.K. Rowling first in an online poll.
But Putin won the title for taking Russia from chaos to a position of importance in the world today. Being TIME�s Person of the Year is not necessarily an honor, in Putin�s case.
Story continues below ↓advertisement
Stengel characterized Putin as dynamic but dangerous. �He doesn�t care about civil liberties, he doesn�t care about free speech. He was very bitter about the way Americans look at him and the way Americans� treat him. He is an angry, angry man,� Stengel said.
Stengel said one thing that makes Putin extraordinary is that he is not interested in making people like him. �He has no charm,� Stengel said. �He is just pure force and pure force of will.�
TIME�s editors chose the controversial Putin over a list of candidates that included former Vice President Al Gore, who won a Nobel Prize for his battle against global warming; Rowling, who published the seventh and final chapter of her Harry Potter series; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the confrontational president of Iran; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Apple CEO Steve Jobs; Gen. David Petraeus, leader of the Iraq surge; and Chinese leader Hu Jintao.
Putin is the fourth Russian leader to be chosen Person of the Year. Joseph Stalin was named twice, in 1939 for signing the alliance that opened the doors for Hitler�s war on Europe and in 1942 for joining the Allies in World War II. In 1957, Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader at the height of the Cold War, won for leading the effort to put the first satellite in space. And in 1989, Gorbachev was on the cover for ending the Cold War.
NBC VIDEO
Archived Video: Lauer talks to Russia's Putin
July 12, 2006: "Today" show host Matt Lauer interviews Russia's President Vladimir Putin about the upcoming G8 summit, North Korea and Iraq.
Today show
Last year, the Person of the Year was �You,� the millions of people who have made the Internet a vital force of communication and culture.
Stengel said that Gore finished second in the opinion of the editors, with Rowling third, Hu Jintao fourth and Petraeus fifth. It was the first time the magazine ranked the runners-up. |
With more than 100,000 dead in Chechnya, he's quite a guy. Let's not forget about the opposition he intimidates and, at times, brutally opposes. |
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Czarjorge
Joined: 01 May 2007
Location: I now have the same moustache, and it is glorious.
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:30 am Post subject: |
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My Russian buddy threw a fit when he saw this. Putin is the reason he's in Iowa. When Putin shifts power from the Presidency to the Prime Minister, and takes on the role of Prime Minister, will Time tack on the title "most dangerous" to "person of the year." They should add some sort of caveat to the title on a yearly basis.
Then again, Time hasn't been significant for 20 years, so why should they change now? |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:06 pm Post subject: |
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Some of the others who were under consideration:
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| Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the confrontational president of Iran; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice;.. Gen. David Petraeus, leader of the Iraq surge; and Chinese leader Hu Jintao. |
Putin belongs in that group!
Adolph Hitler was Time's Man of the year in 1938.
The publication is tipsy about power.
Stalin was twice Time's Man of the Year. Rudolph Giuliani was in 2001. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| �He has no charm,� Stengel said. �He is just pure force and pure force of will.� |
I disagree, and so would many Russians. Bush, Ahmednijehad, and Putin are all charming in their own ways. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:51 am Post subject: |
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| I don't think the choice is wrong-headed. Russia under Yeltsin was on the ropes and sinking fast. Under Putin, Russia has become a player again. That's a worthy achievement. (You do have to turn a blind eye to things like democracy, freedom and human rights, but why quibble?) |
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cbclark4
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Location: Masan
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| Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:56 am Post subject: |
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Seriously the "Time Man of the year" selection is not some kind of a great prize and it isn't given to do gooders.
It's a news impact award. Did Putin impact the news?
Um yup. |
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Neil
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:52 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, it's about influence rather than good acheivements, I believe Hitler and OBL are past winners. |
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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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| Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 4:45 am Post subject: |
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| And Bush has won twice. So did Bush Sr. |
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Pluto
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:21 am Post subject: |
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I agree that this award is no accolade. I guess I would never have thought of VP. However, looking at the past year, Putin has allegedly suppressed dissent, gives nuclear know-how to Iran, stripped civil liberties and free enterprise all while continuing a forgotten conflict (Russia says the war ended in 2002) in Chechnya. A conflict that has claimed more than 100,000 lives to this day. Putin's also got plans to wield influence within Russian society as PM of Russia too. So yeah, VP is rather infamous, isn't he?
Time's article: A Tsar is Born |
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