Person of the Year?

Person of the Year?

I didn’t want to let this slip past without comment. The Time Magazine selection of “Pope Francis” as “Person of the Year” is a non-event of irrelevant proportions, especially given the decline of that magazine/brand in recent years.

Keep in mind the following:

1. The selection is not a comment on the person’s greatness, but rather it “features and profiles a person, group, idea or object that ‘for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year.’” Note that “the tradition of selecting a "Man of the Year" began in 1927, with Time editors contemplating newsworthy stories possible during a slow news week.”

2. As part of this totally subjective (based on the whims of the editors) competition he was competing against President Barack “You Can Keep Your Health Care” Obama, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, “gay rights” activist Edith Windsor, Edward Snowden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Syrian President Bashar Assad, and twerking singer Miley Cyrus.

3. Nobody has a clear understanding of what he really represents, and virtually everyone is taking away from his “messaging” only what they want to hear. This process of self-selection (“I craft my own messaging”) is very appealing to people who end up thinking, “Gee, I’m really smart”.