The obvious and probable choice for Person Of
the Year is George W. Bush, but I propose we
go the other way: those who made a difference,
those who went against the grain, those who set a higher standard with
courage,impact and honor.
Here are my nominees:
Wasn't the leadership of Al Gore on global
warming beyond spectacular? He spoke with
the knowledge of a professional scientist or
college professor; he used entertainment of
highest quality to educate the world while he
mobilized people from grassroots to Hollywood.
The planet earth is safer because of what Al
Gore has done, and will do, on this urgent
issue.
Lets give a hearty salute to Lt. Commander
Charles Swift of the United States Navy who
bravely went against the entire upper strata
of command beginning with the commander in chief, who brilliantly won
his case before the United States Supreme Court to uphold the
honor, morality and rule of law of our country.
When the books of history are written, one of
the darkest chapters will be the acts of illegal
detention and torture that violate our values
and stain our reputation. One of the brightest chapters will be the
Clarence Darrow lawyering of Lt. Commander Swift who deserves our
consideration for Person of the Year.
If John F. Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage
today, Jack Murtha's courage and conviction
on Iraq would be deserving of a chapter and
he was honored for this by the Kennedy family
with a well deserved award. Murtha was
wrong about Iraq, at first, and admitted it,
a quality of integrity that almost never exists
in official Washington today. He then led the
fight to change the policy, was called a coward
on the Floor of Congress, was attacked with
lies and dishonor in his reelection campaign.
At every moment Jack Murtha stood as tall
as Gary Cooper standing for right in High Noon,
and the world, slowly but inexorably, is coming
around to his view. Jack Murtha did the right
thing when it was the hard thing, and this man
who has received medals for incredible valor
and bravery in combat, performed a profound
service to our troops and our country that puts
him high on my list for Person of the Year.
I propose that Sandra Day O'Connor be on
the short list for Person of the Year. No doubt,
I disagree with many of her decisions on the
Court and generally align myself with Justices
Stevens, Ginsberg, Breyer and the historical
line of Justices in whose path they follow.
But consider this: had Justice O'Connor never
been appointed to the Court, and had Justice
Alito or Chief Justice Roberts been named
instead of her and served on the Court for her
full tenure, in her place, it would have been a
disaster, in my view, for the Constitution.
I fear we have only begun to witness the full damage that will be done
by the ascension
to Chief Justice of Mr. Roberts, a man of true
brilliance, considrable charm but reactionary
views. We have only begun to witness the
full damage of Justice Alito whose extreme
views were never fully debated during the
superficial process of his confirmation.
In my view, Justice O'Connor will loom larger
and larger in history, and even those who
disagree with many of her decisions will value
the enormous influence she held, that will be
clearer with every decision voted by Chief
Justice Roberts and Justice Alito.
Great consideration for person of the year should be given to the
American Troops and
the American Military Families that stood so
patriotically behind them. Our politicians let
us down in this war. Our media too often was
disgraceful, our national security establishment
was disastrous for the four years of this war,
but our troops and their families did their duty
with honor, valor and sacrifice.
As I have written before: God Bless the Men
and Women who in Iraq and Afghanistan, God
Bless all who have defended our freedom for more than two hundred years.
God Bless the families who stand behind them and every American who
supports the young men and women who serve, as part of our extended
American Family. regardless of our views on matters of policy. They are
high on my list for Person of the Year.
It occurs to me, that we Americans must take
more of a global view. I considered various
choices from an international perspective and after some thought, it
came to me clearly and
powerfully.
I am going to cheat for a worthy cause, and offer two selections as my
personal first choice
for Time Magazine Person of the Year.
I vote for the victims of genocide in a world that
remains incapable of ending the most horrifying
form of crime in the history of the planet. I vote
for those who lost their lives in the Holocaust
of Hitler, those who are losing their lives today
in the genocide of Darfur, and those who have
lost their lives from the genocides through the
ages of history. This crime must be banished from the earth forever.
We may differ on diplomatic strategy towards
the Government of Iran, but we must all agree
on this: to deny that the Holocaust happened
is the biggest form, of the biggest lie, that the
human species is capable of fomenting. This
lie is a defamation against humanity itself.
And: we are the world that witnesses the genocide of Hitler and said
"never again",
yet we are the world that allows genocide to continue, again and again.
If there is one principle that every believer in every faith should
agree on; if there is one policy that every person in every system
should strive for; if there is one value that every man
and woman of decency, in every corner of
every country throughtout the world, should
uphold, it is this:
Never again should mean never again.
So: I propose that victims of genocide be the
Time Magazine Person of the Year, and that
a special place be set side for them, every year,
until genocide is ended once and for all, now
and forever.
My other first choice for Time Magazine Person
of the Year and the cover photo of the issue is this:
The Time Magazine Person of the Year should
be The American People, and the picture on the cover should be the
American people in our
full diversity of race, religion, gender, politics,
preference, color and creed with the outer periphery of the cover a
circle of portraits of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Franklin,
Paine as the Founding Fathers who envisioned America as a timeless
beacon of hope.
These values have been under attack and
every day, in every way, most recently in our
national election, the American people have
stated their faith in two party government, in
a respectful civic discourse, in a shared nation
and shared patriotism that belongs to every
American.
Where George W. Bush went catastrophically
wrong, the failure that led to all other failures,
was that he never even aspired to be the
President of all of the people. He was the
President of one extreme faction, of one partisan political party, to
the exclusion of
more than half the Nation.
While President Bush is a leading candidate for
Person of the Year, because of his disastrous
vision of the Presidency and the damage it
caused, it would be even more powerful for
the Person of the Year to be the people of America, who have rejected
this hyper-partisan
abuse of the Presidency, and the policy failures
that inevitably follow from it.
Americans are a great generation people sold
short by a lost generation of leaders; a right
stuff nation sold short by wrong stuff insiders
and decaying institutions that Jefferson told
told us must be revitalized and renewed, with
great passion, sometimes at great cost.
Whenever there is catastrophe in the world,
the American people respond with generosity
and kindness. Whenever there is disaster in
our land, the American people extend our hand
to those in need. Whenever our politicians try
to divide us from each other, whenever our
partisans try to demonize our neighbors, and
whenever small minds try to create big fears,
the American people ultimately find a way, to
set things right.
With all of our periods of imperfection, with all
of the challenges that face every generation,
with every wrong that must be righted, with
every mistake that must be corrected, the
American people always rise to the occasion,
so:
I nominate each and every member of the great American Family to share
the honor of Time Magazine's Person of the Year.