Russian President Vladimir Putin Named Time's 'Person of the Year'

Fox News ^ | 12/19/07 | AP

[mware]

NEW YORK — Russian President Vladimir Putin was named the Time magazine "Person of the Year."

Richard Stengel, Time's managing editor, said the 2007 honor went to the Russian leader "for an extraordinary feat of leadership in taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability."

Others in the running for the honor included Nobel Prize-winner Al Gore and author J.K. Rowling

[steveegg]

Hitler, twice. And for the same reasons.

Only once (1938), before he turned against Iosef.

[SFC Chromey]

Currently, he has materially contributed to prolonged instability in Iran and Syia. It is widely held that Putin has been the silent partner to Iran in keeping the insurgency stocked with materiel in Iraq.

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Don’t ignore our good friends in China, they have been supplying funds and equipment as well.

[RinaseaofDs]

Point taken indeed.

[Karliner]

raise a toast of polonium to the man of the year.

Da, love that Polonium, ..maybe I could get a Gorby freckle on the severely balding spot on my forehead before I croak...gotta love the KGB uhh, SVD...whatever they call it now, same thugs, different cyrillic.

[Deo et Patria]

Read the full transcript of the interview with Vlad. It really is some of the funniest stuff that I’ve ever read. He definitely is not shy about expressing himself.

[SFC Chromey]

WOW- Who knew FR had their own Communist sympathizer?
I’m surprised that all your answers come down to “not true”.

The documentation is there to prove if it is as you say it is, however, I have seen too much about Putzin to believe one word you have written.

By the way, are you posting from the Kremlin?

[RightWhale]

Stability at the hands of the US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines in the ME.

[subterfuge]

Is the cover going to have his pic with his shirt off?

Or will it be the one where he’s kissing a little boy?

[OESY]

The Decline in advertising and editorial pages in Time, Newsweek and U.S. News:

They must be doing something wrong. Too bad they can't figure it out themselves.

.

[onja]

Yeah, I went and actually read the article, not the little excerpt from Foxnews. The actual article is pretty fair, shows his dark side. Wish Fox had included quotes that actually represented the article, instead of just a pro-Putin thing and then their own commentary.

[AliVeritas]

Especially the way Putin’s knocked off journos, you’d figure at least solidarity with their dead fellow newsies.

Oh my bad... they died because they told the truth.

Nevermind.

[Brandie]

I would have loved to have it be General Petraeus. Or maybe John Bolton a favorite also of mine. I know, neither one would be on Time’s list.

[FreedomCalls]

What exactly did Putin do? Everything they ascribe to him is a direct result of high oil and gas prices. No matter who was in charge, the results would have been no worse, and certainly better in many cases. Russia's main federal highways are still mud holes, impassable during the frequent rain. The infrastructure in any city other than Moscow and St Pete is crumbling. Manufacturing is at an abysmal state. Their prime exports are raw materials -- the sure sign of a third-world country. He hasn't set up a system of political succession -- Russia's long-standing biggest weakness. The only thing he has accomplished is to co-opt all the major news organizations so that he personally can take credit for any positive result of the high energy prices. I guess we'll have to add Time to that list.

[AliVeritas]

[omega4179]

I put my real name on the record with Time magazine, lets show them Americans do not look at this as anything but praise of a dictator.

http://time-blog.com/talkback/poy2007.php

[WOSG]

“The thing is, The Surge was the biggest story of the year and Patraeus made it work. Should’ve been a no-brainer, but once again the press proves it has no brains.”

Dittos on this. Iraq is a non-story now that we are decisively winning in Iraq, and the history-changing leaders are getting ignored.

[Just mythoughts]

Time is saving the beast for next year, and will announce in late October, just before the election.

Probably so, but she sure could have used the experience claim of this free publicity leading up to October 2008.

[G8 Diplomat]

Yeah, I guess someone who tries to bring the country back to Soviet times, extends his term so he can slowly push communism back on the populace, and poisons the opposition with polonium is right up Time’s ally, isn’t it.

[G8 Diplomat]

...Faisal, Ayatollah, and Clinton have all been "person of the year".

Ayatollah who? Khomeini?? Who is Faisal? Saud al-Faisal? Not criticizing your post, I'm just curious...I don't know the history of who Time has nominated over the years.

[G8 Diplomat]

Some days it just doesn’t pay to get outta bed.

Most college students would agree with you (I do), LOL