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It’s always amused me the way so many people get their undies in a bundle over Time’s “Person of the Year” recognition.  As if it’s some “award”.  As if it’s the equivalent of the key to the city, or some popularity contest.  Maybe it’s just because so many of us have never really gotten over high school.  “Most athletic”, “Most likely to succeed”, “Most attractive”, etc., etc., ad nauseam.  

But it does make the brand more relevant at year’s end.

Hey, people, for the umpteenth time: The Person of the Year isn’t the award for Mr. or Ms. Congeniality.  It’s the recognition of which person has had the most impact on the most people for better or worse.  Russia’s Vladimir Putin?  Why not!  He’s been instrumental in putting his bizarre nation and culture front and center of the world stage. Nice guy?  Not exactly.  Influential?  You bet.  Bringing out Russia’s best? Depends who you ask: the mega-millionaires in the post-Communist era or the poor slobs just trying to survive on a shoeshine and a shot of vodka.  Modern Russia looks a whole lot like the place over which the Romanoffs reigned.  Not much of a “middle class.”  Nyet.