Angela Merkel is Time person of the year

seanaway

Can't really believe this as she has made a total joke of Europe with her 'let them in' ' no keep them out' dance.

Add that to the carnage of her financial policies.

Anyone else feel like this or am I out of touch with the world?

BoJack Horseman

She's had a bad year in what has been an extremely successful career.

Can't think of anyone else to have for it off the top of my head?
I'ts been a good year for islamic extremism.... maybe that instead?

RDM_83 again

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

She's had a bad year in what has been an extremely successful career.

Can't think of anyone else to have for it off the top of my head?
I'ts been a good year for islamic extremism.... maybe that instead?

Well the time person of the year doesn't mean they are doing a good job, just that they are very important that year.
We will wait and see if she gets the Nobel Peace prize (which will secure in cynics/realists minds that she was acting in persuit of her legacy rather than the best interests of her country)

seanaway

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

She's had a bad year in what has been an extremely successful career.

Can't think of anyone else to have for it off the top of my head?
I'ts been a good year for islamic extremism.... maybe that instead?

I've just checked the award and it states "for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year"

Guess everyone can make their own mind up on it. Personally, I think she has caused untold damage this year and the legacy she will leave will be seen many years form now in the chaos of the immigration crisis she has heavily contributed to.

Extremely bad judgement from someone in her position.

BoJack Horseman

seanaway wrote: »

I've just checked the award and it states "for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year".

I guess an award of 'infamy' as opposed to merit...
(having said that, a helluva lot, especially in officialdom see her as a saint).

Personally I think she was well meaning, but hopelessly blind to the incredibly obvious reality.

As for her doing this for a Nobel peace prize, she will be facing tough competition from Obama, who again is abandoning the day-to-day to secure his legacy over Iran, whatever the cost.

gandalf

She's not the first German leader to win it.

jmayo

gandalf wrote: »

She's not the first German leader to win it.

I presume you mean Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer

ballsymchugh

am i the only one breathing a sign of relief? time's twitter feed asked every so often who should get it, and the photo they used was of caitlyn jenner and kim kardashian.

as has been pointed above, it's newsworthiness that gets you the gig, whether that be good or bad.

K-9

gandalf wrote: »

She's not the first German leader to win it.

Indeed, it so oft repeated at this stage I'm not going to Godwin it.

As said, it isn't really a peace prize, more the most influential person.

Madd Finn

seanaway wrote: »

I've just checked the award and it states "for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year"

Very important to make that point. Helps to explain why previous winners include Hitler, Stalin (twice) and Ayatollah Khomeini.

Shurimgreat

Apparently the leader of ISIS was in the running too. Is it just rewarding people who are in the news a lot, no matter the reason?

Surprised Donald Trump didn't win it!

fernrock

Enda will be delighted , his boss got it.

johnnyskeleton

Mod Note:

Ok, this is not the hardest hitting political issue of our times, but please keep the content up. The above comments about Hitler, I.S.I.S. and Enda are not on topic and beneath the standards.

The topic is whether Merkel is deserving of the honour of being named person of the year. The merits or otherwise of having a Time person of the year, or previous winners, is not on topic.

EDIT: If you want to have some fun with this topic, here it is in the Cafe:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057534330

Madd Finn

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Mod Note:

Ok, this is not the hardest hitting political issue of our times, but please keep the content up. The above comments about Hitler, I.S.I.S. and Enda are not on topic and beneath the standards.

The topic is whether Merkel is deserving of the honour of being named person of the year. The merits or otherwise of having a Time person of the year, or previous winners, is not on topic.

EDIT: If you want to have some fun with this topic, here it is in the Cafe:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057534330

Huh?

How can it be "off topic" to point out what the Time Person of the Year award is supposed to represent, namely the person who "for better or worse has done most to influence the events of the year"?

It may be an instinctive reaction to think that it is an accolade awarded to somebody of great merit but that is to misunderstand its purpose: It's not a Nobel prize, it's a historic milestone.

Look down the list of previous winners and you will see some people of undoubted merit: several scientists, popes, industrialists. Also military leaders of good causes as well as bad ones. And there are many people whose stories may be unknown or forgotten by today's generation but are worth recalling if only because of the influence they had on their time.

President Mossadegh of Iran for example (MOY 1951) is worthy of study as a lesson from history: a decent humane democratic leader who was ousted by a combination of American and British intrigue because he wanted the Iranian government, and hence its people, to have a greater share of the wealth accruing from Iran's oil. "We'll put an autocratic hereditary leader (the Shah) in power and support his regime with our weapons exports! What could go wrong?"

By the criteria of the award Hitler, Stalin, Kruschev, Khomeini, Nixon, Deng Xiao Ping and others were just as deserving in their time as the likes of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Pope John XXIII and Ebola fighters.

And as for Merkel: well I think she's more deserving than feckin' Bono (joint POY 2005)!!

blackwhite

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

She's had a bad year in what has been an extremely successful career.

Can't think of anyone else to have for it off the top of my head?
I'ts been a good year for islamic extremism.... maybe that instead?

Wasn't the leader of ISIS one of the people nominated?

From what I understand, it's merely naming the most influential people of the year, without judgement as to whether their influence was positive or negative.