Oh that gotcha journalistic lamestream media, ya know also too:
Hillary Clinton put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling and then successfully took on the Herculean task of remaking America’s world image in the wake of Bush Inc. Apparently, that’s just not maverick-y enough for Time.
Sarah Palin, on the other hand, Tweets about “Hockey Dads” and policy in 140 characters or less (we’ll refrain from commenting on how it might not actually be a good thing to reduce the policies of the United States to a text message), posts ghost-written rants on her Facebook wall, goes on fake-bus tours to promote her un-fact-checked memoir and appears for $100,000+ speaking fees to reliably conservative groups to make fun of journalists, read off her hand and spout a bunch of catch-phrases. For that, and the fan-boy and -girl raves of her followers, she’s considered one of Time‘s “100 Most Influential People of 2010″ — and a “leader” at that, with multiple heads of state, military commanders, the first female Speaker of the House and the CEOs of major corporations. Can I get a “What the motherfuck?”, people?
I mean, the woman has disapproval ratings of 55 percent among all U.S. adults and only 17 percent of people have strongly favorable views of her. While the disapproval ratings are lower than Congress’, the favorables aren’t much higher, either. By comparison, Hillary Clinton’s approval ratings last December were fully 75 percent.
Plus what, exactly, is Sarah Palin leading, other than fools around by the nose and HarperCollins’ book sales figures? She’s not leading Alaska anymore, she’s not leading the Tea Party movement (given that it’s a headless hydra), she’s not leading 2012 Presidential polls and she’s certainly not leading anything but a small minority of Americans who, like Ted Nugent, praise her carefully-crafted “authenticity” the same way they praised Bush’s. I guess we can be thankful Time didn’t stick her in the Thinker category, but all the same, Palin’s hardly a leader or an innovator.
Clinton, on the other hand, is leading this country’s foreign policy. She’s logged 127 days abroad in the 15 months since her confirmation in 54 different countries. She oversaw the appointment of the first-ever United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues. She’s been visible on everything from Haiti reconstruction to denuclearization to climate change to Israeli peace negotiations to putting pressure on Pakistan to remapping our relationship with Russia to wresting control of U.S. policy towards China away from the economists and financiers at the Treasury Department, and she shows no sign of stopping. Is anyone still talking about Bill Clinton’s potential influence at State? Nope, because no one really believes that he has any. Anyone still talking about her as the top of the team of rivals? Nope, although there are rumors about her replacing Biden as VP candidate in the 2012 race. Anyone still calling her shrill, or a bitch, or speculating that she only got elected on the basis of her husband’s infidelity rather than her own hard work and skills? You bet your ass they aren’t. Hillary Clinton is leading the fucking State Department, she’s leading this country’s foreign policy and she’s leading the charge to replace the image of America as a bunch of stupid cowboys with one of a thoughtful nation committed to the ideals of democracy and freedom we constantly profess.
So, why the hell is Palin on this list and not Clinton?
While I certainly have my differences with the Obama/Clinton foreign policy in certain areas, the comparison being drawn is to Sarah Palin. Who, when she’s not spouting horrific, bellicose, ignorant foreign policy ideas, can see Russia from her house – or at least she could when she was still governor of Alaska. A job the super influential “leader” quit midway because the pay was better in the private sector/lower 48.
Heckuva job Time.
May 3, 2010 at 9:46 am
Time has always been el stupido.
They were sore afraid to make bin Ladin their man of the year in 2001. Why? the description clearly states ‘person who had the most influence on events in the year’ and that was pretty much hands down true. They had Hitler and Stalin once, anyway. But nooooooo, they had to go with Dubya. I suppose that means that 70 years ago there was some slight bit of journalistic integrity at Time.
May 3, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Also: Stalin and Hitler wuz white, not Semitic, eh?
May 5, 2010 at 10:56 am
If you say so. Personally I though Adolf anything but Aryan and Stalin was half-Mongoloid.
May 5, 2010 at 1:06 pm
May 3, 2010 at 9:52 am
That would be because Time is and always was a thinly veiled propaganda trumpet for the right and the Republican Party.
May 3, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Matt Lauer on this morning’s TODAY show said Hillary said that Iran was precipitating a nuclear arms race.
So in order to feel secure we have to be able to run not 1k times, not 10k times, but 100k times faster than the Special Olympics Petard Hoister champion?
If Matt quoted correctly, then I think Hillary put 18 million cracks in the ass ceiling.
May 3, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Sarah Palin: isn’t she that aging porn star? I’d do her.
May 3, 2010 at 1:08 pm
kenmeer livermaile: She probably wouldn’t do you though.
May 3, 2010 at 3:44 pm
‘s a shame, but then, my wife would prefer it that way.
May 3, 2010 at 6:47 pm
You might be surprised.
May 3, 2010 at 8:26 pm
I might be Jon Holmes reborn.
May 5, 2010 at 1:28 pm
It’s an interesting fact, but the vast majority of men on all sides of the intertubes, even the gay ones, even the liberal gay ones, would really like to pooge upon Ms Palin’s face. With her glasses on, of course.
May 8, 2010 at 8:45 pm
She has that hot for teacher vibe.
May 3, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Oh jesus, thank you. I haven’t have a tear-inducing laugh in ages.
May 3, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Am I missing something? Where’s this quote from? Beautiful, anyway.
May 4, 2010 at 6:52 am
Um, oh yeeeah. Added.
May 4, 2010 at 9:42 pm
I hate to defend Palin on anything, but that famous quote “I can see Russia from my house” was actually Tina Fey.
Tina almost single-handedly saved us from Palin.
May 5, 2010 at 4:20 am
No, but Palin did mention the ability to see Russia from Alaska, and mentioned that in the context of citing her foreign policy credentials.
Palin didn’t say “from my house” though. That was Fey. Palin said “from Alaska” or some such construct.
May 5, 2010 at 4:22 am
Or, to be exact:
“They’re our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska — from an island in Alaska.”