Time has chosen President Barack Obama for its annual “Person of the Year.” Mitt Romney was chosen by the publication for its less popular “Historical Footnote of the Year.”
From Time‘s profile of the President:
When he talks about the campaign, he likes to think about the generational shift the country is going through on topics like gay marriage — an issue on which he lagged, only to reverse himself last spring. He connects it to the optimism he felt as a young man, the same thing he always talks about with staff in the limo or on the plane after visits with campaign volunteers.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” reads one of the quotes stitched into his new Oval Office rug — an old abolitionist cry that Martin Luther King Jr. repurposed while marching on Selma, Ala.
Obama believes in that, and he believes he is more than just a bit player in the transition. “I do think that my eight years as President, reflecting those values and giving voice to those values, help to validate or solidify that transformation,” he says, “and I think that’s a good thing for the country.”
But even as Commander-in-Chief, President Obama is still no match for Spider-Man.
What do you think is Obama deserving of “Person of the Year” or was Ryan Gosling robbed yet again?
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
1EqualityUSA
I feel so fortunate to have President Obama in the White House. Visionaries are never understood in real time. He truly is an American treasure and I love him dearly.
ChiChi Man
So happy to have a President who supports the LGBT community.
kernelt
agree! He is truly a great leader of the USA
Dakotahgeo
President Obama could have been chosen “Person of the Year” for the last four years with what he has put up with from the naysaying rightwing whiney people. I do not think Mittens Galore should have received the “Historical Footnote of the Year,” alone, however. He should have been joined with the Republican/TeaParty twits. The GOP just received a bad crate of TEA from the neo-duds of politics.
John Doe
@kernelt: Leads? He was only willing to start backing LGBT legislation when it was politically safe for him to do so. That is anything but leading. Even Obama’s most recent LGBT transition was half-hearted when he stated that it was a “states” issue vs. a federal civil rights issue. So, should we leave civil rights for blacks up to the states too?
What politician has been fighting for full LGBT equality for more than 5 or 10 or 15 years? THIS is the person I’d rather see as recognized for leading…. vs. following the political winds of safety.
In all honestly, the most brave pro-equality politicians are probably the handful of Republicans in NY that voted for LGBT equality, knowing that they’d quite possible lose their jobs over those votes and be forced into a corner by fellow anti-gay Republicans. Not that I favor Republicans…. but at least those few Republicans took a risk to stand up for LGBT equality. Give THEM persons of the year. That would actually speak much louder to the country…. for Time to recognize the bigotry in the Republican party by giving a “Person of the Year” award to those who stood up against the other Republicans that want to deny almost all forms of equality to gays and lesbians.
Dakotahgeo
@Dakotahgeo: Btw, who the heck is Ryan Gosling, and who cares?!
Spike
This is just plain cruel. All those poor christian and mormon republican white people that were so devastated the night of Nov. 6th, are just going to re-live those feelings all over when they see the TIME cover of President Obama as person of the year and must again accept that he will be the President of the United States of America for another 4 years.
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA Sucks to be them!
And you gotta love how he has effectively SHUT UP all the whiny gays, with exception to the ones that don’t understand that he cannot click his heels and pass a Federal marriage equality law as if he was Dorothy the Dictator.
brent
It means about as much when they gave him a nobel prize for nothing. The liberal media has an unseemly love affair with Obama.
Dakotahgeo
@brent: Not to mention a majority of voters who re-elected President Obama and won a great majority of the Electoral College. Sucks to be honored and respected for doing good things for the country, eh? Lolol!
Dakotahgeo
@Spike: Don’t get too cocky… should the SCOTUS not rule correctly, it would behoove the President to issue an executive order to correct the situation. Good for the Prez! By the time the minority rose up in arms, the country would already be acclimated to the cultural change. Not bad, not bad at all, lolol. Kudos to the whiners.
Dakotahgeo
@Dakotahgeo: I would highly recommend you post the comment!
Charli Girl
@John Doe:
What he ACTUALLY DID WAS HE waited for the perfect moment!!! The man knows what he’s doing.He does it on every major controversial decision.Republicans were blown away,they thought they had it in the bag…They thought that would be the end of his career….NRA is NEXT!!!!
Dakotahgeo
@Charli Girl: I think you’ve hit the nail on the head.In politics as in life, timing is everything. It’s almost like a online bidding auction. If one does not wait for exactly the right moment, everything is lost. The good President indeed plays his cards close to his chest! Good on him!
John Doe
@Charli Girl: haha. Compare Kennedy/Johnson to Obama. No comparison. Kennedy and Johnson LED when it came to black civil rights. They got laws passed. We’re still waiting for Obama on that one. DADT was actually forced on him by the court as a reminder. Has Obama even stood up on national TV to condem anti-gay laws and attitudes? NO. Did Kennedy? YES…. and before the country was ready to do anything about it. Remember Rosa Parks? Remember MLK JR. being assassinated? Those were terrible obstacles and Kennedy stood up against this violence and hatred. Obama is standing up to nothing in comparison to what was seen in the 1960s.
John Doe
@Dakotahgeo: Remember… Bush was elected a 2nd time also. Was he a great President or was that a terrible mistake by America? I guess it depends on where you stand. Either way…. Bush was also re-elected for a 2nd term.
2eo
@Spike: I really do like your posts. It’s so nice to see legitimate enthusiasm about the positive changes. We here in the UK tend to follow, so I have an interest in what is happening over there.
@Charli Girl: Well said. Timing is of critical importance in any kind of decision making process, hopefully these dead children won’t have died completely in vain and you can get some meaningful restrictions on the lunatics who think weapons are more important than children, sadly there are a few members here who believe guns are worth more than life.
Charli Girl
@John Doe:
No offense but it was a COMPLETELY different world back then. Don’t you feel the shift in the sand under your feet? Don’t you hear the bigots spewing their hate more? That’s the sound of the ship going down,and my President is the captain my friend…
That doesn’t mean YOU and the rest of us should kick back in the recliner, and relax.We have to continue to fight and let our voices be heard.bc we HAVE global attention and normal folks are starting to realize hatred in any form is WRONG! We have to continue to let our President KNOW we have his back and push him!!
Would you rather have Mitt Witt and Bork chops? Do YOUR part and lend a hand . It’s our time,
Spike
@Dakotahgeo: Wow, you haven’t really been paying attention at all during the last 4 years have you. As it pertains to the SCOTUS, DOMA and Prop 8 cases, and the likelihood of the President using and executive order to reverse a SCOTUS decision. Click your heels cuz it aint going to happen and the LBBT whiners certainly will not have any role in the outcome.
Spike
@2eo: Appreciate the shout out!
Charli Girl
@2eo:
Yes timing is everything,and its our time now. I pray he will fight this NRA to the bitter end! I don’t have an answer for gun control!, but I know SOMETHING needs to be done. I try to remember each and every child’s name by heart that was slaughtered by that piece of garbage, And I pray that they didn’t die in vain and that this new gun law will be stiff and end the easy possession of assault weapons .