Time's Person of the Year: You?

For eight decades, TIME Magazine has chosen a man, woman, or idea that "for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year." Charles Lindberg was the first to get the nod, in 1927 when he was just 23. Others on the slow-news-week cover have ranged from FDR and Pope John Paul II to Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin (full disclosure: Yours Truly has made it twice: in 1966's "Twenty-Five and Under" -- and again this year: "You"). Since the 1979 selection, Ayatullah Khomeini, blew up in its face, the magazine has shied away from controversial picks. So it should come as no surprise that this year Time ignored the choice of its readers -- Hugo Chavez (Chavez got %35, followed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 21%, Nancy Pelosi and The YouTube Guys at 11% each, G.W. Bush -- whose impact on foreign policy and domestic politics could hardly have been greater -- 8%, Al Gore -- doesn't raising the Q-rating of Global Warming count for anything? and when will that can of worms be on the cover? -- 7%, Condoleezza Rice 5%, and Kim Jong Il 2% -- in favor of a bland appreciation of people who make videos about their pet iguanas and mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals. It's not that blogging and YouTube and MySpace aren't significant, but it will take more evidence than Time presents in the current issue to make the case that this "social experiment" amounts to a "revolution."