PERSON OF THE YEAR

            

                                  BY WILLIAM JUNEAU

                              Like much of the media, Time Magazine doesn't have the prestige and power  (or circulation) it had in bygone days.  So the announcement on the cover of the once famous flagship of Henry Luce, of the selection of the 2020 "Person of the Year,"  didn't have too many people writhing in feverish anticipation. 

                            This December, it was the 78-year-old  President-elect Joe Biden, and his Vice President Kamala Harris as the honored "Persons of the Year."  In the judgment of the liberal Time's editors and writers, here was the twosome which exerted incredible "impact" on life and times in the USA during the turbulent 12 months of 2020. 

                            Finding sense in the selection by Time editors is nearly impossible.  The 12-months of  2020 was the year of a pandemic which took the lives of 600,000 Americans and millions throughout the world. It was a year in which the President was impeached by a completely partisan House for make-believe misdeeds.  It was a year which saw increased racial tensions stemming from the death of a black man with a criminal past at the hands of a white police officer.  It was a presidential election which was loaded with fraud.

                           It was a year in which the former Obama-era Vice President and Time's honoree was linked to the seeming criminal activities of his son, Hunter, a cocaine addict, and to his brother James, in million, even billion dollar deals with Red China, Russia, Ukraine and Romania--all of which were evidenced by emails now in the hands of the FBI and under investigation. . 

                            It was a year which will live forever in history books, but the impact that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are alleged to have provided in the judgment of the editors of Time magazine, is a fairy tale, which has its roots in Time's disdain of President Trump and his conservative approach to government.  The magazine is applauded by cohorts in the media which have abandoned all journalistic objectivity in its coverage of the Trump administration. 

                             In this unforgettable year, who were the candidates for Time's chair of honor?   Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary responses, but Time magazine failed to produce one, so let's ruminate a bit more.

                            In 2020 there were thousands of health care workers and first responders who put their lives on the line as they worked endless hours trying to save patients dying by the thousands of Covid-19. There were scientists, like Dr. Anthony Fauci and hundreds of doctors who worked day and night to understand this new plague and researchers who produced a viable vaccine in record time. 

                           There were small business people faced with enforced slow downs and closings of their restaurants and bars and hair salons, who worked feverishly to adapt to new ways of doing business and to erect protective shields and outside tents to keep employees and customers safe--only to be shut down as the pandemic surged. 

                         There was even the much maligned President Trump. He pushed  for the Warp Speed program to produce vaccines and the all out production of ventilators and urged a foot-dragging Congress to produce financial support for the unemployed and small business owners, even if he did fall down on wearing a mask and social distancing at all times..

                         And then there was the slow witted and aging Joe Biden, who spent six months in his basement, but still managed to win a deeply suspect election. And there was Kamala Harris, who once applauded the woman who accused her running mate of sexual assault.  Harris, whom the magazines lauded for her mixed heritage, also is remembered for denouncing her running mate as a racist who opposed desegregation policies, and who had allied himself with southern bigots in the Congress where he had served as a Delaware senator for nearly 40 years.   

                        In my opinion, the 2020 election was all about love and hate.  Millions of Americans voted for President Trump's reelection because they loved him, unconditionally.  Slightly more Americans,  residing principally in New York and California, voted for Biden, simply because they despised  President Trump.  Personally, I doubt  that there were many citizens who voted for the slow-witted  Biden because they saw him as the preferred guiding hand for the nation. 

                      Finding "impact" from the presence of Biden and Harris is poor journalism, but definitely in keeping with Time's "Never Trump" agenda. The choice of Biden and Harris was not only ludicrous, it was an insult to the thousands who truly deserved the recognition. 

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