Back in the USSR

The bickering on "news shows" such as "Hannity & Colmes" isn't usually worth bothering with. The idiocy there is self-apparent. But this exchange earlier this week is so moronic that it demands our attention to set things straight.

The topic is Time magazine's choice for Person of the Year, Vladimir Putin of Russia. The talking heads on Fox News are predictably outraged. The comments of the radio-talk show host on the panel are especially stupid and ill-informed.

Their criticism of the selection is two-fold:

• Time is honoring a bad man.
• Time is showing its liberal bias.

Here's why these accusations are ridiculous:

The Person of the Year is not like the Nobel Peace Prize or a lifetime achievement award. It may go to the virtuous or the villainous. What matters is impact, as the magazine explains this way:

"Time's Person of the Year is not and never has been an honor. It is not an endorsement. It is not a popularity contest. At its best, it is a clear-eyed recognition of the world as it is and of the most powerful individuals and forces shaping that world — for better or for worse. It is ultimately about leadership — bold, earth-changing leadership."

Therefore, the magazine was not lionizing Putin with this selection. It was simply saying that he had the most impact on the world this year.

As for liberal bias, a review of Time's selections over the years shows this is also an ignorant assertion. (See 'em all here.) Here are a few:

• George W. Bush (twice)
• Ronald Reagan (twice)
• George H.W. Bush
• Newt Gingrich
• Richard Nixon

Plenty of conservatives have been "honored." In addition, Putin is hardly a liberal himself. He's an autocratic control-freak who does not tolerate dissent. He's "the decider." The magazine's profile of Putin makes this clear.

So if anyone tries to tell you that the "liberal media" is honoring one of its own, you'll know better.