Donald Trump is Time's 2016 Person of the Year
December 7, 2016 6:52 AM   Subscribe

"For reminding America that demagoguery feeds on despair and that truth is only as powerful as the trust in those who speak it, for empowering a hidden electorate by mainstreaming its furies and live-streaming its fears, and for framing tomorrow’s political culture by demolishing yesterday’s, Donald Trump is Time Magazine's 2016 Person of the Year."

Time's Managing Editor explains the choice, though it's also common understanding that a new president-elect is given the recognition, having done so for every president since Kennedy save George H.W. Bush, who was given the recognition for the first time two years into his presidency.

The short list for this year included Recep Tayyip Erdogan ("The Autocrat"), hackers ("The Disruptors"), the CRISPR Pioneers ("The Trailblazers"), Beyoncé ("The Messenger"), and of course, Hillary Clinton ("The Aspirant") who, notably, received more votes than Trump in a recent poll, among others.
posted by XQUZYPHYR (144 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- Brandon Blatcher



 
Welp, it's like looking in a mirror.
posted by chavenet at 6:54 AM on December 7, 2016 [6 favorites]


It's hard to argue with that choice, love or hate.
posted by bentpyramid at 6:54 AM on December 7, 2016 [11 favorites]


If they'd had any imagination and/or guts, they would've put Hillary on the cover despite the election result. Or rather, because of it.
posted by Celsius1414 at 6:55 AM on December 7, 2016 [60 favorites]


You know who else was Time's person of the year...

For god's sake, it's like they just write themselves.
posted by Naberius at 6:56 AM on December 7, 2016 [117 favorites]


I would have chosen the water protectors, but what do I know. It's not like I was ever person of the year... --wait.
posted by tofu_crouton at 6:56 AM on December 7, 2016 [30 favorites]


Even if he had lost the election, he was still probably the most logical choice given their criteria.
posted by briank at 6:57 AM on December 7, 2016 [7 favorites]


If it was only "Time Magazine's Pick for Person Who Most Represents the Tone of 2016," with the only other choice being a toxic waste dump actually on fire, I would say they have a point.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:58 AM on December 7, 2016 [37 favorites]


That's not the only recent poll in which Hillary received more votes than Trump.
posted by Slothrup at 6:59 AM on December 7, 2016 [50 favorites]


Waste dumps are not people, and therefore don't qualify for the award. It would have to be the corporation that owns the waste dump.
posted by I-Write-Essays at 7:00 AM on December 7, 2016 [28 favorites]


I would have preferred the demogorgon to the demagogue
posted by Existential Dread at 7:01 AM on December 7, 2016 [16 favorites]


boilerplate letter to the editor:
I have never written to an editor before
I was appalled at your choice
You used to have standards
Cancel my subscription

posted by Postroad at 7:01 AM on December 7, 2016 [17 favorites]


From the other thread:

From the Time article:

Shannon Goodin, 24, Owosso, Mich. Trump earned the support of Goodin, a first-time voter, by being "a big poster child for change," she says, adding, "Politicians don't appeal to us. Clinton would go out of her way to appeal to minorities, immigrants, but she didn't really for everyday Americans."


Right, so this is what we're facing. Identity politics or not, this [presumably white] kid in Michigan thinks that I am not an everyday American. My great grandmother came here when she was 16, 96 years ago, fleeing pogroms.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:02 AM on December 7, 2016 [164 favorites]


I was impressed that Time published this piece, calling on everyone to avoid normalizing Trump's attempt to redefine normal. Unfortunately with this decision they are just playing along with his game.

If only they had made a more principled stand and explained why Trump could not be their choice despite all those sad reasons given by the editor, I might have rekindled a sense of respect for their journalistic integrity. Instead I will continue to leave Time on the rack next to the National Inquirer, or on the waiting room table underneath InTouch.
posted by cubby at 7:02 AM on December 7, 2016 [7 favorites]


People love to snark on it (with surprising regularity, as XQUZYPHYR will no doubt soon point out), but I find it darkly ironic that this particular Person of the Year pick comes on the ten-year anniversary of the infamous "You."

Back then, it was a lighthearted social media gimmick, celebrating the emerging Web 2.0 zeitgeist and its powerful creative potential:
It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.
But a decade hence, we're all reckoning with the horrible underbelly of that untamed world: the misogyny and racism, the rejection of fact, the triumph of embittered mobs over longstanding institutions and norms. The same technologies and social patterns that gave us lolcats and Wikipedia also created Stormfront and fake clickbait news.

The 2006 piece openly wonders:
Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I'm not going to watch Lost tonight. I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I'm going to mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals? I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?
You could ask far more troubling questions now. Who declares a man unqualified and psychologically unfit to be commander in chief -- and then votes for him anyway? Who spends their evenings trawling through megabytes of stolen emails looking for lurid conspiracy theories to spawn? Who tweets a journalist photoshops of his daughter inside a gas chamber? Who are these people?

The cover of Time that year bore a mirrored computer screen, so each reader could see themselves reflected back. Looking at this year's cover, I can't help but feel the same way. Trump had no ground game, no money, no institutional support, lost all three debates... and still won the White House. He won not on his own merits, but on our collective fear, hatred, and apathy, amplified by the web. "It's about the many wresting power from the few" and hurting one another for nothing. We did this to ourselves.

Clocked time of joke in 2016: You're living in it.
posted by Rhaomi at 7:03 AM on December 7, 2016 [82 favorites]


Time Man Of The Year, 1938
posted by Itaxpica at 7:05 AM on December 7, 2016 [6 favorites]


Dumpster Fire 2017.
posted by entropone at 7:06 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


Right, so this is what we're facing. Identity politics or not, this [presumably white] kid in Michigan thinks that I am not an everyday American.

Rather, they think they're everyday Americans and others aren't. No one has really tried to convince them otherwise, so we're still fighting over crumbs, while Trump collects cookies.

For once, I agree with PotY decision. He's definitely shook things up and is operating on level that people are still having a hard time understanding and appreciating. The public hasn't seen his tax records.

Though experiment: If Hillary had won, would she be on the cover?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:07 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


Itaxpica does Godwin!
posted by mfoight at 7:08 AM on December 7, 2016


Should've been Pepe.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:08 AM on December 7, 2016 [6 favorites]


I was impressed that Time published this piece, calling on everyone to avoid normalizing Trump's attempt to redefine normal. Unfortunately with this decision they are just playing along with his game.

The Case for Normalizing Trump: Foreign populists have been beaten by talking issues, not personality.
But several students of authoritarian populist movements abroad have a different message. To beat Trump, what his opponents need to do is practice ordinary humdrum politics. Populists in office thrive on a circus-like atmosphere that casts the populist leader as persecuted by media and political elites who are obsessed with his uncouth behavior while he is busy doing the people’s work. To beat Trump, progressives will need to do as much as they can to get American politics out of reality show mode.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 7:09 AM on December 7, 2016 [39 favorites]


Coming shortly on NYT briefing, Trump said [Mark] Burnett proposed shaking up the inaugural, perhaps w a helicopter leaving from NYC, per attendee. Burnett also suggested a parade up Fifth Avenue, Trump told the crowd at Cipriani, per attendee. (cite)
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:11 AM on December 7, 2016


Umm, Time, for the record, your Person of the Year owes $650 million to China.

For Christ's sake, he was a real estate developer. Literally his entire business model was owing people.
posted by praemunire at 7:11 AM on December 7, 2016 [21 favorites]


I would have been surprised if Time had not named Trump "Man of the Year," given its criteria. Although Naberius nails it, the choice of Hitler was in positive light. A more apt comparison is the choice of Putin as "Man of the Year."

Hitler's initial years were accompanied by a return of German prosperity, perhaps as we will see under Trump. But as we know so well, the disaster that befell the world ensnared even the minority of Germans who voted for him in 1933 and were thriving by 1938. (Hard to have much sympathy for that group.) I'm afraid the world will see the same in the coming years of the Trump administration, and much more quickly.
posted by haiku warrior at 7:13 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


Coming shortly on NYT briefing, Trump said [Mark] Burnett proposed shaking up the inaugural, perhaps w a helicopter leaving from NYC, per attendee. Burnett also suggested a parade up Fifth Avenue, Trump told the crowd at Cipriani, per attendee.

My brain kind of broke from all the reasons a Trump Victory Parade up Fifth Avenue would be a terrible idea. O_o
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 7:13 AM on December 7, 2016 [6 favorites]


HOW QUICKLY WE HAVE FORGOTTEN THE INANIMATE CARBON ROD.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 7:16 AM on December 7, 2016 [18 favorites]


Should've been Pepe.

To clarify, yeah, I do mean this as a joke kind of, but I sort of don't. A racist meme for Time's Person of the Year 2016 seems about right to me. Anti-semitism, chan culture, GamerGate, the mainstreaming of racism, misogyny, and the regurgitation of memes and fake news while claiming that people telling you that what you say hurts them is a violation of your free speech? I legit think Pepe the Frog does a pretty good job representing this fucking year.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:16 AM on December 7, 2016 [38 favorites]


He totally thinks he just got crowned Emperor. Parades? Helicopters? What in the actual fuck. I'm glad his supporters wanted a smaller government and less frivolous spending because otherwise they'd be appalled oh wait.
posted by lydhre at 7:16 AM on December 7, 2016 [16 favorites]


Postroad: "boilerplate letter to the editor:
I have never written to an editor before
I was appalled at your choice
You used to have standards
Cancel my subscription
"

You'd have to send that to the editor of Time, circa 1978
posted by chavenet at 7:17 AM on December 7, 2016 [4 favorites]


Oh how quickly Harambe is forgotten.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:17 AM on December 7, 2016 [21 favorites]


To beat Trump, what his opponents need to do is practice ordinary humdrum politics.

Yes, get him hopelessly bogged down in the practical governance in which he clearly has no interest or ability - but I'll be damned if I stop screaming every time he lends credibility to fascist ghouls like Stephen Bannon, Betsy DeVos, or Michael Flynn.
posted by ryanshepard at 7:18 AM on December 7, 2016 [5 favorites]


Is anyone else seeing a subtle "devil horns" effect from the M on the actual cover?
posted by true at 7:19 AM on December 7, 2016 [11 favorites]


I get it and all, but passive-aggression is still passive.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:19 AM on December 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


My brain kind of broke from all the reasons a Trump Victory Parade up Fifth Avenue would be a terrible idea. O_o

It is kind of the standard garish supervillain MO, though.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:19 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


And by subtle I mean "NOT SUBTLE AND A GRAPHIC DESIGNER'S CRY FOR HELP"
posted by true at 7:19 AM on December 7, 2016 [17 favorites]


Should've been Pepe.

Or this guy
posted by acb at 7:20 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


Unfortunately with this decision they are just playing along with his game.

Not sure I follow. The "Person of the Year" has always been someone who "for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year". It's hard to argue that Trump doesn't fit that criterion. Past "winners" have included Hitler, Stalin (twice), the Ayatollah Khomeini, Putin, and various Soviet leaders (during the Cold War).
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:20 AM on December 7, 2016 [7 favorites]


Is anyone else seeing a subtle "devil horns" effect from the M on the actual cover?

I'm getting more of a bunny ears impression from it!
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 7:22 AM on December 7, 2016


Blue Jello Elf: "Is anyone else seeing a subtle "devil horns" effect from the M on the actual cover?

I'm getting more of a bunny ears impression from it!
"

double dunce cap?
posted by chavenet at 7:24 AM on December 7, 2016


I stand by the earlier prediction of the "It's Fine" Dog but since they gave it to all of us in 2006, I guess they didn't want to repeat.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:26 AM on December 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


I stand by the earlier prediction of the "It's Fine" Dog but since they gave it to all of us in 2006, I guess they didn't want to repeat.

Since the Oakland fire, I can't even look at the it's fine dog.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:27 AM on December 7, 2016 [6 favorites]


I suspect Putin will get his turn again (or perhaps his guru Alexander Dugin will). It'll involve boundaries having been redrawn.
posted by acb at 7:28 AM on December 7, 2016


Trump has described his selection as "a great honour". Which suggests no-one's explained the ironic tone of Time's wording to him yet.
posted by Paul Slade at 7:29 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


I understand the editorial decision, but I wish the cover was a continuation of their previous Trump covers.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:30 AM on December 7, 2016 [4 favorites]



If they'd had any imagination and/or guts, they would've put Hillary on the cover despite the election result. Or rather, because of it.


No one in the world agrees with you except Peter Daou. That's not the kind of company you should want to keep.
posted by to sir with millipedes at 7:32 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


Doubleplusgood!
posted by Thorzdad at 7:33 AM on December 7, 2016


time for the AI uprising to cleanse us from existence.

Not sure that isn't what's happening.
posted by wildblueyonder at 7:36 AM on December 7, 2016 [9 favorites]


Unfortunately with this decision they are just playing along with his game.

Not sure I follow. The "Person of the Year" has always been someone who "for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year". It's hard to argue that Trump doesn't fit that criterion. Past "winners" have included Hitler, Stalin (twice), the Ayatollah Khomeini, Putin, and various Soviet leaders (during the Cold War).


I remember in 2001 they were afraid of the backlash if they put Bin Laden on the cover, so they chose Giuliani instead. Nice to know they are back to fearlessly making bad guys person of the year again.
posted by TedW at 7:40 AM on December 7, 2016 [5 favorites]


I would have liked it to be Hillary.
posted by zutalors! at 7:41 AM on December 7, 2016 [8 favorites]


.
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:41 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


Coming shortly on NYT briefing, Trump said [Mark] Burnett proposed shaking up the inaugural, perhaps w a helicopter leaving from NYC, per attendee. Burnett also suggested a parade up Fifth Avenue, Trump told the crowd at Cipriani, per attendee

Remember how in Triumph of the Will Hitler famously arrives by airplane, as if descending from the gods to lead the people

Trump will descend to lead the Pepe
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:43 AM on December 7, 2016 [4 favorites]


Dunno. David Bowie set this whole shitty year off. The whole year was bound to be crap after Bowie died, and boy, was it ever.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:44 AM on December 7, 2016 [8 favorites]


The choice was appropriate, despite so many here who dislike the guy. Hillary had she won would have been expected to win so might not have been choice. Any left of center mefites bother reading Time, unless it is back issues at the dentist office?
posted by Postroad at 7:45 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


The Magnificent Martyrdom of Hillary Clinton

She can accept any donation to the Clinton Foundation that she wants and put that money towards helping every Syrian refugee find a home in the United States.

She can be as loud and as shrill as she goddamn pleases.

Hillary Clinton has been through the cleansing fire. Let’s all prepare ourselves to behold the phoenix that emerges.


I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING
posted by lydhre at 7:46 AM on December 7, 2016 [36 favorites]


Having been chosen twice (2006, 2011) I am hoping to beat Trump to the 2017 award. It'll take some help though.
posted by graymouser at 7:58 AM on December 7, 2016 [7 favorites]


I think Pepe would have been a phenomenal choice, but I would like to once again reiterate that Pepe is a neutral meme used by racists; for years, he was just a frog with emotions. Pepe does not belong to the Nazis.

Yes this is true, so sorry! I should have said something like "A perfectly neutral and fine thing ruined by racists", much like the year itself.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:00 AM on December 7, 2016 [19 favorites]


Trump will descend to lead the Pepe

Kek wills it.
posted by Talez at 8:02 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]




In a perfect world, 1% of their production run of this issue would be a reprint of the 1938 cover, with all contemporary information rendered in the same font. It randomly gets mailed to the odd doctor's waiting room or septuagenarian's home. When asked about it, no one on the magazine's editorial or production staffs knows anything about it.
posted by Mayor West at 8:20 AM on December 7, 2016 [22 favorites]


Just two dudes sitting in chairs, having a conversation.

They look like something distasteful just happened, like Chris Christie just showed up
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:23 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


That is a very flattering photo. In other words it is fake news. He is ugly like most of the rest of us. If they had any backbone it would have been a tabloid-overweight-movie-star-on-the-beach photo.
posted by bukvich at 8:24 AM on December 7, 2016 [5 favorites]


Just two dudes sitting in chairs, having a conversation.

Between Two Fuhrers.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:25 AM on December 7, 2016 [36 favorites]


Pepe does not belong to the Nazis.

Neither did the swastika.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:33 AM on December 7, 2016 [18 favorites]


Pepe does not belong to the Nazis.

Neither did the swastika.


Neither did being Aryan, for that matter. Uncredited cultural appropriation is pretty much the lifeblood of white supremacy.
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:35 AM on December 7, 2016 [12 favorites]


Big deal! I won it 10 years ago. They've been scraping the bottom of the barrel ever since.
posted by emelenjr at 8:43 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


I remember in 2001 they were afraid of the backlash if they put Bin Laden on the cover, so they chose Giuliani instead. Nice to know they are back to fearlessly making bad guys person of the year again.

It was cowardice to not recognize that Bin Laden affected the world the most in 2001. Hitler, Stalin, Khomeini- the person of the year is not an honor, it is recognition of the state of humanity. Instead TIME played into the Giuliani hagiography, which is one of the reasons that led to our current political predicament.
posted by Apocryphon at 8:47 AM on December 7, 2016 [24 favorites]


Somebody better be busy right now Photoshopping that cover to use one of those especially unflattering DJT photos that he hates to see in circulation.
posted by Flexagon at 8:48 AM on December 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


Neither did being Aryan, for that matter. Uncredited cultural appropriation is pretty much the lifeblood of white supremacy.

William Gibson riffed off this in one of his early stories, mentioning the existence of “Christian White and his Aryan Reggae Band”.
posted by acb at 8:55 AM on December 7, 2016 [9 favorites]


My brain kind of broke from all the reasons a Trump Victory Parade up Fifth Avenue would be a terrible idea.

I actually think this is unlikely. Trump is delusional, but NYC has already made it pretty clear what the local mass opinion on his election is. Any attempt at a "victory parade" would probably result in the biggest protest in the city since...I don't know, the Vietnam era? For all the talk of Trump's innovation, he's actually rather old-school in that he gets personally offended by people yelling at him; he's not of the "haters make me stronger" generation.
posted by praemunire at 9:10 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


NYC has already made it pretty clear what the local mass opinion on his election is

We hate
posted by zutalors! at 9:23 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'd still argue that the Onion called it best four years ago with their Shrieking White Hot Sphere of Pure Rage
posted by philip-random at 9:29 AM on December 7, 2016 [18 favorites]


Because TIME's The Person of the Year can be a group of people or an idea, I think Time should have chosen "The Media". Yes, we did talk about Donald Trump a lot, buts that's only because of the Media.

In this past election, every candidate and their supporters at one point or another has talked about the Media. Whether it was CNN, NYT, Brietbart, Infowars, or all those viral false articles on Facebook. Every candidate has also blamed the Media for lack of coverage or distorted coverage. The public itself frequently talks about mistrust and bias the Media had committed. Donald even created an area specifically for the Media to be in for his rallies, so that he point them out to boo and harass.
posted by FJT at 9:29 AM on December 7, 2016 [6 favorites]


Because TIME's The Person of the Year can be a group of people or an idea, I think Time should have chosen "The Media"

Morning Joe
would agree with you there. Rant gets traction at about the 1:10 point.
posted by philip-random at 9:36 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


We suck; time for the AI uprising to cleanse us from existence.

What makes you think we'd be able to even get that right
posted by Existential Dread at 9:36 AM on December 7, 2016


They offered it to me, along with Sexiest Man Alive, but Johnson and Trump needed the ego boost more.
posted by jonmc at 9:39 AM on December 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


Hoo, looking at the entire list, women have really not been notable according to Time. In 90 years women have taken the honor six times -- and the thirties were the best decade for women, with two in the same decade. Before last year's Angela Merkel, we have to go back 30 years for the next most recent woman.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:50 AM on December 7, 2016 [16 favorites]


In other news, Time magazine still exists somehow.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:51 AM on December 7, 2016 [7 favorites]


Corazon C. Aquino was a woman (1986)
posted by zutalors! at 9:52 AM on December 7, 2016


OH AND one of those six times was just "American Women" in general.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:52 AM on December 7, 2016


Yes, Aquino was the one before Angela Merkel, thirty years ago.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:53 AM on December 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


Also American Women won in 1975 :/
posted by zutalors! at 9:53 AM on December 7, 2016


In a perfect world, 1% of their production run of this issue would be a reprint of the 1938 cover, with all contemporary information rendered in the same font.

Your wish...
posted by touchstone033 at 9:56 AM on December 7, 2016 [4 favorites]


I have to image that any kind of Trump victory parade would involve Smilex gas at some level.
posted by doctornecessiter at 10:05 AM on December 7, 2016 [12 favorites]


We are discussing the article, right? I thought the article was good (apart from the pat ending)...

.... and by good, I mean "an informative summary from a sensible mainstream perspective about a spectacularly hideous event" rather than "enjoyable".
posted by lalochezia at 10:12 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


As a european, this whole thing with this Trump man, reminds me of a song by David Gray


[...]
across the fractured landscape
I see the same things

tired ideas, broken values
many with the notion
that to share is to lose

a hollow people, bound by a lack
of imagination and too much looking back

without the courage
to give a new thing a chance
grounded by this ignorance

and when the cat comes
we're just
birds without wings


I woudn't consider myself neither a patriot or nationalist, but when a people is becoming 'hollow', it should mean that their shared culture is becoming meaningless, watered down, empty. An apprentice becomes the president elect. At some point, anything will do. "Let's build a wall", "Let's grab the pussy" etc.

"The flag goes with the foul landscape".

The real problem today is no longer the politicians, but the media. There is no longer any virtue in reading newspapers or following the news.

You will get a better sense of what is happening in the world, by building something for yourself or reading a book instead of a newspaper. The person of the year is you, wherever you are.
posted by beesbees at 10:20 AM on December 7, 2016 [4 favorites]




Aren't most of all y'all a European import?
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:34 AM on December 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


Aren't most of all y'all a European import?

Only for another generation.
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:44 AM on December 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


Waste dumps are not people, and therefore don't qualify for the award. It would have to be the corporation that owns the waste dump.

In Trump America, waste dump owns you.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:45 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


Is anyone else seeing a subtle "devil horns" effect from the M on the actual cover?

Now that you point it out, it doesn't look subtle at all.
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:49 AM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


Clocked time of joke

Damn, XQUZYPHYR, have you made reporting that cover to MetaFilter your life's mission? Because it's a good one.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:03 AM on December 7, 2016


NYC has already made it pretty clear what the local mass opinion on his election is

Not to mention that Mayor DeBlasio has just presented the federal government a bill for the NYPD's services in securing a safe area around Trump Tower from November 8th through January 21st, inclusive.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:04 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


Where's that story, EC?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:10 AM on December 7, 2016


so am I the only person who thinks that Trump looks like an orange Pepe?
posted by supermedusa at 11:10 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


A Trump troll doll would have been a more fitting image.
posted by effluvia at 11:13 AM on December 7, 2016


I am psychic.

or just good at hedging my bets
posted by ckape at 11:16 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


"Waste dumps ARE people, my friend." - Mitt Romney, probably
posted by doctornecessiter at 11:20 AM on December 7, 2016 [4 favorites]


Not to mention that Mayor DeBlasio has just presented the federal government a bill for the NYPD's services in securing a safe area around Trump Tower from November 8th through January 21st, inclusive.

Why should they pay? Trump is a private citizen until then.
posted by thelonius at 11:33 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


When I heard about the Trump cover, I immediately flashed to this particular cover.

When does Trump make the big time by appearing in one of these important news magazines?
posted by BlueHorse at 11:38 AM on December 7, 2016


So last year's Person of the Year was the democratic, moderate, intelligent, and generally popular Chancellor of Germany and this year's PotY is a xenophobic, sexist, racist, authoritarian, thin-skinned President-Elect of the U.S.

If this era were a science-fiction novel, it would be a little too cliched and obvious. "Let's re-do the late 1930's, except switch the US and German roles, and...heck, let's have the German chancellor respond to the economic crisis with austerity instead of boosted spending."
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:46 AM on December 7, 2016 [11 favorites]


Why should they pay? Trump is a private citizen until then.

But the Federal budget is now Trump's personal piggy bank, so it all evens out.
posted by ckape at 11:47 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


If this era were a science-fiction novel, it would be a little too cliched and obvious. "Let's re-do the late 1930's, except switch the US and German roles, and...heck, let's have the German chancellor respond to the economic crisis with austerity instead of boosted spending."
posted by infini at 11:59 AM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


Should it not be Putin given all the victories he is having in 2016?
posted by asra at 12:13 PM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


I guess Pence's Michael Flynn Jr. scandal is over. Funny how Republicans can fabricate scandals that last for years but Democrats can't hang on to a single illegal scandal for more than a day.
posted by any major dude at 12:25 PM on December 7, 2016 [11 favorites]


Let's re-do the late 1930's

One non-reference to Saudi Arabia, nine direct references to Iran. Flynn re-imagines the Bush-era Axis of Evil as even grander, louder, scarier, and yet does not question our alliance with the Saudis. How can these people claim to be so schooled about the threat of Salafi ideology, yet do not question our undying ties to the actual state ruled by Wahhabists?
posted by Apocryphon at 12:32 PM on December 7, 2016


Where's that story, EC?

The Daily News and Salon.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:35 PM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


In other news, Time magazine still exists somehow.

They just publish this one issue a year, right?
posted by The Hamms Bear at 12:48 PM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


Wow, that's really surprising, Time Magazine, which is thinner and thinner, and put some satirical images on Trump on its cover recently, wants to blatantly suck up to the new president. Gee whiz, who could have predicted this choice in Time's annual Look, we're still relevant, no, really, we are event?
posted by theora55 at 1:32 PM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


When the post said Hillary Clinton ("The Aspirant") who, notably, received more votes than Trump in a recent poll, I thought it was a witty way to note that she got more votes in the election. I think I'll stick with that.
posted by theora55 at 1:34 PM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]




Hitler's initial years were accompanied by a return of German prosperity,

As long as you exclude about 500,000 of them, sure.
posted by zarq at 2:21 PM on December 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


Should it not be Putin given all the victories he is having in 2016?

In a way, it was, yknow?
posted by petebest at 2:22 PM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


The short list for this year included Recep Tayyip Erdogan ("The Other Autocrat")

Fixed that for them.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:25 PM on December 7, 2016


Is anyone else seeing a subtle "devil horns" effect from the M on the actual cover?

So I work on magazine photo shoots and there is no way that was not intentional. Especially for high stakes cover shoots like this, the layout is a known variable. And Time is pretty deliberate about whether they put the type behind, in front of, etc their cover subjects and the composition.

Compare to Nadav Kander's portraits of Obama, certainly dark/moody lighting but not sinister looking like this.
posted by bradbane at 2:27 PM on December 7, 2016 [7 favorites]


At least it wasn't Bono again, because screw that guy.
posted by peeedro at 3:19 PM on December 7, 2016


I guess Pence's Michael Flynn Jr. scandal is over. Funny how Republicans can fabricate scandals that last for years but Democrats can't hang on to a single illegal scandal for more than a day.

For the last year or more, the GOP have had scandals seemingly every day that in simpler times would've utterly destroyed the career of any politician, but which are now met with shoulder shrugs or exhausted bafflement or enough false equivalence to kill a patriotic-bunting- and boater-hat-wearing elephant. We are apparently not only post-fact, but post-ethics, post-democracy, and (at the rate things are going) post-America.
posted by Celsius1414 at 3:30 PM on December 7, 2016 [13 favorites]


I can't find the blog post, and I don't even remember what it was about, but I remember reading about the Tyson Effect earlier this year. Basically, the idea is that in the '90s, Mike Tyson was continuously getting into a scandal, one after the other, to the point where whenever a story came up, the default response was, "Yup, that's just Mike" and people shrugging their shoulders and figuring that's just the way things are. The lowest expectations possible.

The Republican Party has mastered that, and it is personified in their leader. Democrats who expect to beat them in a traditional match are completely deluding themselves in not realizing how much social expectations- and the culture of politics- have changed. To use an actual boxing metaphor, the media blitzes in the previous campaign that focused on Trump's personality were sheer rope-a-dope.
posted by Apocryphon at 3:46 PM on December 7, 2016 [6 favorites]


Outrage DoS
posted by ckape at 4:12 PM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


It's sort of like being indestructible.
posted by Apocryphon at 4:18 PM on December 7, 2016


At least it wasn't Bono again, because screw that guy.

No! Wait, that's it! The singer guy! He - he can save us! I used to have that record- it . . . where is it . . Yes! UhhhThe Unforgettable Fire! Yes that's it! We can get him over here, do some, I dunno concert tours or whatever and a little rock lobby money, change a few amendments and 2018! Senator, impeach, jab, jab, upper cut boom! President! He can do it in time ahhh somebody get his number or tweet or whatever the rock stars do, we can fix this! Yes! SAVE US BONGO!!
posted by petebest at 5:06 PM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


Democrats who expect to beat them in a traditional match are completely deluding themselves in not realizing how much social expectations- and the culture of politics- have changed. To use an actual boxing metaphor, the media blitzes in the previous campaign that focused on Trump's personality were sheer rope-a-dope.

Donald is going to be provoking us from every provokable angle. Our side needs a strategy so we don't fall for it every damn time like Charlie Brown and the football, because he's also going to use our reactions to the provocations against us.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 5:07 PM on December 7, 2016 [4 favorites]


Another thing I just noticed about the cover photograph is trump is lit from the left but the shadow looming over his shoulder is from the opposite direction. Also not by accident.
posted by bradbane at 5:25 PM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


I can't stop thinking of this bit from Stephen Colbert from (sigh) 16 years ago.

They look so young. We're all so fucking old now.

Colbert was brilliant on TDS. Everyone remembers him as his alter ego character from The Colbert Report, but I still remember "Even Stevphen" with Carell and Colbert, especially their debate on Islam vs. Christianity.

But the first thing that came to mind watching Colbert predict Bush's first day in office was that, if TDS were still around and he were skewering our current PEOTUS instead, the big story the next day would be Trump's late night Twitter tantrum – "twantrum" – whining about Colbert not being funny. And that's a very depressing thought, how comparatively carefree we were back in 2000 when the objectively unqualified George W. Bush was elected.

Trump's such a narcissist that he sucks all the air – and laughter – from our collective political discourse.
posted by krinklyfig at 6:20 PM on December 7, 2016


Oh, my bad, of course TDS is still around, but I mean with the same crew from back then.
posted by krinklyfig at 6:23 PM on December 7, 2016


I would like to once again reiterate that Pepe is a neutral meme used by racists; for years, he was just a frog with emotions. Pepe does not belong to the Nazis.

I hate frog-appropriatin' Nazis. [Revs gas pedal of Bluesmobile. Knocks alt-rightists working on a Pepe paper mache statue into the river.]
posted by jonp72 at 6:49 PM on December 7, 2016 [3 favorites]


Dunno. David Bowie Abe Vigoda set this whole shitty year off. The whole year was bound to be crap after Bowie Vigoda died, and boy, was it ever.
posted by machaus at 7:28 PM on December 7, 2016 [2 favorites]


Meanwhile, I just received the latest issue of the only old-school dead-tree magazine I still subscribe to... MAD Magazine. With its annual "20 Dumbest People, Events and Things of the Year" issue, with this cover. Of course, Trump's election victory was #1.

Their lead time is longer than Time's, so you can tell they had to hustle a bit to put TRUMP WINS on top. Sadly, MAD had been playing the "false equivalency" game itself throughout the campaign and there was some of it in the list (which visually depicted almost everything as movie parodies) ...
#2 The Clinton Foundation (featuring claims about several Hillary lies that WEREN'T)
#3 Flint, Michigan Water
#4 Roger Ailes vs. Women
#5 Trump's Advisors as The Suicide Squad (some poor associations, but Kellyanne as Harley Quinn was good)
#6 Cliven Bundy
#7 Ryan Lochte
#8 Wells Fargo Bank
#9 Anthony Weiner
#10 Pokemon Go
#11 North Carolina's Transgender Bathroom Law
#12 Epipen Price Gouging
#13 Donald Trump vs. Women
#14 Hillary's E-Mails (the most overwritten bit on the list with more bogus accusations)
#15 Gary Johnson
#16 Donald Trump vs. Taxes
#17 Samsung's Exploding Phones
#18 Michael Strahan (he quit one morning talk show for another... who cares?)
#19 Gender-swapped Ghostbusters (in Fold-in format that suggested something else)
#20 The Trump Foundation
Not a mention of any of the famous deaths. Or frogs (Pepe, Dat Boi or Kermit, whose show was canceled). Or megamergers. Or news media (besides Ailes), Or Superheroes (besides Suicide Squad... what they could've done with Deadpool but didn't). Stranger Things appeared on the article's 'title' page, but no Walking Dead, Game of Thrones or Westworld. And the issue's movie parody was "Silly" for "Sully".
Not a good year for MAD. In fact, Bad. Sad.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:02 PM on December 7, 2016


Hillary Clinton most admired woman in the world according to Gallop in:
1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002. 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.

And got the most votes for President in 2016.
posted by JackFlash at 8:41 PM on December 7, 2016 [6 favorites]


Donald Trump is Time's 2016 Person of the Year

2016 was a very shitty year
posted by mazola at 8:59 PM on December 7, 2016 [7 favorites]


I'd still argue that the Onion called it best four years ago with their Shrieking White Hot Sphere of Pure Rage

wow that was really spot on. the only thing I'd change is to call it an orange sphere but other than that...
posted by GospelofWesleyWillis at 9:04 PM on December 7, 2016 [4 favorites]


Clocked time of joke in 2007: 0:02:00
Clocked time of joke in 2008: 0:09:00
Clocked time of joke in 2009: 0:13:00
Clocked time of joke in 2010: 0:03:00
Clocked time of joke in 2011: 1:00:00
Clocked time of joke in 2012: 0:04:00
Clocked time of joke in 2013: 0:13:00
Clocked time of joke in 2014: 0:14:00
Clocked time of joke in 2015: 0:37:00
Clocked time of joke in 2016: 0:04:00
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 10:25 AM on December 7 [82 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]


I heard mention on the radio yesterday that Time was about to release the name of its person of the year, and I immediately thought, "Oh, I can't wait to go to Metafilter and see the clocked-time-of-joke joke!"

Thank you XQUZYPHYR for being an island of consistency in this unpredictable year.
posted by aka burlap at 9:58 PM on December 7, 2016 [5 favorites]


L.A.-based Holocaust claims lawyer sues FBI over Clinton warrant

I really take heart in these sorts of efforts. Not that it'll affect any particular outcomes, but anything that can be done to maintain a status quo of outrage can only help.
posted by klarck at 4:41 AM on December 8, 2016 [3 favorites]


Is anyone else seeing a subtle "devil horns" effect from the M on the actual cover?

The devil horns aren't a sign of covert resistance from within the belly of the beast. They're deliberate, and more a nod to Trump's massively successful bad-boy shtick than anything else. The public love a good heel.
posted by acb at 5:36 AM on December 8, 2016


I was listening to podcasts yesterday and I think it was on an episode of KCRW's Left, Right, & Center someone mentioned that President Elect Donald's policy of protectionism, lower corporate taxes, and less regulations might work because it's never been tried in this combination before. Is it true that it's never been tried? And does anyone have any articles or research that talk about this combination that's happened in another country either recently or within the last 80-100 years?
posted by FJT at 8:06 AM on December 8, 2016


Jumping off a skyscraper holding on to a blow-up pool might work too.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:21 AM on December 8, 2016 [5 favorites]


I believe "the Tyson effect" is attributed to Bill Simmons (and is referred to as the Tyson Zone, but that's splitting hairs).

John Mulaney also has a bit about this. He compares his drunk self to Michael Jackson (later in his life) - any story you hear about him could very well be true.

This concludes today's lesson in random crud I know instead of anything useful.
posted by giraffe at 9:45 AM on December 8, 2016 [3 favorites]


I was listening to podcasts yesterday and I think it was on an episode of KCRW's Left, Right, & Center someone mentioned that President Elect Donald's policy of protectionism, lower corporate taxes, and less regulations might work because it's never been tried in this combination before. Is it true that it's never been tried?

We more or less had protectionism (for northern industry), low taxes and 0 regulation in the 19th century. But that's not really a comparable historical situation because industrialization was in its infancy and there was good reason to protect the early manufacturing sector so that it could develop sufficiently before simply dying out due to competition. But now that capital is global, it readily flows to where labor is cheapest, and if we don't let American capital flow to cheap sources of labor, then European, Chinese, Brazilian capital will move there instead. They will then produce goods at a higher profit margin and with a lower price, and have the competitive advantage, and American companies will collapse. Taxes and regulation? So not only will American companies start to fail, but we'll dry up our tax base and pollute the environment and abuse workers? yep this is the magical recipe we need.
posted by dis_integration at 9:49 AM on December 8, 2016 [2 favorites]


Hillary Clinton most admired woman in the world according to Gallop

just to be completely clear, that's most admired by americans [source].
posted by andrewcooke at 12:39 PM on December 8, 2016


Bingo, that's the Tyson Zone article I was thinking of, which I see was brought up before on MeFi. That's got to be added to some sort of essential canon somewhere about "how to understand 2016."
posted by Apocryphon at 2:21 PM on December 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2007: n/a
Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2008: n/a
Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2009: 29 min
Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2010: 4 min
Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2011: n/a
Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2012: 10 min
Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2013: 2 min
Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2014: 2 min
Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2015: 4 min
Difference in clocked time from joke to clocked time of joke joke in 2016: 29 min

Median: 4 min
Mean: 11.4 min
Standard Deviation: 12.3 min
posted by Reverend John at 7:42 PM on December 8, 2016 [2 favorites]




Bye America (six months ago). White people you need to get your shit together but when is that going to ever fucking happen. Somebody needs to do something about you, and not you needs to be that somebody.
posted by osk at 9:52 PM on December 8, 2016 [2 favorites]


New thread here.
posted by lydhre at 10:26 AM on December 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


I photographed Donald Trump in late Nov, a time of historical importance as the world contemplates the crossroads we have reached.
When I photograph I am drawn to what is going on behind what appears to be happening. I attempt to make portraits of people that are more than a moment in time. Portraits that show a pause in a persons life and reflect humanity.
I picked a chair carefully for size and texture.
The venue was his Palatial living room which overlooks Central Park.
- Nadav Kander

You can see other photographers pick apart the technical aspects of the lighting in the comments, but yeah, "what is going on behind" was intentional and so is the one beam of light on the chair. Nice work by Nadav.
posted by bradbane at 12:04 PM on December 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


Reminds me of Arnold Newman's portrait of Nazi industrialist Alfred Krupp.

Here's a video of Newman talking about the photo.
posted by bradbane at 12:10 PM on December 9, 2016


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