Time's Person of the Year Is the 'Protester': Correct or Cop Out?

Movements like this are the catalyst for change, this world needs more people willing to stand up against oppression.

Anyone who speaks out against oppression and fights to save the people around them is the person of the universe imo.

when you look at the candidates the republican party has put up - you need to encourage these people - they stimulate debate - get people thinking.

If there are protesters is because there's things to protest about.
The world is a mess now!

The person of the year should be the hardworking individual that spends their time and effort supporting the occupy group and the leeches in the Federal government. The occupy group certainly doesn't speak for me. They need to be protesting the White House. I looked up Wall Street scams and the information I found was mostly scams lead by Democrats (which took a lot of checking on the side to even find out the party affiliation). They are using the stupid Federal government regulations to take advantage of investors. Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac are way up on the offender list. The DOJ isn't helping. If Republicans have been doing the same thing (very possible), I guess they just haven't gotten caught.

If a group of people desrved that at all it would be the soldier not protesters. They did nothing to actually produce anything but trash. Soldiers have built schools hospitals and even made friends out of enemies in war torn countries. What did protestors do on their own....making other people do something is not doing their own thing. I do see a big difference.

It's about time the average working man stood up to spoiled, arrogant and self destructive elitists. The world is beling destoyed by a bunch of greedy idiots who refuse to admit that "their way" is hurting all of us. Those who protest and speak out against such childish bevaivor should be honored.

The person of the year: the common person that stood up in the face of power for what is right, even if means their incarceration, injury and in some cases, death.

Protesters for the good of all people. I agree the Occupy movement is inspired by The Protesters
It is time for a major change to happen. Everyone has had enough!

This is because they are sorely deficient in new ideas and independent thinking! There are plenty of people across the country and even the world who seriously influenced this year and it is ridiculous for them to cop out and name "the protester"!! Besides the fact that over 90% of the protesters were completely uneducated in what they were protesting, being used by those who really organized the protests and never actually had any impact on policy or public opinion, it's ambiguous and completely inaccurate. All they did was fill dead air on news channels and late night talk shows. And before you go off thinking I'm only meaning the protesters at OWS, it goes for those across the ocean, too. They are just as misguided in some cases, unaware of how used they are and their destruction is causing the message to be lost. Hundreds of other individuals changed the way we thought, helped to change policies and in the long run, the world. But in the end, I feel this is just one more piece of evidence that our media is ever more unreliable, slanted and lazy! Sad...

It's awesome, leave it alone.

The protester first place winner for the cover, Paul Ryan second for the cover, and Time Magazine must have "Ivy" poison. Maybe they should have Rush Limbaugh, Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews.

I would say that it is about time for them to be honored for their efforts. They are at least trying to do something. If we do nothing then things will never change and our Economy will only get much worse!

Put aside politics and political parties: the protesters mentioned very well deserve their honors; for standing up to dictators, standing up for their morals, and for not settling with an over-controlling and unruly government despite threats on their lives.

What do you expect from America's PRAVDA!?

Just another decision based on the editors leftist politics and unencumbered by any kind of rational thought.

Really? Because I'm certain that many Republicans are thrilled that the Arab Spring had such an impact in toppling dictators they don't like. Calling something like this biased is like calling Fox News a credible source of information.

The protester has taken many shapes and forms, and a great many divisive causes. There's Tea Part movement, which should very well have had movement body of the year last year over Zuckerburg, but back then they went with the liberal entrepreneur of FaceBook. This year the Tea Party remains as strong and as influencial as ever, so they decided to give the honor to protesters from all over the world. How stupid is that! These protest movements are fickle and most of them fizzle out within a couple days. They so rarely get anything done, with the lone exception of the one sparked by the poor soul in Tunisia.

Choice are Gold, Platinum or a turd and some how we can pick the turd every time.

When I run out of this...

I'll use this....

I like that they are giving due respect to protesters. I noticed the top comment whining about the navy seals who took out Bin Laden... oh wait, isn't that their job? I admire what they did, but I believe the military is given more than enough recognition. I am pleased to see these brave souls honoured (the Arab protesters and those who have fought similar battles).

Wow, after reading all of the sickeningly right-wing comments, I can see how more articles like this are desperately needed!

Piss off a liberal by telling them the truth. Piss of a conservative by telling them a lie. Articles like this are needed for toilet tissue.

Although I'm rather liberal-minded, I agree and disagree with you. Liberals get pretty pissed off about lies, too, as conservatives get pretty pissed off by the truth... and sometimes it's for the right reasons, in both cases, as it's often for the wrong reasons (also in both cases).
Although I don't agree that Occupy protesters should have received recognition in this article, I do agree with their recognition of those who are protesting in countries where that simple action risks their lives... there are many protesters outside of developed countries who are protesting for things like basic human rights and freedoms. The "sickeningly right-wing comments" I speak of are the many comments that just show a conservative mindset as ignorant and brash... it doesn't really help any image. A lot of people are acting as though the article was praising self-indulged brats protesting for the rights to get high and do nothing while living comfortably.
I've seen intelligent posts from conservative people in here... unfortunately, it's overwhelmingly ignorant posts.

And If I believed that the article and the cover picture was directed to those who are in other countries fighting for their lives, I could agree with you in part. But Occupy has jumped all over this as a signature endorsement of their movement, which blames the very Capitalistic society that provides the tools their using to spread messages of anti-Capitalism! These Occupy protesters have ignored the first rule of Capitalism=It only works if you do, as well as the 2nd rule=Before getting into debt going after a degree, make sure that degree will help you get a job you can support yourself with!

That much I can agree with... we are a capitalist society and we need to learn to live within the society, or move to a different society.
I do think there are flaws in how capitalism has gone to insane greed, but Occupy is simply not dealing with anything correctly.

Given that the only "news" network that has gone to court for the right to lie and call it "news" is FOX, the right wing propaganda network, I would say you've got that backwards. Republicans don't DO truth. As Colbert put it, "...facts have a liberal bias."

You're Proving my point exactly! Since FOX didn't go to court to earn their supposed "right" to "lie", your point has little value! Facts have NO BIAS and the FACT that liberals cannot report "news" without bias makes your entire post irrelevant incompetent and immaterial......................

The military could be chosen any of the past 10 years... but this year more important issues were at hand rather than just some arabs we're trying to kill.

Nations of people rising up unarmed in the face of oppression and tyranny hiding behind armed soldiers, in many cases hundreds of innocents being shot, but that didn't stop people from rising up and declaring that they will not be oppressed.... that is much more courageous than a team of navy seals armed to the teeth taking down one arab on dialysis.

Wow, that's horrible ("rather than just some arabs we're trying to kill.")!
THAT is the type of comment to which I am referring. I like that it's not your opinion, though (I assume from the rest of your post). You couldn't be more right... nothing wrong with giving the military recognition, but what these people did was truly courageous.

A war based on lies that's been boring on for 10 years will make a lot of people nonchalant about it. I appreciate the troops but I don't appreciate them being lied to and dragged into a war for 10 years... and if we elect Newt or Romney, I guarantee they will drag us into an unnecessary war with Iran as well. This is crony capitalism at it's finest, you can't sell military weapons if we don't have wars... many wars are just a means to an end.

You mean like the Nobel Peace prize winning President who started several "kinetic military operations" in Libya and has quietly moved troops into African countries? You mean like the same President who was in favor of Afganistan?

sure, absolutely. I am against unnecessary wars regardless of who is in the White House.

Afghanistan was a valid war, although I don't agree with it at all now. Its useless now that we got Osama. I'm glad Obama's planning to withdraw us in a short while.

Libya wasn't a U.S. war, it was a U.N mandate against Gaddafi's government. The U.S simply did as it was told. Besides, we only shot a few missiles and downed a few planes, and now we have three new allies in a region that used to relatively dislike us. It was a very low cost operation. I find it to be a very good thing for America's future foreign policy regarding both Arabs and the Middle East. But I do agree, idiotic wars like Iraq and Vietnam are complete BS and I do not support them in any way.

Apologies, it was a NATO mandate, not a U.N.

Kuwait was a UN mandate and Bush was excoriated. I shed no tears for Quaddafi but he was essentially assasinated by a drone and The Prez is a hero. OBL was killed in a sovereign country supposedly without their permission. Kudos but the double standard is massive. If a conservative had done it there would be screaming from the rafters.

I see we haven't learned that bad can, indeed, go to worse where dictators are concerned.

See... It's the conservatives who have this all wrong. Obama doesn't want to be King of America... he wants to be King of Africa, and is using the United States to do it for him. (And this STILL isn't as crazy as half the stuff Republicans want to believe about him).

WOW. what color are the little pills the nurse gives you regularly?

look up the ownership of time,,,,,

Libyans, Kuwaitis, Egyptians, Jordanians, Iraqis -- they deserve it. Whether or not the regime shifts are successful is completely moot; they stood up for their rights and exercised basic human freedom in a huge way where that was previously avoided out of fear. It's the American Revolution all over town.

And OWS has very little to do with this, if anything. I'm sympathetic, but they shouldn't have been mentioned.