I was pleased to see Time Magazine name President Bush as their Man of the Year. Now, of course it would have been nice if bloggers would have received the honor. But somehow, I think the editors would have been thinking of the likes of Glenn Reynolds and the Powerline boys rather than James and I. Oh well, there's always next year.

And, the choice could have been much, much worse:

Kelly said other candidates included Michael Moore and Mel Gibson, "because in different ways their movies tapped in to deep cultural streams," and political strategist Rove, who is widely credited with engineering Bush's win. Kelly said choosing Rove alone would have taken away from the credit he said Bush deserves.

I'm actually shocked that Rove didn't get a piece of this. While I've been accused by some of seeking the hidden power behind the throne (even when there isn't any), the media are even worse. And, in this case, I'll say that the Dems get the same treatment. To them, James Carville and Paul Begala were the brains behind the Clinton operation, just like Rove is the evil genius behind Bush.

Of course, in the media, Carville is a benevolent goofball - like a smart Terry Bradshaw. While, in the Bush=Hitler world, this is how things work: The evil Neo-Cons whisper in Dick Cheney's ear. Cheney tells Bush what they are going to do and Karl Rove figures out the best way to lie to the public to cover it all up.

So, I'm not sure how to take all of this. Clearly, Bush is getting credit for being more than a figurehead now. But, is he also getting credit for his resolute actions and winning the election, or is he just his own evil genius now?

Well, I don't think he's won over anyone in the media, just yet. Sam Dolnick, the AP reporter who wrote the story on Time's announcement and Time's Kelly, damns Bush with this "praise":

Kelly said Bush has changed dramatically since he was named Person of the Year in 2000 after the Supreme Court awarded him the presidency.

"He is not the same man," Kelly said. "He's a much more resolute man. He is personally as charming as ever but I think the kind of face he's shown to the American public is one of much, much greater determination."

Heh. That's awesome. Yes, Bush is resolute and determined, but let's never forget that the Supreme Court "awarded him the presidency". I seem to recall something about millions of voters, the Electoral College and that recount after recount in Florida went his way, but that's just me. I guess the media can grudgingly give credit where credit is due, but some things never change.