As what can come as no shock, Time magazine has named President-elect Barack Obama as its Person of the Year.

Time offers a glimpse into why they chose him: “He hit the American scene like a thunderclap, upended our politics, shattered decades of conventional wisdom and overcame centuries of the social pecking order. Understandably, you may be thinking Obama is on the cover for these big and flashy reasons: for ushering the country across a momentous symbolic line, for infusing our democracy with a new intensity of participation, for showing the world and ourselves that our most cherished myth — the one about boundless opportunity — has plenty of juice left in it.”

They conclude their reasoning with, “For having the confidence to sketch that kind of future in this gloomy hour and for showing the competence that makes Americans hopeful that he will pull it off, Barack Obama is Time's Person of the Year for 2008.”

They characterize him as “a Mr. Fix It going to Washington.” And what’s on his fix-it list? The economy, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, and climate change. These are issues that he admits keep him up at night.

When asked how voters would know if his administration was succeeding in two years, he answered that he hopes citizens measure him according to campaign benchmarks by asking the following questions:

Have we helped this economy recover?
Have we instituted financial regulations and rules of the road that assure this kind of crisis doesn't occur again?
Have we created jobs that pay well and allow families to support themselves?
Have we made significant progress on reducing the cost of health care and expanding coverage?
Have we begun what will probably be a decade-long project to shift America to a new energy economy?
Have we begun what may be an even longer project of revitalizing our public-school systems so we can compete in the 21st century?
Have we closed down Guantánamo, put a clear end to torture and restored a balance between the demands of our security and our Constitution?
Have we rebuilt alliances around the world effectively?
Have I drawn down U.S. troops out of Iraq?
Have we strengthened our approach in Afghanistan?
Have we been able to reinvigorate international institutions to deal with transnational threats, like climate change, that we can't solve on our own?

He continues, “And outside of specific policy measures, two years from now, I want the American people to be able to say, ‘Government's not perfect; there are some things Obama does that get on my nerves. But you know what? I feel like the government's working for me. I feel like it's accountable. I feel like it's transparent. I feel that I am well informed about what government actions are being taken. I feel that this is a President and an Administration that admits when it makes mistakes and adapts itself to new information, that believes in making decisions based on facts and on science as opposed to what is politically expedient.’ Those are some of the intangibles that I hope people two years from now can claim.”

Based on this, we see government will only get larger, further its stranglehold on the free market, heighten inflation, further devalue the dollar and add to the already enormous debt we have willed to future generations. As those who have studied the limited government philosophies of the Founding Fathers will tell you, government is a force that is not meant to work for you in a positive way. It is a negative force that needs to be restrained by the Constitution and stay out of the way of the progress of its citizens.

The Constitution spells out very clearly the role of the federal government and other than the question of the military and closing down Guantánamo, no where in the list of questions citizens are supposed to ask of the Obama administration does the Constitution give the government any role to create policy or abdicate its responsibility to another government entity. And it certainly does not allow itself to be diminished for the sake of security. As Benjamin Franklin once so astutely wrote, “Those who sacrifice liberty for temporary security, deserve neither.”

Time listed the runners-up for Person of the Year as Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, President of France Nicolas Sarkozy, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and Zhang Yimou, the Chinese film director responsible for the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games.

An interesting side note to all of this was that Congressman Ron Paul was asked to contribute his suggestion for Person of the Year, which was printed:

“Amid a horrific financial crisis, all we hear are calls for more of the money-printing, spending and subsidies that created this mess. So I choose my great teacher, Ludwig von Mises, champion of the Austrian School of economics, who taught us how a central bank like the Fed causes booms and busts and how to build prosperity through sound money and economic freedom.”

Ron Paul’s name also stood out when Rick Stengel, Managing Editor at Time, asked for submissions for the award via YouTube.

The New American magazine has been following Obama’s proposed solutions during his campaign and now during the transition. You can expect much more of this once the administration is sworn in.

Speculation has been high that Obama will undo some of the many, many wrongs that the Bush administration has inflicted upon the Constitution, particularly those liberty-robbing measures made in the name of security. One can hope, but one must get involved.

If you haven’t done so already, become a free, registered user of JBS.org. The built-in social networking functions of the site allow you to network with like-minded people. Plus, our cutting edge alert network will keep you up-to-date on the very latest pieces of legislation from the new session of Congress, including those that freedom-loving Americans should support and oppose.

After January 1, our alert network will also track legislation on a state level. We have the tools you need to be vigilant, be educated, and be heard.

Based on Obama's interview, freedom-loving Americans will need all the help they can get to steer back to limited government, more responsibility and — with God's help — a better world.

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Peter Steele said:

RE: Time Magazine I do not subscribe to this CFR - Trilateral Magazine which called Lenin a Man of the Year, Stalin the Man of the Year, Gorbachev the Man of the Decade, Ho Chi Minh the Nan of the Year, and other 20th Century Tyrants. Not once did Time magazize glorify George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as it well may glorify FDR and LBJ who gave us a socialist mess of a government which made Reagan say Government is the Problem and Not The Solution as I told Hal Shurtleff my coordinator that Dad said that Edward Moore Kennedy is his own worst enemy as I caught Kennedy making deals with the murderous Russian KGB people as I caught CFR member Thomas J. Watson of IBM doing the same thing at Brown University. I made friends with a Ukrainian woman saying that Chernobyl and Larry Pstton McDonald shocked my late father and me as well as Carter's film "The Day After" with the connivance of Sweden's Olaf Palm and David Rockefeller i the Blame America First crowd. I just as soon flush Time Magazine if I had a copy of it with the New York Times down the toilet hopefully not to clog the toilet! BGen Peter F. Steele and R.I/P. RADN Peter Steele, USN a Robert A. Tadt Republican during the 1950s. and a Birch Member 1964-1989

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December 18, 2008
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Lterzi said:

Solutions Besides the free on line connection, try something more tangible and more effective. Join the John Birch Society as full fledged member, join or start a JBS chpter in your city and become an effective agent for the Constitution. Ask for free info and field staff contact at www.jbs.org.Lionel P. Terzi Regional Field Director/JBS The John Birch Society 317-570-8807 Phone/Fax Cell 317-431-1025 lterzi@jbs.org The John Birch Society –Standing for Family and Freedom

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December 19, 2008
Votes: +1

Pat Henry said:

Proscribe government to ordained limits When I feel like "government is working for me," then I know that it reaches beyond its scope. Government, says one Guide Book, is to punish evildoers and encourage (by praise, not regulation for or against) those who do right. JUstice and freedom. Impartial justice will not be working for various "social classes," but allowing greater freedom to a moral, self-governed people, so they can benefit their own country.

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December 19, 2008
Votes: +1