Donald Trump Named TIME���s Person of the Year for 2016

To the surprise of no one, but a little surreal, nonetheless, comes the news that Donald Trump is TIME magazine���s 2016 Person of the Year.

Trump, appearing Wednesday on the Today show just after the announcement was made, had this to say about his selection:

���Me growing up reading TIME magazine, it���s a very important magazine. I���ve been lucky enough to be on the cover many times this year and last year, but I consider this a very, very great honor. To be on the cover of TIME magazine as Person of the Year is a tremendous honor.���

Still, Trump may wish to temper his enthusiasm just a tad. As so many others seem to do each year when TIME makes its choice, the President-elect seems to view the Person of the Year selection as though it is an entirely complimentary title. It is not, necessarily.

In fact, it���s worth noting that TIME���s selects as its ���honoree��� the person ���who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year.���

Indeed, the selection may not be complimentary at all, in Trump���s case. In closing out her write-up about the magazine���s 2016 choice, TIME���s Editor-in-Chief, Nancy Gibbs, says:

���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���s 2016 Person of the Year.���

What an honor.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large