FOX: Kasparov Is the Real “Man of the Year”

Time magazine may have swooned for Putin’s “steely gaze” but David Asman and the other sharp folks over at FoxBusiness know to look at the record instead of Putin’s eyes. Last week they decided to honor Other Russia leader Garry Kasparov, calling him “The Real ‘Man of the Year.”

NEW YORK — When Time Magazine chose Russia’s Vladimir Putin as its Man of the Year, a lot of folks were outraged.

Time answered back that their pick wasn’t an endorsement of Putin. After all, they chose Adolf Hitler as Man of the Year in 1938, even though they were appalled by what he was doing. But Hitler used Time’s designation as an endorsement, propagandizing that it elevated his status as a statesman.

And according to Garry Kasparov, Putin’s doing the same thing. The Kremlin’s ad men are using the Time cover at home to portray Putin as a class act.

That got us thinking. Why didn’t Time put Garry Kasparov on the cover as Man of the Year?

Kasparov’s battle with Putin is the kind of David and Goliath story that Time used to love. Kasparov is a former world chess champion who could easily sit back with his millions, living the lush life in Paris or New York. Instead, he puts his freedom and his life on the line, fighting against a former KGB bully, who uses the full force of a powerful state to crush all competition.

Now we admit we’re biased, because we know and like Kasparov. And we also recognize that one guy trying to reform a state like Russia is the long shot of all time.

But because Scoreboard loves long shots and genuine class acts, we pick Garry Kasparov over Vladimir Putin as our Man of the Year.