Friday, January 26, 2007

"Brilliant at Breakfast's" Top 20 People of 2006

I believe I've already owned up here to being a bit of a sucker for lists. Typically this is in categories like books-read-this-year, best 1,000 R&R songs of all time, or top 100 of the year, that sort of thing. In contrast, I find People-Mag-type lists - Most Convincing Liar, Worst Dressed, Least Promiscuous, Most Reviled, Most Asymmetric Face, Most Sinful, Best Botox Survivor, etc., a total bore.

But I ran across this intriguing people list tonight at Brilliant at Breakfast (BaB). The poster caveats, appropriately, that the list is a bit light on women. I agree, I could come up with female entries (Cindy Sheehan and Dixie Chicks are easy examples) to replace a number of males that were either unfamiliar or did not resonate strongly enough with me for such an elite list, but I defer to and accept rationale. We have to start somewhere.

BaB gets high marks for both selections and great annotations. I was slapping thighs and otherwise getting emotional pretty steadily as I worked my way through the list. Great stuff. You should certainly check out the original for the full effect. I'm not sure how to summarize and yet tease; you will have to be the judge how I pulled that off. Hint - I was ecstatic over #1. I've refrained (mostly) from marking excisions - this was an intense cut-and-paste! In general, BaB has (appropropriately) a good deal more to say than my brief squib. I'm just trying to tantalize, hoping you will check out original and be as inspired as I was. Go there!

And of course the subtext is that any of us can make a difference. Voting matters. Disseminating information that counteracts the increasing spew of government propaganda is absolutely vital. Actions that serve to bolster anti-authoritarianism are both patriotic and heroic.

20. "Action" Jackson Jones. In a perilous year of complex problems, it may seem frivolous to give any spot on this list to an infant. Sure, he's cute in that "He Looks Just Like Old Man Finkelstein" kind of way, but why this particular baby?

13. George Clooney. As if it weren't enough to be gorgeous, talented, and an Academy Award nominee in 2005 for Good Night and Good Luck, George Clooney continued to put his money where his mouth is in 2006, lending his name, face, and clout to legislation introduced by strange political bedfellows Barack Obama and Sam Brownback to pay more attention to the genocide occurring in Darfur.

9. The New York Mets.

4. Stephen Colbert. Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner was one of the most astounding addresses ever given in front of a room full of people. It isn't everyone who can ambush a president, a vice president, and their apologists in the media

2. Michael J. Fox. Michael J. Fox exposed the gargoyle behind even the lame mask of Rush Limbaugh. In coming forward in favor of candidates who support stem-cell research, Fox showed an entire nation what has become of one of their favorite television personalities. . . . Rush Limbaugh was understandably panicked, and the image of that fat bastard flailing around in a cruel parody of what he believed was an unmedicated, but in reality was an overmedicated Michael J. Fox showed what the talk radio right is really all about -- and it isn't about morality.

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