By Thomas Madison

What the hell are the clowns at Time magazine thinking when they select their Person of the Year?

As their Person of the Year, Time selected Angela Merkel, the Muslim-appeasing leader of Germany, who is destroying a prosperous and free Germany by opening its borders to Muslim migrants, who are pouring into the country in droves.

Merkel squeezed by ISIS goon Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who finished ahead of Donald Trump. Other notable runners-up include Blacks Lives Matter activists, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, and transgender circus oddity Caitlyn Jenner.

Par for the course, I reckon, from a magazine whose previous Persons of the Year include WWII anti-Semitic butcher Adolf Hitler (1938), mass murderer Josph Stalin (twice, 1939 and 1942), and Islamic nutjob Ayatollah Khomeini (1979).

From Julian Robinson, Daily Mail

Presidential hopeful Donald Trump epitomized the sore loser when he slammed German leader Angela Merkel being named Time Person of the Year.

Trump, who came in third after Merkel and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, responded to losing out on the title by claiming Time magazine had ‘picked the person who is ruining Germany’.

The 61-year-old German Chancellor topped a list of finalists that included Trump, the Black Lives Matter protest movement and Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick.

ISIS’s Bakr al-Baghdadi, described by Time as a ‘brooding muezzin of death’, was second on the list.

Merkel’s selection was announced this morning on NBC’s Today show.

She was praised by the magazine for her leadership on everything from Syrian refugees to the Greek debt crisis.

‘Leaders are tested only when people don’t want to follow,’ Time editor Nancy Gibbs said in a statement issued Wednesday.

‘For asking more of her country than most politicians would dare, for standing firm against tyranny as well as expedience and for providing steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply, Angela Merkel is TIME’s Person of the Year.’

In her commentary, Gibbs said the Chancellor was ‘not taking the easy road’.

‘Not once or twice but three times there has been reason to wonder this year whether Europe could continue to exist, not culturally or geographically but as a historic experiment in ambitious statecraft.

Merkel had already emerged as the indispensable player in managing Europe’s serial debt crises; she also led the West’s response to Vladimir Putin’s creeping theft of Ukraine.  But now the prospect of Greek bankruptcy threatened the very existence of the euro zone.

‘The migrant and refugee crisis challenged the principle of open borders. And finally, the carnage in Paris revived the reflex to slam doors, build walls and trust no one.

‘Each time Merkel stepped in. Germany would bail Greece out, on her strict terms. It would welcome refugees as casualties of radical Islamist savagery, not carriers of it.

Sour grapes? Donald Trump tweeted that Time magazine had 'picked the person who is ruining Germany'

Sore loser: Trump wasn't happy that he was beaten into third place by Mrs Merkel - although he didn't mention ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in his missive

Sore loser: Trump wasn’t happy that he was beaten into third place by Mrs Merkel – although he didn’t mention ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in his missive

Merkel, pictured today arriving at the German government's weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, was praised by the magazine for her leadership on everything from Syrian refugees to the Greek debt crisis

Merkel, pictured today arriving at the German government’s weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, was praised by the magazine for her leadership on everything from Syrian refugees to the Greek debt crisis

‘And it would deploy troops abroad in the fight against ISIS… You can agree with her or not, but she is not taking the easy road.’

The annual Person of the Year issue profiles a person, group or idea that ‘for better or for worse…has done the most to influence the events of the year’.

RESULTS: THE TOP SEVEN

1. German Chancellor Angela Merkel

2. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

3. Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump

4. Black Lives Matter activists

5. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

6. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick

7. Reality star Caitlyn Jenner

ISIS chief Al-Baghdadi was named second on the list of seven. Time correspondent Massimo Calabresi wrote that ‘the violent and the suicidal, the lawless and the fanatical’ had gathered ‘in cyberspace from around the world to pledge allegiance’ to the ISIS leader’s self-proclaimed caliphate.

He wrote: ‘Whatever he does in the coming months and years, al-Baghdadi has made himself the new face of terrorism and Target No. 1 in the long struggle to defend humane values.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was named in third place amid a storm of controversy over his demand for ‘a total and complete shutdown’ of Muslim immigration into America.

Time’s Washington Bureau Chief Michael Scherer wrote that the Republican nomination was ‘within [Donald Trump’s] grasp, which means the presidency as well, which will bring, he promises, a new national Valhalla, a chance to “Make America Great Again”.

Scherer added: ‘He makes no apologies, even when he is wrong or people get pummeled. His words are weapons, slicing through the national consciousness.

‘But there is a larger question of how Trump’s tough rhetoric and policies might change the country, and the world, in ways he does not directly control.’

The US tycoon-turned-politician himself was not pleased to lose out to Merkel.

After the announcement, Trump tweeted: ‘I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite. They picked person who is ruining Germany.’

Fourth on the list was the Black Lives Matter protest movement which Time said had ‘blossomed from a protest cry into a genuine political force’.

‘Groups that embraced the slogan hounded police chiefs from their jobs, won landmark prosecutions and turned college campuses into cauldrons of social ferment.’

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pictured), described by Time as a 'brooding muezzin of death', was second on the list

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pictured), described by Time as a ‘brooding muezzin of death’, was second on the list

Hassan Rouhani: The Iranian president has been seeking to bring his country out of isolation and into international relations by brokering a deal to end their nuclear program

Hassan Rouhani: The Iranian president has been seeking to bring his country out of isolation and into international relations by brokering a deal to end their nuclear program

Black Lives Matter activists: Protests have swept the country, drawing attention to lingering racial injustices

Black Lives Matter activists: Protests have swept the country, drawing attention to lingering racial injustices

Caitlyn Jenner: The Olympian has become a face of the LGBT community after announcing this year that she is transgender

Travis Kalanick: As CEO of Uber, Kalanick has revolutionized the way Americans travel

Caitlyn Jenner (left) has become a face of the LGBT community after announcing this year that she is transgender while Travis Kalanick (right) has revolutionised the way Americans travel

Fifth place went to the seventh President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, who Time said had ’emerged this year as a historic figure, perhaps the harbinger of a new political calculus within Iran —a significant step toward normalization, both within the country and in its dealings with the rest of the world.’

He was named above the CEO of Uber Travis Kalanick whose operation has grown from five cars operating in San Francisco to delivering 3 million rides a day in 66 countries.

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