POTY-mouthed

There has been much gushing and kvetching concerning the selection of George W. Bush as Time's Person of the Year for the second time. I can't get too up in arms about it; I mean, POTY has about as much cultural heft as the People's Choice Awards. Not that G.W. realizes it, but history hasn't always been kind to the POTY--Stalin and Nixon were twice winners, as well.

Still, I object strenuously to Time's lauding phrase "ten-gallon-hat leadership style." Enough of this myth-building already; G.W., a Connecticut Yankee by birth and pedigree, is not a cowboy. He only left the manicured lawns of the Houston suburbs for his beloved, authenticity-ready Crawford ranch in 1999 . He embraces the "Texas" style only because it suits his intellectual sloth and criminal lack of imagination. To avert a rant, I'll just say this: Shane didn't send little Joey out to face Jack Palance.