2010's Most Admired Men and Women
The way I see it, there are two possible interpretations of Gallup’s 2010 lists of the men and women most admired by Americans.
The cynic’s interpretation: A list including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter as the most admired men is evidence that Americans are imbeciles who are prone to the servile temptation, admire ruthless power wielders, and rejoice in the expansion of government.
The idealist’s interpretation: A list including George W. Bush, Nelson Mandela, Pope Benedict XVI, Rev. Billy Graham, and the Dalai Lama testifies to the value that Americans place on the qualities of humility, religiosity, and perseverance in the face of adversity.
The only thing that I can say for certain is that Ricochet’s top 10 most admired men and women lists would drastically differ from Gallup’s. Shall we give it a go?
Name one man and one woman that you have heard or read about, living today in any part of the world, that you admire most.
My own selections: Peter Robinson and Margaret Thatcher
(Yes, I know -- naming Peter may be a tacky, self-referential, and seemingly suck-up thing to do, but my selection stands.)
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Jul '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Any living recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor and Margaret Thatcher.
Jul '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Woo hoo!
May '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
I stand in awe of Peter, but girls aren't supposed to say so. Worried about this from the outset. He'll get a big head, and his Cuban wife will reach for the knife drawer. So the whole girl Peter Robinson cult should really go underground and be sort of a whisper campaign.
As to girls, I'd go with the Baroness Thatcher, the Divine Sarah, Megyn Kelly (tough as nails, that one), Jennifer Rubin (congratulations!) and Emma Watson, for being absurdly famous from an early age but not letting it go to her head so much.
Oh, and the editrices, in whose good graces I always endeavor to keep.
Jun '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Any Republican woman who won an election this November and any Republican man who won an election this November.
May '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Charles Murray and Margaret Thatcher
Murray doesn't seem so active or newsworthy of late, but I have always admired his willingness to go against the prevailing currents of politically correct thought, and his motivation by a deep compassion for the victims of snobbery and fashionable do-goodism. Losing Ground should be required reading for every politician (and probably every voter), and In Pursuit of Happiness is the definitive argument for why government should just leave us the hell alone. I have always thought almost everyone missed the point of The Bell Curve, which was how the Mandarinization of American society has led to pernicious social inequality and reduced opportunity for ordinary citizens. It is secondarily a brilliant treatment of the nature of intelligence, its measurement, and its effect on society, which treatment got Murray and Hernstein in PC trouble and permanently eclipsed the deeper message of the book.
No need to explain why I chose Baroness Thatcher, is there?
Sep '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Allen West. Sarah Palin, because she draws so much fire she allows the rest of us to maneuver freely. Honorable mention, VDH. And Chrystal Harris, because she draws so much fire she allows the rest of us to maneuver freely.
Jul '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
I'll throw in Rush Limbaugh. A Man, a microphone, and an opinion.... look what He's done with it and can do with it.
Oct '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Aug '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
John Marini and Clarence Thomas.
May '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Mark Steyn and Michelle Bachman
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Here are some well-known figures who come to mind: Margaret Thatcher (of course), Vaclav Havel, and Lech Walesa.
Here are some less well-known figures whom I greatly admire and whom I have spent time with or know tolerably well: Harry Wu, who exposed the Chinese Gulag in his book Bitter Winds; Sari Nusseibeh, author of Once Upon a Country and the leading Palestinian dove; and Patrick Leigh Fermor, whose astonishing wartime exploits on occupied Crete are described in W. Stanley Moss’s Ill Met by Moonlight and depicted by Dirk Bogarde in the film of the same name, and whose numerous travel books are the best to be had.
Edited on December 29, 2010 at 1:18amMay '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Darlene Zschech. Y'all may have no clue who she is, but I've been an admirer of hers since the late 90's. She was the music pastor at a mega church in Australia. She wrote the most currently popular Christian chorus in the world, "Shout to the Lord." She brought a lot of money and fame to her church and her family. What she's done with that attention and money is to plow it back into charitable organizations, particularly Compassion Australia and Hope: Rwanda. She's also not about hogging notoriety. In her position as Worship Pastor, she succeeded at setting up the next generation coming after her to being even more influential than she was.
May '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
I think the list is a travesty. The only one worth being up there is Bill Gates. I'll go with the Koch brothers.
May '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
After the Velvet Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall, I learned that Vaclav Havel and his friends had passed among themselves a contraband, mimeographed copy of Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom. Now there was a subversive act, I thought, so I made sure I got a copy. Changed my life.
My most admired? Hmm... currently, for the man I would have to say Pope Benedict, and for the woman - I hope this does not get me banished from Ricochet, but at the present time I think I have to go with Hillary Clinton, not because I admire her politics; I don't, but for being the only seemingly adult person of either sex in the Obama administration.
Runners-up in the woman's department: Sara Palin and Nikki Haley.
Honorable mention in the men's: Thomas Sowell and Mark Steyn.
Jun '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
The methodology of this list is odd. It counts only most or second-most admired people, instead of asking whom people admire and totalling the scores. That is, you can vote for Pres. Bush OR Pope Benedict OR Nelson Mandela (say), but not for all three. Doesn't it reward people whose support is narrow but intense? Many people may dislike such a person, but the people who like him are willing to say 'I admire X above anyone else.' Does such support really mark the 'most admired man?'
If I can only vote for one person, Pope Benedict gets the nod.
May '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Thomas Sowell and Mark Steyn
Nov '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Vaclav Havel.
May '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
At the risk of sounding corny, the man I most admire is my father, Dan Stephens. Regardless of all the other men in my life, or the world, dad taught me to how to be a good husband and father. These are my most important jobs.
The Woman I admire most is my wife, Linda. She is my earthly anchor.She puts up with my quirks and does not see it as putting up with me. She loves being a mom to our two children. She is patient and kind.
May '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Kervinlee
My most admired? ...I have to go with Hillary Clinton, not because I admire her politics; I don't, but for being the only seemingly adult person of either sex in the Obama administration.
Of all the women on this planet you chose Hilary Clinton because she seems like an adult? The same woman who thinks the United States should emulate Brazil's high-tax economic structure and during the midst of 9/11 wouldn't grant any interviews as senator of NY that didn't come with favorable PR opportunities. How about lying about landing in Bosnia and running from sniper fire...that never existed?
You didn't think someone like Condoleezza Rice deserved your admiration more?
May '10
Re: 2010's Most Admired Men and Women
Benedict and Thatcher.