The Most Important People Of 2004

My top-ten list of 2004 (subject to updates). This list is in no way a “best people of 2004”; it is a countdown of who has defined this year, as history will see it, and certainly contains quite a few horrendous people. The list includes some who are only small figures, and wouldn’t be included at all if not for the likelihood that they will, someday, be at the top of the list (such as Obama). It also includes some who have been selected to represent a much larger group (specifically, the Iraqi soccer team, which exemplified Iraq’s potential and ability to improve). Now, to the countdown:

10: Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan (has helped the US fight terrorism, is working to end conflicts with India, and may eventually help turn Pakistan into a more free nation)
9: Iraqi soccer team, which represents the recovery of all of Iraq
8: Omar hasan Ahmed al-Bashir, the president of Sudan (genocide)
7: Barack Obama
6: Mel Gibson
5: Roger Ailes, the President, CEO, and Chairman of FOX News
4: Hamid Karzai, the first and (so far) only failry elected president of Afghanistan
3: Burt Rutan, the man who designed SpaceShipOne and put the first commercial astronaut into space
2: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the two founders of Google. Some day, these two, or their followers, will top this list.
1: Michael Moore, whose irrelevance is the harbinger of a changing United States. History is unlikely to pick him as the most important figure of the year, if it even remembers him at all; but, at this time, the inability of Michael Moore to get Bush out of the White House signals a decline of the importance of celebrities and the media.

Runners-up and honorable mentions: Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, Teresa Heinz Kerry (she’s more memorable than John Kerry), John Stewart (yeah, the comedian on The Daily Show With John Stewart. He’s one of few liberals that tries to be fair, will admit his bias, and does an incredibly good job), Tony Blair, the people of Pixar (the animation company that has pretty much replaced Disney. Perhaps these guys should have had an earlier year, but they deserve mention for The Incredibles this year) and probably many others who are of great importance but didn’t stand out in this year alone.