Jan.11

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Looking Back at 2023, Part III: Most Admirable Person

We did Most Deplorable Person on Tuesday, and now we move on to Most Admirable Person. We must admit, neither survey produced a list anything close to what we expected.

Once again, we are going to start with some runners-up:

America's Journalists

E.K.M. in Delaware, OH: America's remaining journalists, who do daily battle on our behalf in an unprecedented atmosphere of right-wing atrocities against truth. The writers for The Atlantic, reporters for The New York Times, columnists at The Washington Post—the list is long—and let's not forget small-market journalists, who are forced to do battle with local purveyors of hate along with, often, their own management.

Kate Cox, et al.

S.S. in Ithaca, NY: All the women in red states dealing with anti-abortion laws—especially those who lack the financial means and resources for other options, and those dealing with life-threatening situations, such as Kate Cox in Texas.

Yvon Chouinard

C.S. in Minneapolis, MN: The title belongs to Yvon Chouinard. No one—not one other leader comes close—walks the talk the way Chouinard has his entire life. Beginning in the 1960s, with his efforts to preserve rock faces by creating non-destructive climbing gear, and continuing through today, he has focused on Ma Nature. Most recently, Yvon gave his company, Patagonia, away. He created the Patagonia Purpose Trust and the Holdfast Collective, which is focused on climate change and the environment.

Shawn Fain

A.H. in Atlanta, GA: Guy led auto strikes and got workers much better benefits and conditions, not to mention raising union support to 67%

Defenders of the Book

D.E. in Lancaster, PA: I would like to nominate Kate, the Girl Scout from Hanover, VA, for creating a web site for books her local school board banned; actor LeVar Burton (Kunta Kinte, Geordi LaForge and Reading Rainbow), for his tireless efforts to push back on book banning; The Banned Book Club (and President Obama, who loves reading and who promoted it on his then Twitter account), which makes banned books available online in an app form; and all the true Americans who have stood up to "Moms For Liberty" and their fascist agenda. Of course, I got these candidates from re-reading "This Week In Freudenfreude."

Dolly Parton

A.C. in Buffalo, NY: It's hard to recall all of the reasons, but just about once a week I see some headline about something philanthropic, or some good, kind-hearted deed that she has done. She somehow manages to keep her public political leanings somewhat agnostic, although it's fairly inconceivable that on the inside she could possibly have any sympathy or respect for the MAGA movement, based on how genuine and kind a person she appears to be.

And now, the top five:

5. Jack Smith

K.H. in Albuquerque, NM: My vote for most admirable goes to Jack Smith, for tackling the most important yet difficult cases in America today. He consistently shows his persistence, professionalism, and fidelity to the rule of law.

O.B. in Santa Monica, CA: To think I was skeptical when AG Merrick Garland first appointed him.

D.C. in Carbondale, IL: His unrelenting pursuit of justice and consequences, for an unrelenting criminal sociopath who never faced either so far. Help us, Jack; you're our only hope.

4. Taylor Swift

J.D. in Greensboro, NC: I thought long and hard and she popped into my mind because she represents much of what is possible in this great country of ours. She is a phenomenal entertainer for another generation and has made loads of money doing it, largely through hard work and canny promotion. And while she has risen to the top of her profession, she seems to have avoided the ego trappings of the game. Oh sure, her love life and the fact that she writes songs about it gets attention, but I've never seen a story about her throwing public tantrums or giving her boyfriends black eyes. Plus she does politics in the right way, in my opinion: She appeals to young people to become civically engaged and to me that is a winner all around. There could come a day that she comes unglued, but I doubt it and I hope not. For now her influence reigns and hopefully it will continue to urge younger generations to embrace civic activism and democracy. And this comes from someone who would not know one of her songs if she heard it on the radio!

R.L. in Rosemead, CA: Taylor Swift. Why? All you need to do is see the impact on the faces of my 16-year-old daughter and her friends.

J.P. in Glenside, PA: Time magazine has suggested she is the most influential person of 2023. But for me, mostly because she is dating that Kansas City Chiefs tight end and between them they have got right up Fox News' nose in a big way.

3. Jimmy Carter

S.D. in Homer, AK: Of all the 8 billion humans alive today, I admire Jimmy Carter the most, for his life of public service and decency.

M.G. in Boulder, CO: For showing us, over and over, what a decent human being is and can accomplish. Defeated when he tried for a second term, he moved on with great grace.

M.S. in Poplar Bluff, MO: For the past 40 years, he has taught us how a good man should live, and he is now showing us how a good man should live out the last of his days.

2. Joe Biden

M.N. in Chicago, IL: A few years ago, I thought I wanted Bernie Sanders to win, but I think Joe Biden has been the leader we needed and was better prepared to rise to the occasion of various crises and saying and doing the right things at the right time, in particular on support for Israel and Ukraine, and other international crises. Could he have done more, or more faster? Maybe, but not likely due to outside constraints on his power.

T.C. in Islesboro, ME: Nobody's perfect, but I'm aghast at how negatively the national press paints his presidency. He has pulled our country back from the edge of the abyss to a place where we can once again hope and dream. He takes so much flak for being "too old," but I feel it takes that kind of perspective to lead in times like these. Kudos to Joe for finding the drive to take the heat and fight the good fight even after all these years.

C.T. in Tucson, AZ: I have to give it to Joe Biden, a fundamentally decent man, who is effective, relatable and reaching the pinnacle of his career at the exact moment the country truly needed him.

His opponents and critics don't really have anything concrete to attack him on, so they revert to attacking him over things he really doesn't have much control over, or they attack his age, or attack his children—which is just despicable and would have been unheard of before the age of Trump. They got nothing.

The attacks from the left seem so ignorant as to what his powers actually are; he has no power to stop the Israeli government's war in Gaza, and he has a hostile Congress, so much of the unicorn-and-rainbows wishlist they want didn't happen. Still, they blame him for it, which is ludicrous.

What I think is truly missed is what he has done to position the U.S. for what it faces. The world is changing, globalization is ending. The world will become much more insular, and in my view China will collapse within a decade—their demographics, financial instability and insular political system will doom it, and other regional powers will be ascendant like it was prior to World War II. However, there will be a renaissance in U.S. manufacturing and energy, and the IRA, the CHIPS act and directions of federal policy have positioned us well. Would any of this have happened under a Republican administration? I doubt it. But we needed it.

Joe's superpower is that his enemies believe their own propaganda that he is a doddering old fool. I think he is crafty like a fox myself; history will be kind to the Biden administration.

1. Liz Cheney

D.T. in Louisville, KY: Probably there are countless "most admirable" caretakers—the people who, in Jesse Jackson's phrase in his 1988 Democratic convention speech, "take the early bus" and change bedpans and ease suffering. But at least in the public realm, the person who courageously made common cause with previous bitter antagonists, relentlessly demanded that truth be uncovered and confronted, and knowingly sacrificed her hard-won career and an extremely good chance to be Speaker of the House or more, inspiring millions of people to pause and pay tribute to the meaning of integrity and principle, was Liz Cheney. Plenty of items on the other side of the ledger with her, but no one else surpassed her demonstration of courage and honor in 2023.

B.H. in Southborough, MA: OMG, am I really going to say the daughter of Satan's seed, Liz Cheney? The political ethics bar is so low she looks like a hero to democracy.

A.H. in Brier, WA: Since this is a political site, I am restricting myself to politicians. And it's strange coming from a progressive liberal like me, but the most admirable politician of 2023 is Liz Cheney.

I disagree with her about nearly everything... except saving the United States from its descent into fascism. She sacrificed her political career in defense of the Constitution, and for that reason alone she is my Most Admirable.

Thanks to everyone who sent in votes. Next up is the worst event of 2023; if you'd like to weigh in, there is still time. Send a message to comments@electoral-vote.com with subject line "Worst Event." (V & Z)