I received 30 responses. “Dad” led with 4 responses; Michael Jordan came in second with 3. Seconds came in for Mandela and Bibi Netanyahu. Clinton got one vote but several people mentioned him favorably, as did God, Al Gore, the head of the CIA, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Harkin, Howard Metzenbaum, Mike Kinsley, Janet Reno, Bill Gates, Ted Kuczinsky’s (the unabomber) brother who turned him in, Richard Branson of Virgin, Helmut Kohl, and King Hussein of Jordan, a brother and mom. one person nominated me. how cute. Some others are listed below. If people gave me a list, i only used the first name on it. my nomination appears at the end.
Following are excerpts from some of the more intriguing nominations:
There are so many people for whom I share high admiration, but one of the more outstanding is Oprah Winfrey. She went from a no-name, two-bit weatherperson down south and really made something of herself. A top- rated TV show for over a decad and CEO of HARPO, a multi-million dollar TV Broadcasting company, Oprah is a house hold word and she gently impelements her agenda of bringing healing and conciousness raising to the “greater American public”. YOU GO GIRL- OPRAH!!
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Easy question to answer…The person I admire most is: Nelson Mandela, because He defeated apartheid in South Africa, and liberated his people simply by the force of his will and the strength and truth of his beliefs. He proved that a free people cannot be held in bondage forever. It gives me hope that someday (in spite of all that is going on now) the Palestinians will be able to do the same Nothing more needs to be said.
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If forced at gunpoint to name one individual, probably Patrick Bossert, for his elegant solution to the Y2K problem for embedded systems.
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I admire my father and brother the most. I strive to be like them. I seem to recall you met him at Penn. Another person is a New Jersey cop, whose name I forget, who made the front page of the Local Section of the New York Times a week or two ago. He turned in fellow corrupt police officers to the FBI, and has since been fired and virtually blacklisted from local police forces.
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#1 Business Person: Richard Branson (owner and CEO of the Virgin group of companies)- he is able to combine a great entrepreneur and businessman, a family father, and a real adventurer and sportsman
#1 Political Person: Helmut Kohl (former German chancellor) – he was the key person to the German and European union ———-
I could mention names (there are a few), but you probably dont know them.
I think that’s one small reason why they are so admirable.
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Although I dispise him and am disgusted by him, I guess I would have to say Bibi, for his ability to endure. and a second runner up would definietly be Arie Der’ee again for the same reasons. Mark my words, Der’ee will be prime minister one day.
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Dr.Laura Schlessinger holds a postdoctoral certification and licensing in marriage and familky therapy. She hosts her own internationally syndicated radio program in which she answers call-ins about morals, values and ethics. She, her husband and son completed their orthodox conversion to Judaism in 1998.
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OK, now here’s Ivan’s nomination:
my nomination (made before i put out this poll) is King Hussein of Jordan. I have been thinking about a lot and today decided that i will stick with this choice. i had been vacillating because i wanted to be sure that his choice of abdullah to succeed him was judicious and i agree that it is. why him? here’s 10 reasons though i’m sure i could come up with more:
1. he has survived as king for 47 years. started when he was a teenager. anyone else out there been around that long in such an inherently unstable neighborhood? or anywhere?
2. the people of jordan really really like him alot and he genuinely likes his people.
3. he made mistakes (ie: the 1967 war), admits to them and learned from them.
4. he runs an honest show and does not appear to tolerate corruption. the people of jordan are a classy responsible breed and honest in great part because the government is relatively clean and they follow the leader who set the rules and the tone.
5. he is a patriot who wants stability and prosperity for his people and country and has been willing to put his life on the line and do unpopular things such as make peace with israel (so far not a good deal for jordan) and stick with it. think about what it meant when 5 years after the 67 war he gets in a helicopter and flies to israel to warn them of the 1973 war.
6. he is a real people person. remember when he visited the families in israel whose children were shot by a crazed border guard. think about this: if king hussein would run for prime minister of israel, i’d bet hands down that at least one-third of the country would vote for him.
7. he is a wise person who says great things who brings peace. he got off his cancer bed at the mayo clinic to talk sense to bibi and arafat at the wye plantation and was credited with getting the sides to agree. doesn’t matter if the agreement held up. the point is what he did at that moment. his speeches at rabin’s funeral and at the white house on several occasions are memorable.
8. he took the initially risky step of insuring a stable succession by staring down 30 years of history and putting his brother hassan to the side in favor of abdullah.
9. he’s cool — a pilot.
10. he is a king but truly fears g-d. not just talks about it.
