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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Smithsonian Names Sarah Palin One Of The Top 100 Most Significant Americans
In the following list, which of these people dont belong?
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
Franklin Roosevelt
Neil Armstrong
Martin Luther King Jr.
Frederick Douglass
Eleanor Roosevelt
Sarah Palin
Hellen Keller
Thomas Jefferson
Frank Sinatra
Michael Jackson
Mark Twain
Walt Disney
George W. Bush
Henry Ford
Jackie Robinson
Babe Ruth
Steve Jobs
Muhammad Ali
This is merely 20 of the people Smithsonian Magazine included in its list of the 100 most influential Americans of all-time. ALL-TIME! That means in all of American history, even prior to the founding of our nation.
And if you immediately picked out Sarah Palin as one the people on this list who stick out like a sore thumb, congratulations. Youre a sane and intelligent person.
The other person, though more deserving of the honor than Palin and yet probably doesnt belong there either, is George W. Bush.
Smithsonian put together their list by enlisting Steven Skiena, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Computer Science at Stony Brook University, and Charles B. Ward, an engineer at Google who is an expert in ranking methodologies. The pair used an algorithmic method of ranking historical figures, just as Google ranks web pages, and their concept of significance has less to do with achievement than with an individuals strength as an Internet meme how vividly he or she remains in our collective memory.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/11/22/the-smithsonian-names-sarah-palin-one-of-the-top-100-most-significant-americans-leaves-out-president-obama/
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Where are Willy Wonka and Grumpy Cat???
cyberswede
(26,117 posts)Nay
(12,051 posts)based on Internet memes? Have we totally lost our fucking minds?? Which right-wing think tank thought this shit up? And how did the Smithsonian fall for it?
Honestly, that meteor can hit any time now. I'm done.
pscot
(21,024 posts)madinmaryland
(64,933 posts)Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)for unleashing the tea party and the christian right.
Pandora's Box. Has that happened before in our history?
She may be an evil force, but her influence hasn't been
insignificant. Hideous, yes.
BeyondGeography
(39,377 posts)all tapped into those forces without needing Sarah Palin on the ticket. She brought absolutely nothing new to the right-wing political equation in terms of followers. If she did, she'd be a sitting VP right now.
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)All sorts of crazies, perhaps, have always run for office.
But her influence has caused them to start getting elected.
She empowered the craziest of the craziest to come out of the
woodwork and be herd.
er, heard.
maybe it was always going on but if so, I missed it.
BeyondGeography
(39,377 posts)much moreso than Sarah Palin. Boring but true. Do you think Eric Cantor feels he lost his job because of Sarah Palin?
The list is a quaint idea. Individuals don't have the impact they used to, unless they do something horrifically bad. I agree with whomever said W. should be on the list. Things actually did change because of him.
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)I think she was spark and fuel to the wider loony tinderbox.
cali
(114,904 posts)cyberswede
(26,117 posts)Exultant Democracy
(6,594 posts)to make America shitty almost all the time.
lpbk2713
(42,766 posts)It's not every day you find an idiot like this gain such prominence.
(Damn you all to hell John McLame)
tanyev
(42,594 posts)She's going to be insufferable after this. Even more, I mean.
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)Hekate
(90,769 posts)Jaw-dropping that she should be included in this list
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)Was there any particular reason to exclude the first African-American president but add the first female American clown-itician? Oh wait...
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Talk about digging to the bottom of the barrel
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)lot to them.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)The pair used an algorithmic method of ranking historical figures, just as Google ranks web pages, and their concept of significance has less to do with achievement than with an individuals strength as an Internet meme how vividly he or she remains in our collective
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)City Lights
(25,171 posts)Shame on them.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Dubya for being the worst president in history and destroying decades of progress. Palin for setting back women 100 years.
helpmetohelpyou
(589 posts)She single handedly started an entire movement inside the republican party
Her movement pretty much determined the way congress acted against the President
for the last 6 years
sunnystarr
(2,638 posts)unless you were quoting yourself.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/meet-100-most-significant-americans-all-time-180953341/?no-ist
helpmetohelpyou
(589 posts)sunnystarr
(2,638 posts)now I feel violated to know he was here. He's a big time Palin supporter.
treestar
(82,383 posts)The right has been in existence since before she was nationally heard of.
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,347 posts)which doesn't have the '10 categories' that the Smithsonian wanted. Still based on English Wikipedia, though, so American and British people get undo prominence (eg Henry VIII of England cannot be justified at #11; and Grover Cleveland at #98?)
http://ideas.time.com/2013/12/10/whos-biggest-the-100-most-significant-figures-in-history/
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,806 posts)Palin is arguably significant in having been the dumbest, most all-around egregious running mate ever.
madville
(7,412 posts)"How do we get attention and get people to talk about a list no one will look at?"
"Put Sarah Palin on it"
"You're a genius!"
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)but Dimson Bush certainly does...if you count "destroying the nation he was supposed to be leading" as "influential." We are going to be a long time recovering from that insane criminal.
demigoddess
(6,644 posts)HA HA HA
WhiteAndNerdy
(365 posts)-- source of material for comedians.
Cha
(297,503 posts)Stupid.
Mahalo Mr Scorpio~
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)Makes no sense whatsoevery.
Cha
(297,503 posts)Numero Uno!
No list needed to know that!
Cha
(297,503 posts)ucrdem
(15,512 posts)Cha
(297,503 posts)Presidents John Fitzgerald Kennedy(on today of all days).. and Barack Hussein Obama.
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)ucrdem
(15,512 posts).......
note to jury: no joke, he's on the Smithonian list: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/meet-100-most-significant-americans-all-time-180953341/?no-ist
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Cha
(297,503 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)They are being shown the error of their ways.
Cha
(297,503 posts)wheel gets the grease!
MFM008
(19,818 posts)I think Davey boy has his own wing in the Smithsonian. I wonder if politics influenced anything, including the absence of President Obama.
Action_Patrol
(845 posts)spanone
(135,858 posts)alarimer
(16,245 posts)Still this is a bullshit list anyway you look at it.