Politics

Pair of Obamas, Three Bushes, Two Clintons: Bad Poker Hand Masquerades as Most Admired Lists

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USA Today has released a list of the most admired men and women based on a poll of blah blah blah.

Here are the winners:

Most admired man:

 1. Barack Obama
2. George W. Bush
3. Bill Clinton
4. Nelson Mandela
5. Bill Gates
6. (tied) Pope Benedict XVI
6. (tied) Billy Graham
8. (tied) Jimmy Carter
8. (tied) Glenn Beck
10. The Dalai Lama

Most admired woman

1. Hillary Clinton
2. Sarah Palin
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Michelle Obama
5. Condoleezza Rice
6. Queen Elizabeth
7. Angelina Jolie
8. Margaret Thatcher
9. (tied) Aung San Suu Kyi
9. (tied) Laura Bush
9. (tied) Barbara Bush

President Obama is finishing his third straight year at the top of the charts. Hilary Clinton has been on the list for nine straight years and Billy Graham has showed up every time since 1955, when Gallup started doing this.

One small sign of hope: "Not everyone has a hero. Twenty-five percent declined to name a most-admired man and 22% didn't name a most-admired woman. About one in 10 chose a friend or relative."

More here. 

Now take it away, Northern Kings, who remind us that we don't need another version, especially by a Finnish combo, of Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)," which we didn't need in the first place: