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

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:

Comments

[PapayaSF]

Jimmy Carter beats the Dalai Lama? Angelina Jolie beats Margaret Thatcher? The perils of polls haven't been so clear since a 1974 CKLW radio poll determined the best song of all time was "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas. (I remember the DJ pleading: "This is for the best song of all time, people, not for your favorite song this week!")

[wylie]

Not sure what you'd expect when 75-78% of the populace have an IQ under 50 and an attention span that last all of 5secs.

[Suki]

What?

[wylie]

See what I mean.

[Oso Politico]

Huh?

[creech]

Huh? I doubt 10% of the population even would know who the Dalai Lama is, let alone why he should be admired.

[Sam Grove]

By definition, 50% of the population have an IQ of less than 100 and 50% above, less, of course, the percentage that have an IQ of exactly 100.

[wylie]

I'm too dumb to understand how IQ is rated...well played sir.

[CE]

50% of the people have an IQ under 100 (by definition), so I fail to see how 78% could be under 50....

[Dave]

100 is, by definition, the average IQ. Sadly (for humanity), I'm the fellow who ruined the curve. My IQ, being on the order of 208,000,000,000 is by itself responsible for approximately 32 IQ points "available" to the "average" human. Together with a few other humans of moderate intelligence, my presence has sorely distorted popular perceptions of human intelligence.

My sincere apologies for your disappointment.

[Banana]

The only poll that really matters is the one that determines, once and for all, the best rock 'n' roll song of all time. All the other ones are just dumb.

[Episiarch]

As VH1 has shown us, there are in fact 50 greatest rock and roll songs, not one. And the list changes every month.

Speaking of which, maybe VH1 can take over the presidential list or the most admired person list, and have Mario Cantone explain it to us. That would be illuminating.

[Jim]

I know this much: It ain't "Stairway to Heaven" despite the dinosaur rock station telling you so.

[Slut Bunwalla]

Correct. It's "We Built This City" by Starship.

[wylie]

As far as "message" goes, I have to really agree with what that song is saying.

If that song came out today:

We Built This City On Sin Taxes And Union Pensions.

[Slut Bunwalla]

That's way too many syllables.

[wylie]

Yeah, so it fits with my observation of contemporary politics AND music.

[Trespassers W]

Everybody's playing corporation games. Who cares? They're always changing corporation names.

[Kristen]

White Rabbit

[NO!]

Knights in White Satin/Late Lament

[Jerry]

Did Gallup supply a name list?

[Suki]

Where is George Clinton? RACIST!

[P Brooks]

*grimaces, beats head on desk*

[Fiscal Meth]

Aung San Suu Kyi and Bill Gates are the only ones who should be up there. And Gates is certainly up there for the wrong reasons. Why would Americans admire the man who brought them the PC? He made money didn't he? He should be loathed until he drops most of it out of a hellicopter over Africa. I'm sure the gangsters and tyrants and pirates will let it all be used to help the unarmed needy.

[B]

As pathetic a list as I could imagine. There are only a few men that are admirable at all:

Men: Nelson Mandela (though he's really a figurehead), Billy Graham, Bill Gates, and Jimmy Carter (though all with great flaws).

Women: Condoleezza Rice, Angelina Jolie, Margaret Thatcher, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The better performance of these four women is somewhat marred by those denizens of Hell, Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey, taking the 1st and 3rd spots, and the unimpressive Sarah Palin taking 2nd.

[Spazmo]

Given that your list includes at least 3 people who are responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents, I'm not sure how it's much of an improvement.

[rac]

Exactly. How could anyone admire Mandela, Jolie and Graham?

[Dave]

"admirable at all" =/= "admirable"

[hmm]

The truly sad thing is that only 3 of those people, and arguably so, are entrepreneurs in the private sector.

[Daze]

How many votes did George Clinton get?

[Sean]

We Don't Need Another Hero is definitely not the best song on Northern Kings first album. The album would be worth owning for the Don't Stop Believin' rendition alone.

I love The Jacket even more for being familiar with Finnish pop metal supergroups. Truly he is a rennaisance man.

[Anti-War Libertarian]

Listen all! This is the truth of it. Fighting leads to killing, and killing gets to warring. And that was damn near the death of us all. Look at us now! Busted up, and everyone talking about hard rain! But we've learned, by the dust of them all... Bartertown learned. Now, when men get to fighting, it happens here! And it finishes here! Two men enter; one man leaves.

[Episiarch]

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...dyin' time's here.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Well, ain't we a pair, raggedy man?

[NO!]

RW: Bullshit!
A: No, pig shit.

[Hugh Akston]

The fact that Batman didn't make the cut reveals the failure of the polling methods and the worthlessness of the list.

[Slut Bunwalla]

I wonder how many people, if any, answered "Batman".

[Sean]

I would. But then, I own this shirt

[P Brooks]

There's hardly anybody on either of those lists who wouldn't appear on my "People I'd Really Like to Drop a Piano on" list.

[wylie]

Typical monocle wearing response. Can't drop anything cheap or blue-collar like an anvil. Has to be a piano or a giant gold brick.

[rac]

Or a golden deuce.

[wylie]

Shit is obviously WAY too blue-collar.

[Spur]

Because I'm an out of touch left coast liberalitarian I'd keep some of the foreigners on there like the Burnese lady - Mandela and the Dalai and perhaps ten years ago Bill Gates but thats about it.

[MWG]

Penn and Teller did an excellent hit piece on the Lama, Mother Teresa, and Ghandi on their show Bullshit.

[Sam Grove]

The supposed link to the Tina Turner version goes to the Northern Kings ON utube.

[rac]

Since Julian Assange is not on the list, I take it Nick didn't get a vote.

[Daze]

There's nothing wrong with having heroes, but there wouldn't be any politicians on my personal list.

[Almanian]

1. Clint Smith
2. Jack and Terry Lee (SFU Pipe Band)
3. John L. Browning
4. The Ross from Australia who invented the Ross Canister system for bagpipes.
5. Stanley Clarke

1. Bridget Fonda
2. Natasha Henstridge
3. Tyra Banks
4. Jessica Biel (mostly her ass)
5. Jessica Alba

[Hugh Akston]

Episiarch, good news: you are no longer history's greatest monster.

[SIV]

Bridget Fonda? I hope she is your wife or something because otherwise...

[Bert]

I think its safe to say that George W. Bush is the most admired man if you only count white people. Are these the wrong kind of white people?

[Rrabbit]

Did the poll come with a promise to send the most admired people one a one was trip to Pluto?

[wylie]

Pluto, New Earth, The Sun....whatever.

[SIV]

Lindsay Lohan wuz robbed.

[johnl]

Mostly a list of unaccomplished people.

[schooner]

Upset your name isn't on it ?

[johnl]

Upset that no male artists were listed. Except for B16, I can't imagine wanting to drink beer with any of those guys as much as Prince or Dylan.

[wylie]

Drink beer with Prince? I dunno. Eat some pancakes, sure.

[Trespassers W]

And then purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.

[Oso Politico]

Here is my list:

[wylie]

Very concise, Oso.

[Jim Walsh]

My father is the man I most admire. I truly feel sorry for anyone who can't say the same for their own parents(s)...

[Jim Walsh]

Oh, and BTW, "Kung Fu Fighting" IS a pretty good song. Beats the hell out of any of that pseudo-intellectual "progressive" FM crap that was coming out at the same time...