“For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are TIME’s Persons of the Year,” announces TIME on its Web site today.
The story about Bill and Melinda Gates is “From Riches to Rags.”
The story about Bono is “The Constant Charmer.”
And there’s a conversation with the three. A snippet:
TIME When you first had Bono over for dinner, in 2002, were you aware of his celebrity or nervous about it?
MELINDA GATES: We’d certainly never had a rock star to the house before, but the whole reason we got together is because we have this joint cause. [To Bono] I have to be honest, we kind of came a lot later to your music than other people.
BONO: It was fresh not to be seen as a celebrity but as a piece in the puzzle of how we communicate the jeopardy of all those lives—and the opportunity of helping if we can just agree on something. It was nice not to be asked how the Achtung! Baby sessions went in Berlin.
M.G.: The first U2 concert we went to was in Seattle quite a bit later, and when you came out onstage, our reaction was quite different from your other fans’. It was more like “Oh, my gosh, does he know that all these people are here watching him? Oh, I hope he’s O.K.”
TIME Are you bigger music fans now?
BILL GATES: I’ve always been a music fan. Paul [Allen, Microsoft’s co-founder] played guitar and made sure I knew all the Jimi Hendrix songs. He’s a real music nut. Not many people create a music museum. [Allen founded Seattle’s Experience Music Project.]
B.: You couldn’t not listen to music if Paul Allen was your partner. So Jimi Hendrix helped form [slipping into a monster-movie voice] “the Brain of Bill!”
B.G.: Paul would always say, “Are you experienced?” And it would mean different things at different times.
B.: We can ask Melinda about that. … (Read all.)
P.S. There’s also a photo essay: “In The Name of Love,” “U2’s lead singer made debt relief the thing to do.”
I love Time‘s choice. It’s about giving. I could show attitude about some of the giving or unintended consequences, but I’m not in the mood to do that. I’m just gratified that Time decided to feature people who think about and try to do good. God knows this world needs all the constructive, outward-directed thinking and doing that we can all muster. (More at CNN.com.)
However, if you must have snark, go straight to Michelle Malkin, who says, “TIME’S LAME CHOICES — Okay. I don’t question that the rock star and the world’s biggest philanthropists are doing good for the world. (Interesting, isn’t it, that Bill Gates didn’t deserve the honor when he was actually creating something, but only earns Time magazine’s highest praise when he’s giving his money away. …”