25 Most Influential People of the Past 25 Years

Dear Julie,

I woke up this morning listening to Mike & Mike in the Morning, as I do day every weekday morning. Greenie (Mike Greenberg -- the Metrosexual Mike) was quizzing Golic (Mike Golic -- the Macho Mike) on who made the USA Today's list of Most Influential People of the Past 25 Years. Now granted, these lists are always controversial. But this list is ridonculous.

Let's take a look at some of the names on this list, shall we?

#1: Bill Gates. Okay, I'll buy him on that list. Let's just hope his haircut isn't influential.

#2: Ronald Regan. Helping end the Cold War is impressive. I guess we're erasing "Bedtime for Bonzo" from his legacy.

#3: Oprah Winfrey. She's the only person who appears on her magazine cover and she has more money than God.

#4 & 5: Francis Collins & J. Craig Venter, mappers of the human genome. I bet these guys are seething over their placement behind a talk show hostess. (Sadly for American education, there was a question on M&M about whether or not this was in any way related to Gnomes.)

#6: Osama Bin Laden. I guess one can be a horrific influence.

#7: Stephen Hawking. Do you ever wonder if people just assume he's brilliant because they don't have clue what he's talking about?

#8: Lance Armstrong. Uh, he rides a bike & hangs out what that creepy Matthew McConaughey.

#9: Pope John Paul II. USA Today is going straight to hell. The Pope behind a talk show hostess???

#10: Bono. Yes, Bono.

#11: Mikhail Gorbachev. You end Communism and still end up behind a talk show hostess & a scruffy singer.

#12 & 13: Sergey Brin & Larry Page, co-founders of Google. Well, they actually have improved the quality of my life significantly. More so than Stephen Hawking.

Other notables....

#18: Howard Schultz, Starbucks entrepreneur. All hail the Coffee God. Liquid crack-rock for the mobile masses.

#20: J.K. Rowling, author. Great proponent of literacy? Yes. Most influential in the past quarter century? I think not.

Why do I even bother with these stupid lists??? Have a good day, Chicken.

Love,
Karen