This is what Der Spiegel
has to say on Bush and the honor (via
Medienkritik):

Heartfelt congratulations to US President George W. Bush for winning the prestigious Time magazine "Man of the Year" award for the second time. We couldn’t agree with Time’s editors more. They say he won because of his successful re-election campaign (true) and his bold, uncompromising leadership (The Microsoft Word synonym for uncompromising? Stubborn. Can’t argue there.) Then again, they also say he won because of his forthright connection with the American people. Here, we’d clash swords. Wasn’t it Bush who spent much of his first term lying to the people about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction? Still, as Time editor Jim Kelly points out, Bush remains one of the world’s most polarizing figures and he single-handedly reshaped the global rules of politics "to fit his 10-gallon-hat leadership."

Bush joins an elite list of past world leaders who have been honored by Time. Each year since 1927 the magazine has singled out "the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or for ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse." The list includes many past US presidents. It also features Adolf Hitler (1938), Joseph Stalin (1939 and 1942) And Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran (1979)

Strangely, Bush -- known to prize loyalty and not to forgive easily -- told Time he doesn’t want people to like him. "I think the natural instinct for most people in the political world is that they want people to like them," he said. "On the other hand, I think sometimes I take kind of a delight in who the critics are." Does he want a list of names?

Danke sehr to our German friends.