Someone wrote on facebook:

There are two new entrants in the top 10 men — Buffett and Monson. Buffett and Monson have been mentioned in recent years but never made the top 10 until now. It is common for the president of the Mormon Church to receive mentions, but Monson is the first to make the top 10.

This is good news, and it is significant that someone like the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a religion that was persecuted in the beginning of its history in this country, is now among the top 10 Most Admired Men.

This being said, it is however someway puzzling that most admired men and women of all times have been mostly politicians and/or wives of politicians.

I said puzzling, but it is not really that. It is probably obvious because politicians (or those closed to them) are the kind of people who get the most coverage from the media, and they have a lot of opportunities to show what they do (good or bad).

Apparently Americans, like people in many other countries, are very influenced by what they hear day after day on TV and the radio, or now on the Internet. I wonder however, if they also think critically about the relative value of politicians versus other great contributors to our society. Or perhaps people envy those politicians, because of all the attention and power they have, and they admire them because they were able to obtain it (and they did not).

Among the most admired men, every single one was a US president, and among women, only Mother Theresa was not a politician herself or the wife of a US president.

I wonder why people complain about politicians, since they admire them so much!

However, I feel grateful that at least a few religious men have been mentioned this year, includind Billy Grahams, the Pope, and President Thomas Monson.

However, this poll mostly confirms to me that the power of the media is too great on the mind of the people!