I hate getting sucked into Time’s Person of the Year debate, which is basically a giant publicity stunt. But here I am.

The annual Time honor has such a long history that it’s assumed a certain gravitas, and I hardly begrudge the magazine for trying to milk it.

The first phase of the buzz building began when Time’s executive editor Ben Goldberger made the TV rounds to disclose the names of the finalists.

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Liz Cheney is on the list – a way for the Trump-bashing magazine to say, see, we picked a Republican, but one who has crusaded against Donald Trump.

Elon Musk is on the list, but he was the winner last year – making his selection far less likely, even with his disruptive takeover of Twitter.

Janet Yellin is on the list – maybe the most low-key Treasury secretary in modern history. That’s not real. They needed one Democrat.

Xi Jinping? Also not happening.

And then there’s Ron DeSantis. That triggered a barrage of criticism on "Morning Joe," with Mika Brzezinski declaring, "Ron DeSantis makes no sense to me!"

Well, said Goldberger, "he won a major re-election victory in Florida and is a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination."

Let’s pause for a moment, because is DeSantis really a front-runner in 2024? Yes, he won a near-landslide in Florida and has shrewdly made himself into a national figure, but it’s also possible he won’t run. Not likely, but possible. 

If the governor does jump in, it would be toward the summer of 2023. Trump might beat him, or DeSantis may split the anti-Trump vote with several other candidates (now John Bolton is talking about running), handing the former president the nomination.

In any event, DeSantis might be a legitimate Person of the Year contender next year, maybe even a lock, but how do you give him the nod in 2022?

Unless, that is, Time is just trying to stir up a little controversy.

But if you look at the sweep of history, the nod would have to go to the last name on the list, who was mentioned almost as an afterthought: Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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This is a leader who has inspired and rallied his country, against seemingly overwhelming odds, to repel a brutal and unprovoked Russian invasion, replete with war crimes and deliberate targeting of civilians. Not only that, but his brave troops have driven the Russians out of Kherson and recaptured substantial land along its eastern border. Just yesterday, Ukrainian drones hit targets inside Russia for the second straight day.

This is a former sitcom star who has been hailed by parliaments around the world, who has granted endless interviews despite the risks, who has successfully pressured the Biden administration and other western governments into providing tens of billions of dollars in aid and badly needed weapons. 

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And make no mistake: This is the biggest land war in Europe since World War II. If Vladmir Putin were to succeed, it would a grievous blow to the NATO alliance and a victory for this dictator’s effort to reassemble the Soviet empire under his sole control. 

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Yet I think it’s highly unlikely that Zelenskyy will win this contest. The reason? It’s not a controversial pick. Most people will say yeah, he deserves it, depriving Time of the buzzy debate it needs to make it more than a 12-hour story.

But he’s the obvious choice.

A Michigan man exposed his buttocks to a judge during a virtual court appearance on Monday.

Hassan Chokr, 35, was in court for a virtual emergency bond motion hearing regarding a charge of resisting arrest in Wayne County when he mooned Judge Regina Thomas, and the court has now revoked his bond, according to FOX 2.

Chokr was out on bond when he also allegedly yelled anti-Semitic comments outside a West Bloomfield Temple daycare on Friday.

The prosecutor said during the hearing that Chokr had "posted videos and statements on Instagram where he talks about buying guns and in one of his Instagram posts the defendant says 'Your Jew tactics will only backfire on you, you have no place on this earth, Jew [expletive] Jew mother [expletives]. A storm is coming to wipe you all out of our lives.'"

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Then Chokr, who had said he pleads the fifth, became frustrated. He began yelling and pointing at the camera during the hearing. Thomas said the court had muted Chokr's microphone amid his outburst.

"I want the record to reflect that while the court has muted the defendant's microphone he appears to be yelling and pointing at the camera at the Oakland County Jail," Thomas said. "And now he has removed his pants to show the court his backside."

Attorney Duane Johnson said he wanted to make a record of Chokr's defense in the case and the judge raised questions about the defendant's mental state.

"You can go ahead and make a record, but he seems to be mentally ill quite frankly," Thomas said. "I don't know why anyone would think it is appropriate to pull down his pants and show the court their behind during a court proceeding."

Johnson said a mental health evaluation "probably would be a good thing" and claimed that Chokr was expressing his freedom of speech. 

Thomas, however, pushed back on the First Amendment argument.

"We are free to say whatever we want to say, but we are not free from the consequences," Thomas said. "So if we are doing things that are unsafe, and we are infringing on other people's rights, we don't get to do and say anything we want to without the consequences of those actions. That's where your client finds himself today."

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"He exercised his right, and I am exercising my right to give him a consequence for that. Nothing that any of us do in this life is without consequence," she continued.

The judge also addressed accusations that Chokr went to a private property and harassed women and children. She said the court was concerned about him being in the community.