Time magazine has published another one of those silly and meaningless lists some in the media occasionally and irritatingly compile to validate their self-importance. It is the 100 "most influential people in the world." I didn't make it, but then I don't make other lists like People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive," which must be an oversight.

Time never tells us what qualifies these people as influential. Dictionary.com defines influence as, "the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others."

Who on Time's list fits the definition of "influential"? Not Tim Russert, who is a terrific interviewer, but how much influence could he have at 11 a.m. on a Sunday morning when millions are in church? "If it's Sunday, it is 'Meet the Press'" he signs off every week. No, if it's Sunday, for more people than watch his program, it is church.

Why is Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the list? Most of the world's people don't live in New York City, though on Friday afternoons while trying to escape by plane or car it sometimes seems that way. Maybe he's influential because of the high taxes and high tolls over which he presides.

Tony Blair? I haven't noticed an increase in fish and chips consumption since he was Britain's prime minister.

George Clooney? Chris Rock? I think Chris Rock is one of the funniest men alive, but I usually switch channels when he comes on because his vocabulary seems limited to a vulgarity that describes the sex act. That isn't talent, much less influence, unless Time wants to credit him with the dubious distinction of increasing the public utterance of the F-word.

Oprah Winfrey? For a lot of women, I suppose, but surely not a majority of women. Does anyone watch her show in China?

I'll grant the influence label to the head of Saudi Arabia's House of Saud, only because he continues to take more of our money by raising the price of oil. Real influence, though, would be American political leadership vowing to make us free of Saudi oil and its influence. I might vote for such a leader, especially if he (or she) came up with a slogan like, "Let Œem Eat Sand." Continued...