President Barack Obama has been named Time’s Person of The Year. Here at FishbowlNY we were hoping that Malala Yousafzai was going to win, not just because she deserves to be honored as much as possible, but because there hasn’t been a woman POY for 26 years. Yousafzai was the runner-up, followed by Tim Cook.

Rick Stengal, Time’s managing editor, writes that Obama was chosen because he is making his mark on history:

Obama is the first Democratic President since FDR to win more than 50 percent of the vote in consecutive elections and the first President since 1940 to win re-election with an unemployment rate north of 7.5 percent. He has stitched together a winning coalition and perhaps a governing one as well. His presidency spells the end of the Reagan realignment that had defined American politics for 30 years. We are in the midst of historic cultural and demographic changes, and Obama is both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America.

Feel free to be upset about Obama winning or to not care at all.

Time readers/4Chan voted rocket-blastin’ Kim Jong-Un as 2012′s Person of The Year, but we still await the official Time Person of The Year announcement, which will come tomorrow morning.

In the meantime — in our continued effort to get you all ramped up about something that doesn’t really matter at all — below are the finalists for the award:

• Marissa Mayer
• Tim Cook
• Malala Yousafzai
• Bill and Hillary Clinton
• Undocumented Americans
• President Barack Obama
• Mohammed Morsi
• Fabiola Giannati

Kim Jon-Un is the winner of Time’s Person of The Year readers poll. Jon Stewart was the runner-up, followed by “undocumented immigrants,” Gabby Douglas, and Aung San Suu Kyi and Thein Sein.

As Time notes, it’s quite an achievement for a guy who likes to keep public appearances few and far between:

Kim Jong Un is having a good year. After taking over the leadership of North Korea from his late father Kim Jong Il, at the end of 2011, he’s solidified his control over the country, appeared on Time’s cover and he was even named ‘Sexiest Man Alive.’  (OK, that honor was actually bestowed as a spoof in the satirical newspaper, The Onion, but a Chinese news service mistook the Onion piece for real news and the story went global.)

We’re sure Kim is off somewhere popping bottles and/or shooting rockets over the news, but remember he didn’t win the official Time Person of The Year award. That’ll be announced December 19 on the Today show.

[UPDATE]
Apparently Kim only won because 4Chan hacked Time’s website.

Time’s editors pick its annual “Person of The Year,” but the magazine does allow the masses to chime in on which person they’d pick, if given the chance. Voting for the readers’ 2012 POY has just opened, so now is your opportunity to do just that.

As of now, Malala Yousafzai, the amazingly brave Pakistani girl who has become a symbol of female empowerment, is in the lead. A few others included in the list are Jay-Z, Hillary Clinton, Sandra Fluke and Jon Stewart. None of your FishbowlNY editors made the cut this year, but we feel confident that we will dominate 2013.

Voting closes December 12 and the winner of the poll will be named December 14.