Three names  of the new circulation-generating device known as the Time 100 warrant mention.

The first is Gov. Scott Walker, whose praise comes from a fellow Republican governor, New Jersey’s Chris Christie:

Leadership takes many forms in public office. One of the most difficult challenges is standing up for what you believe in when faced with relentless public attacks. Scott Walker faced that test and passed it with flying colors.

His battle to bring fairness to the taxpayers through commonsense reform of the public-sector collective-bargaining laws brought him scorn from the special interests and a recall election. Despite these threats, he stood tall. His reforms have brought tax reductions to his citizens and economic growth to his state. They have allowed public workers the freedom to choose whether to belong to a union. They have made Wisconsin a better place to live and work.

His reward? A resounding “re-election” in 2012 after the failed recall, prosperity for his state and the satisfaction of knowing that the public does recognize and appreciate an officeholder with the courage of his convictions. Governor Scott Walker is one of those leaders.

I’m not sure that essentially the same percentage margin as in his 2010 election counts as “resounding,” but that’s restrained compared with claims you usually see in political campaigns.

Then there’s Walker’s possible GOP presidential-candidate rival, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), introduced to us by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell:

Any political party worth its salt is always on the lookout for converts. But no one in either party today brings the level of missionary zeal to the task that Rand Paul does. From Berkeley, Calif., to Detroit, my Kentucky colleague has been cheerfully clearing a path for Republican ideals in the unlikeliest precincts. And he’s done it with rare magnanimity, making common cause with anyone who agrees that an all-powerful government in Washington is a threat to individual liberty — and to the American project itself.

He has also embraced the 11th commandment made famous by Reagan, “not to speak ill of any fellow Republican.” But the real secret to Rand’s rapid rise from a Bowling Green operating room to the center of American politics is his authenticity. It’s a trait that’s obvious to anyone who has seen him come out of a D.C. television studio in Ray-Bans and shorts, or hold the Senate floor for half a day to get answers from an imperious White House.

Spend five minutes with Rand and it’s clear he doesn’t care what you look like or where you’re from. He’s beating the bushes for anyone who prizes liberty, and he’s forcing people to rethink the Republican Party. He’s showing them we’re as serious about the Bill of Rights today as we were in 1860, when another Kentucky Republican built our party’s first great coalition. He’s having fun too. And that’s contagious.

The third is The Evil Koch Brothers, introduced by another man liberals love to hate, Karl Rove:

David and Charles Koch are patriots. By grit, persistence and hard work, they built a $100 billion-a-year business that employs tens of thousands. They give generously to medical research, the arts, education, think tanks and science. They care deeply about the values that make success in America possible — free markets, freedom, limited government and competition.

This has led them to the political arena, where they give tens of millions and raise hundreds more to back candidates and causes. For this, they have been excoriated by the left, while the left remains hypocritically quiet when George Soros, Tom Steyer and other left-of-center rich spend to influence politics.

The Kochs have answered abuse with courage, giving encouragement to others on the center-right to get into the fight. Bless them for all they do and all the liberals they send into orbit.

Of those “tens of thousands,” about 2,400 of them work in Wisconsin. That must really grate Wisconsin Democrats and liberals who stupidly parrot their Dear Leader that business is bad.