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I have just read some of the comments and I would like to say this: I believe it’s safe to say the JKR is against war, doesn’t like war, anymore than any of us. However, IMHO, what she does say is that it’s no use denying the evidences of something going wrong, because that will not prevent disaster, on the contrary. Very much like what happended before the WW II, in fact. If the countries (namely Britain) had reacted when there were signs of something going wrong in Germany, maybe the war could have been prevented. But they didn’t react, they just “gave” Hitler a free reign. And the rest is history… Mind, when I say react, I don’t mean invading a sovereign country, because, good or bad, Hitler was elected democratically…

You can read it here: http://blog.panorama.it/libri/2007/12/17/harry-potter-sono-io-jk-rowling-si-racconta-a-tutto-campo/

And this is the original quote that worries you. Maybe someone can translate it…

L’11 settembre ha cambiato qualcosa nella sua visione? Gli ultimi libri sono più bui e violenti. Ho pianificato i sette libri di Harry Potter fin dall’inizio, e Voldemort è riapparso nei miei libri prima dell’11 settembre: è questo il punto di svolta. Il mio modello del mondo dopo il ritorno di Voldemort era indirettamente il governo di Neville Chamberlain in Gran Bretagna, alla vigilia della Seconda guerra mondiale, quando cercò di minimizzare la minaccia del regime nazista, per convenienza politica. Molte cose che avevo in programma di scrivere le ho poi viste accadere.

Thanks for the URL, Lupinette! My Italian is rusty, but I’ll give it a shot and…if it makes sense…post it later

Yeah, I heard Voldemort was based off Hitler. And JKR said that there were a bunch of parallels between hitler’s rule and Voldemort’s. She also said that her books were a ongoing argument (or something like that) against bigotry and injustice. I did an essay about JKR and I researched her, and i totally agree, she’s amazing. My freinds say that tshe says that stuff for publicity, but even beforeshe was famous, she worked for a charity association as a job. She’s amazing, not only because she’s an awesome writer, but because she’s so compassionate and kind. JKR Rox!!!!!!!!

Thank you Jo!. The Fudge is Blair analogy never fit and I was despairing of the education system. However Chamberlain does fit . Our favorite author knows her history!

@ Marianne I realize you are getting shall I say “ripped a new one” with your recent post, however, I take it you are American- as am I- because your POV is completely that of what was filtrated through our television sets and especially FOX news, the reference to this being the Second Gulf War equating to WWII- has been publicized on their channels more times than I care to remember. I will give a run down of what really happened, quick synapse, and than you can do the research yourself on the issue- perhaps sticking to the same belief you are now.

1) Bush went into Iraq and broke peace treaties and international agreements set forth by the UN and other of our ally countries. 2) When Bush’s regime in Iraq didn’t work, because he dismantled the entire Iraqi civillian army, therefore, creating no protection against the outside influences of various fundamentalist Islamic groups- the media calls terrorists. Yes, Al Quida is one of them but perhaps you should do some research on Bai’th group in Iraq. 3) Al Quida was not a strong hold in Iraq until we infiltrated. 4) Al Quida was a strong hold in Afghanistan and Pakistan—remnants of we still see today, note the Pakistani PM. 5) The attack Sadam waged against Iran was American paid for, protected our oil rigs that were moving out from that area, because the Iranian government was allowing radicals to blow up our oil tankers. 6) Iraq and Iran were not against women’s rights until the fundamentalist came into power. Check out Saudi Arabia and the Bush connection on that one. 7) Osama Bin Laden was hired by the CIA, along with some of his followers, to help fight in the Eastern European conflicts. There is no proven association between Bin Laden and Hussein. 8) Hussein attempted to assassinate Bush Snr. 9) If notice in an atlas were it lists all the natural minerals certain geographical locations generate you will notice that there is two pipelines of natural oil running from Iran, the other from Afghanistan through Iraq into Kuwait- we infilitrated Kuwait, Afghanistan, set up military bases which enabled us for an easy striking point against Iraq. If notice in the first accounts of the war the main goal was to protect the oil fields, which the Iraqi soliders set fire to. 10) The American Occupation in Iraq has been highly critized for its biases, because it protects most Sunni areas, most of the voting took place in these areas, and Hussein was assassinated on the first day of Eid for some of the the other Islamic followers, which showed them that the government was making a religious statment their only recognizing what day they celebrate Eid. 11) More civillians were killed in Sudan, Sierre Leone, Haiti, and Putin’s Russia than because of Hussein.

• I am not defending Hussein he was a tyrannical leader that was highly dangerous to his people of which he was suppose to protect, however, he ruled with an iron fist and to believe that terrorist groups were allowed to run wild during his reign is ignorance. The various Islamic fundamentalists are fighting to seize control over Iraq because we have left it in such disarray. *

The only reason I posted this is because as Marianne said we shouldn’t ignore our current political climate. However, I hope that this post shows drastic differences from the political climate of WWII in Europe and today’s war in America. And I don’t think anything should be thrusted into JKR’s mouth, because she enlightened us with some of her political beliefs. JKR is in a sticky enough situation as it is, because the media circus can spin anything she says. I just don’t think we should highlight our biases into someone else’s frame of mind. Please don’t be offended American reporting is far different than European, over 20% of our media is filtrated through the FCC, which reviews every press and news clip aired before allowing Time Warner or such companies to broadcast it.

Ginny, i suppose i should clarify my own motives and positions, which actually are different from what most might guess at. I’m a professional historian, so the criteria i use when evaluating arguments like those that have emerged here (intersting how far the discussion roamed, huh?) deal with how the past is assurately understood, how the present is accurately understood, and how individuals (in this case JKR) are accurately portrayed…

I’ve pretty much ignored most of the historical inaccuracies that pop up in our Leaky conversations: they might grate on my nerves, that is on my professional standards, but 99% of the time there is no reason to get into a discussion here about such things. Two minor items as examples: Rute, sorry, but Hitler wasn’t elected, he was appointed…and Ginny, I assume your point # 7 in your thorough analysis includes the fact that the US during the Reagan-Bush I years fed arms and money through Pakistan in order to create the Taliban…used in a proxy war against the Soviets who had tried to protect their oil interests and frontier by sending in the Soviet Army in December 1979?

The popular image of Chamberlin that is pretty widely shared in the anglophone world is of naive and incompetent diplomacy…the newsreels show Chamberlin returning from Munich, waving his hat, and proclaiming ‘peace in our time’. That’s what JKR is conjuring with when she notes she indirectly used Chamberlin as a model for Fudge. But its just an indirect and general model, since Chamberlin did not then try to consolidate power or to silence his critics, as the fictional Fudge does. Although Marianne did not state this point, she implies (correctly) that the refernce to Chamberlin also carries with it another meaning: look what that incompetent “liberal” got us into, and it took a hard line conservative with a history of militarism (Churchill) to get us out of it. Is that what JKR meant? NO. Can we read into it, as our own personal interpretation: yes. Can we then say “that’s JKR’s position”: NO

To leap from JKR’s one liner about the inspiration behind Fudge in an eftort to attribute to her (and to the HP series) a specific political meaning is just wrong and illogical, it ignores basic chronology of events, and frankly unfair imposes a meaning on JKR’s works and on her that is not accurate, verified or true (such an imposition would be unfair to anyone: to try to figure out my personal political position on the basis of this post, for example, could lead to the wrong conclusions about what my personal thoughts are….). To my knowledge, JKR has never made a public statement about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that would indicate her personal poltical position; to impose a meaning without having verifiable factual information to substantiate the conclusion is just wrong to do.

Incidentally, a very minor point that has to do with some reactions to my previous posts…I personally was hoping that the “Other Minister” scene would make the HBP film, and that Tony Blair would get the role. This is not because i see the Muggle PM as based on Tony Blair, far from it. I simply think it would be funny as all hell, and indicative of Blair’s sense of humor, for him to play the part. No more, no less than that, an absurd and silly situation where the fictional world of HP and our everyday life get blended together to make us smile.

I’ll end this ramble with a question: what did happen to Fudge, especially during the final year when Voldy seizes control? I’d like to think that the Muggle PM, who may or may not look like Tony Blair, kept him in safe hiding….

Marianne, I wanted to post this on the off chance you’d go back through this discussion.

Look, I apologize if I sounded rough when disagreeing with you, please don’t see it as a personal attack. My reaction was to how you were using “facts”, historical public information, and then how you were projectting JKR’s personal beliefs. I didn’t see you as a participant in the other discussion that broke out, surrounding the Spanish magazine interview JKR gave: in that she mentioned her interest in the US political primaries and her hope that the next US president would be a democrat. While not an extensive statement on her part, I’m sure you will now agree that her statement indicates that her personal beliefs are the exact opposite of what you asserted.

You are right to imply—tho you did not make a strong point of this—that the image of Chamberlin CAN carry with it the other message I mentioned: “look what a mess that weak liberal got us into”, a meaning that does lead to Churchill and his militarism and imperialism. But most popular interpretations, including JKR’s, obviously do not make that leap….

so, keep posting!