I love the HP series and I like Rowling, but I don’t really see how she would deserve a Presidental medal just for her series getting kids to read. It’d be cool if she got one, but it’s not bad that she doesn’t. I sincerely doubt if she was up for a medal that Bush denied it with reasons that her series promotes witchcraft. I think this is just another way to tarnish his name.

Wait a minute…Bush and the Mrs like the HP books but the narrow-minded, clueless, ignorant speechwriter says “no” to giving JKR a medal because of the unfortunately-still-perpetuated lie about the books teaching witchcraft? Did Bush ever find out about this? I’m thinking probably not. Well, that administration was staffed with idiots. I guess the speechwriter was just another one.

What???!!! Harry does Not promote or encourage witchcraft!
Besides the books are about like ,growing up and finding out who you are and what you have to do no matter how hard or easy it is! it just has magic thrown in !!!

Well, iamminerva, It probably wouldn’t have mattered if Bush had found out about it. It’s not like he can veto opinions. I doubt he really liked the books. He probably did because so many of the public did. It wasn’t hard to see how popular the series was and still is. It’s like the fact that he believes whole-heartedly in every belief his religion held. It’s very rare to find someone who truely believes in every belief. A lot of people will believe in most, but disagree on some. Or believe in some and disagree with most. But most, if not all, of those who hold true to all beliefs usually do so because when they were asked the question, “Why do you believe in that?” the only answer they can come up with is “Because that’s the way I was raised.” They never thought different. They never question and it leads to the type of ignorance we see right here when the award was denied. The first thing they hear about a subject is the only thing they’ll ever consider about it.

For all of the people who are criticizing George Bush because of this, they would find something to criticize anyway. He wasn’t even mentioned in the excerpt from the book—it said the “people in the White House.” The book sounds like a disgruntled employee just trying to make a few dollars by criticizing Bush, and he knows plenty of people will buy the book if he does that!

At blue4t, Yes she does have tons of awards and it is another way to tarnish his name(personaly I think it has more to do with making us feel guilty and consider our choices a little more carefully), but she got kids to read agian. The kids in my elementary school wouldn’t pick up a book to stop the apocolypse. We had this program, that is still active in this region today, named Accelerated Reading(AR). It required children to read books and test upon them. They would earn points based on the amount offered for that specific book and how well they did on the test. A certain amount of points were required to pass each grade level. It made sound okay, but when you look at the kids from this region you lost hope. I have enjoyed reading before I joined the scholary force and so I was burdened with carrying them until my sixth grade year. I found out later that it’s an actual crime to do so, but the teachers knew the students and encouraged it by turning a blind eye and they would even come over and try to help me.

Plus you should really check out the damage he did to the educational system with the “no child left behind” act. He should give her an award for helping to pick the pieces up from that disaster. Even if it was unintentionally.

I don’t know if you realize the real importantance reading has.

it’s just a book..if the white house really thinks it encourages people to witchcraft, it’s non-sense..all who have read harry potter books, we all knew that most of the characters value the secrecy of their status as witches and wizards.i do not see something in the book that would encourage people to do witchcraft..most people do love harry potter simply because they admire the entire harry potter books and not that they were being encourage to do witchcraft..

That is just crazy!!! JK Rowling does lots of charity work too and Harry
Potter does NOT encourage witchcraft!!1

Not cool. She should have gotten the award.

This seems a little sketchy

Perhaps the new president, President Obama, will allow the medal as he has read all of her books to his children and has already had JK Rowling come to the White House.

How quick you are to believe a statement about someone you don’t like, even though the proof is that the Bush’s loved the Harry Potter books. Grow up kiddies.

This does not surprise me, no matter how wrong it is. I worked with someone that actually started avoiding me because I was excited about the latest release coming up. She refused to allow her children to read the evil inside (her actual words). No one that has actually read the books ever says that they are all about witchcraft. They are about the eternal battle of good vs evil, the little guy fighting for what is right, and how it is not always easy but it is better than the alternative.

Had a thought, and did a quick check of the previous postings this morning just to be sure….I may have missed this in someone’s earlier message, apologies if I did….

in the spirit of “let’s lighten things up”, didn’t it occur to anyone to compare Thiessen, the speechwriter who allegedly made the Kennedy decision, to our favorite detestable bureaucrat, Dolores Umbridge?

Also, going by the short snippet available, the exact wording is “people in the White House” objected to JKR receiving an award. In other words, multiple unnamed Umbridges!!!! Umbridges are everywhere, in all political parties, in all businesses and schools and every social situation. ….and as we know the real danger is when Umbridges are able to achieve unchecked power.

we need to remember that Melissa, the Leaky Staff, and many fans are devoted to finding and sharing every little scrap of HP related information, rumor, images, events, and so on…that’s why we bother to come to this site, isn’t it? Well, that and the dazzling conversations we enjoy with one another. The source of the news posting was an unnamed TLC reader, and Melissa passed it along, since she shares and knows our insatiable desire for every little bit of HP information. …thanks to all involved who make every effort to keep Leaky the most informative HP fan site!

Now, when will Amazon.com FINALLY offer HBP for pre-order? bit odd that they have the two ultimate collections already listed, but not HBP, dontchathink? something very strange there…. working with some rumors I have heard, I think here in the US Walmart is trying to get an exclusive right to distribute HBP for one week before its available through other venders, but I cannot confirm this.

;-)

so annoying….