Lisa Schiffren at The Corner has sighted the Cornelius Fudge of our world:
The struggle between good and evil, freedom and enslavement is, of course, an eternal literary theme. Still, one can't help but notice the astonishing manner in which Gordon Brown has taken a page directly from Harry Potter — and the just released film of Book Seven, at that. Specifically, Brown's strong desire not to call Islamic terrorism by name echoes the insistence of the head of the Wizard government, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge — to refer to their mortal enemy, Voldemort, as "he who must not be named."
So, even greater kudos to J.K. Rowling, who understood back in the 90's that the world's youth needed a rousing tale of heroism in the face of evil. Whatever her politics — and I believe she has not indulged in a discussion of them — she has made the point again and again in her books, that, in the face of the gravest threats to freedom, government is more likely to temporize and play down the severity than to act boldly. It is a rare leader who will look evil straight in the face, call it by name and respond appropriately, even at the cost of his own life. If that hasn't been the case in England and the U.S. for the past six years, well, times are changing.(emphasis mine)
There is a reason JK Rowling's Potter series has become the metaphor for our times in much the same way that JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was a metaphor for World War II--and still has enormous relevance for today's conflict with the Islamofascist barbarians.
Cornelius Fudge and those who refuse to acknowledge that the evil was rising and gaining momentum in their world is only one analogy. Their denial of the obvious was striking, just as is the psychological denial engaged in by today's left and the Democrats in Washington; as well as leftists all over the world (Gordon Brown's ridiculous comments definitely qualify.)
At the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie, Dumbledore says to Harry, "Dark and difficult times lay ahead. Soon we will have to decide between doing what is easy and what is right." [In the book, Dumbledore tells all the Hogwarts students: "Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because, he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
In our own world, there are many people like Cedric Diggory who innocently strayed across the path of the Islamist fanatics and died because we are dealing with a barbaric and ancient evil that thrives on human intolerance and hate.
There have been many opportunities to make the right choices in dealing with this evil, instead of the easy choices in the last couple of years. From what I have observed, Congress, the political left and its minions, and much of the international community is almost desperate to appease it and/or pretend it doesn't even exist--rather than confront it.
How best to wage this war is up for debate. But no sane person can still be debating on whether to wage it. Yet every day we witness those in denial debating those in frank delusion. The bodies of the Cedric Diggories --in Paris, Germany, England, Indonesia, Africa, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan-- are all around us and the voices of the Cornelius Fudges grow louder and louder. Fudge would rather blame those who choose to fight in the mistaken belief that such blindness on his part will make the bad stuff all go away.
The evil we are confronting in the world is not going to go quietly away. Thousands and perhaps millions (if Zawahiri and Bin Laden have their way) of innocent people will continue to stray into the path of this evil and they will suffer and die because of it.
It would be easy to pretend that this danger to life; to peace; to civilization did not exist.
Dark and difficult times lay ahead. I hope we will choose what is right.
More Dumbledorian leaders leaders, please; and ditch the Fudge.
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