JK Rowling turned down for Presidential Medal of Freedom, Guess why Options

[The Ambassador]

JK Rowling denied top US honour

Harry Potter author JK Rowling missed out on a top honour because some US politicians believed she "encouraged witchcraft", it has been claimed.

Matt Latimer, former speech writer for President George W Bush, said that some members of his administration believed her books promoted sorcery.

As a result, she was never presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The claims appear in Latimer's new book called Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor.

He wrote that "narrow thinking" led White House officials to object to giving Rowling the civilian honour.

The award acknowledges contributions to US national interest, world peace or cultural endeavours.

Past literary recipients of the award include John Steinbeck and Harper Lee.

Others denied the privilege under the Bush administration included Senator Edward Kennedy, who died in August this year.

Latimer claimed, in his book, that the veteran politician and health care activist was excluded because he was deemed to be too liberal.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8282356.stm

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

[Maxx Blast]

Oh well, I guess she'll have to find consellation in her MOUNTAINS upon MOUNTAINS of cash.

[Donocropolis]

Not that I support the REASON for the decision, but I have to agree with the outcome. They may very well be good books about a boy wizard, but I don't think she's really at the Steinbeck level. I know, I know, it encouraged kids to read, but I just don't see it being medal-worthy.

[Stungun]

So Bush and his lackeys are superstitious morons. And they screwed over the last of the Kennedies. cvx vc bv vbbv vbvb

(That last part was me banging my head on my keyboard. Friggin' idiots.)

[Bocc Kob]

This is a thinly-veiled book plug!

[Prime 2.0]

What the hell is a presidential medal of freedom anyways? is it like a bootleg pulitzer? this is honestly the first time ive even heard of such an "honor".
I seriously doubt she even cares, shes too busy counting her money and being horrified at some of the fan fiction out there.

[Suspsy]

Not that I support the REASON for the decision, but I have to agree with the outcome. They may very well be good books about a boy wizard, but I don't think she's really at the Steinbeck level. I know, I know, it encouraged kids to read, but I just don't see it being medal-worthy.

Sorry, but I'd much sooner read a fun, heartfelt, magical, epic adventure than some excruciatingly dull tract like The Grapes of Wrath.

Screw Steinbeck.

[Stungun]

Not that I support the REASON for the decision, but I have to agree with the outcome. They may very well be good books about a boy wizard, but I don't think she's really at the Steinbeck level. I know, I know, it encouraged kids to read, but I just don't see it being medal-worthy.

Sorry, but I'd much sooner read a fun, heartfelt, magical, epic adventure than some excruciatingly dull tract like The Grapes of Wrath.

Screw Steinbeck.

Agreed. And screw Harper Lee, too. Sure, her book had a good message, but To Kill a Mockingbird was dull. Very dull. It was insanely padded out. It's bade up of 75% padding, 20% good message, and 5% suspense. Gragh. Give me Harry Potter or Fahrenheit 451 any day.

Of course, maybe the problem Bush's lackeys had with Harry Potter wasn't the witchcraft; it was the fact that it was encouraging kids to read.

And, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is very prestigious, usually given to people who do really good things. Sometimes, there are exceptions... Like when Cheney got one from Bush Sr. in 1991. Ted Kennedy deserves the medal way more than Dick ever did. And, if you don't agree with him, you could also say John Paul II didn't deserve it either. I think he was better Emperor Popatine(Benedict), but still, it was gorramed stupid of him to be against condom use in AIDS-infected Africa and not do as much to help the people abused by the priests.

This post has been edited by Spin-Out!: Sep 30 2009, 02:01 PM

[The Ambassador]

Not that I support the REASON for the decision, but I have to agree with the outcome. They may very well be good books about a boy wizard, but I don't think she's really at the Steinbeck level.

The outcome I understand, and if I'm honest, agree with. All that is said and done, they're books a lot of people and will probably be considered a classic. But the reasons are what I find abhorrent. They're probably the same dimwits who think D&D teachs you how to summon daemons and that video games will corrupt our youth into godless killing engines.

[Stungun]

video games will corrupt our youth into godless killing engines.

That's nonsense. Even Bush's lackeys couldn't be dumbass enough to think that humans can be turned into bears... I hope.

[Esser-Z]

The reason is, of course, totally insane. But I don't think she deserves a medal. She wrote...a good (but not great!) series of books? Woo?

[Specimen-17]

Sorry, but I'd much sooner read a fun, heartfelt, magical, epic adventure than some excruciatingly dull tract like The Grapes of Wrath.

Screw Steinbeck.

Agreed. And screw Harper Lee, too. Sure, her book had a good message, but To Kill a Mockingbird was dull. Very dull. It was insanely padded out. It's bade up of 75% padding, 20% good message, and 5% suspense. Gragh. Give me Harry Potter or Fahrenheit 451 any day.

...what.

....

I don't even

...

Are you trolling? Because what you just said basically amounts to "Why bother reading literature when Cosmopolitan has half the syllables?!". Seriously. You're openly, in a public forum, admitting you prefer contemporary juvenile fiction to some of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. I just can't facepalm enough to express my feelings about this.

[wonko the sane?]

The reason is, of course, totally insane. But I don't think she deserves a medal. She wrote...a good (but not great!) series of books? Woo?

She got an entire generation of children to read. While her stories aren't really noteworthy, the results are.

Sorry, but I'd much sooner read a fun, heartfelt, magical, epic adventure than some excruciatingly dull tract like The Grapes of Wrath.

Screw Steinbeck.

Agreed. And screw Harper Lee, too. Sure, her book had a good message, but To Kill a Mockingbird was dull. Very dull. It was insanely padded out. It's bade up of 75% padding, 20% good message, and 5% suspense. Gragh. Give me Harry Potter or Fahrenheit 451 any day.

...what.

....

I don't even

...

Are you trolling? Because what you just said basically amounts to "Why bother reading literature when Cosmopolitan has half the syllables?!". Seriously. You're openly, in a public forum, admitting you prefer contemporary juvenile fiction to some of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. I just can't facepalm enough to express my feelings about this.

I didn't like "To kill a mocking bird" either. A lot of the classic literature is considered as such because it was ground breaking at the time it was written, not for the quality of its content. It had a good message, and forward thinking ideals of equality... but it was very boring.

[Stungun]

Sorry, but I'd much sooner read a fun, heartfelt, magical, epic adventure than some excruciatingly dull tract like The Grapes of Wrath.

Screw Steinbeck.

Agreed. And screw Harper Lee, too. Sure, her book had a good message, but To Kill a Mockingbird was dull. Very dull. It was insanely padded out. It's bade up of 75% padding, 20% good message, and 5% suspense. Gragh. Give me Harry Potter or Fahrenheit 451 any day.

...what.

....

I don't even

...

Are you trolling? Because what you just said basically amounts to "Why bother reading literature when Cosmopolitan has half the syllables?!". Seriously. You're openly, in a public forum, admitting you prefer contemporary juvenile fiction to some of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. I just can't facepalm enough to express my feelings about this.

Uh, no. I read tTo Kill a Mockingbird, and it bored me. I've also read other good books like the Chronicles of Narnia, or Fahrenheit 451. And I kept turning the pages. And don't even get me started on my love for Edgar Allen Poe's writing. Now THAT is how you write. I just didn't like To Kill a Mockingbird. It's a classic, sure, but it merely isn't to my liking. I do like classic books; I want to read Dracula, Moby Dick, and I already mentioned my love for Edgar Allen Poe's stories. It's merely that, specifically, To Kill a Mockingbird was a boring book. It had a good message, but it was a boring book in my opinion. I'm sorry if I'm reiterating or it appears I'm trolling, but I'm just saying that, while I love classic literature AND modern literature, To Kill a Mockingbird was just not to my liking. Hell, Harry potter books are often longer than To Kill a Mockingbird. I just did not like To Kill A Mockingbird.

This post has been edited by Spin-Out!: Sep 30 2009, 02:18 PM

[Esser-Z]

The reason is, of course, totally insane. But I don't think she deserves a medal. She wrote...a good (but not great!) series of books? Woo?

She got an entire generation of children to read. While her stories aren't really noteworthy, the results are.

Twilight also gets people to read! Shudder.

[Stungun]

The reason is, of course, totally insane. But I don't think she deserves a medal. She wrote...a good (but not great!) series of books? Woo?

She got an entire generation of children to read. While her stories aren't really noteworthy, the results are.

Twilight also gets people to read! Shudder.

Thing is, as Stephen King put it, J.K Rowling is a good writer, and Meyer... Well, we all chagrinning know how chagrinning bad she chagrinning is.

Also, chagrin.

[wonko the sane?]

The reason is, of course, totally insane. But I don't think she deserves a medal. She wrote...a good (but not great!) series of books? Woo?

She got an entire generation of children to read. While her stories aren't really noteworthy, the results are.

Twilight also gets people to read! Shudder.

Sometimes bad people can do good things. Sometimes bad literature can get throngs of teeming idiots to read. My only hope is that some of them continue to read, and eventually realize just how bad twilight is.

[Esser-Z]

The reason is, of course, totally insane. But I don't think she deserves a medal. She wrote...a good (but not great!) series of books? Woo?

She got an entire generation of children to read. While her stories aren't really noteworthy, the results are.

Twilight also gets people to read! Shudder.

Thing is, as Stephen King put it, J.K Rowling is a good writer, and Meyer... Well, we all chagrinning know how chagrinning bad she chagrinning is.

Also, chagrin.

My point is that 'getting people to read' is, alone, not enough. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-waspy.gif)

[Stungun]

The reason is, of course, totally insane. But I don't think she deserves a medal. She wrote...a good (but not great!) series of books? Woo?

She got an entire generation of children to read. While her stories aren't really noteworthy, the results are.

Twilight also gets people to read! Shudder.

Sometimes bad people can do good things. Sometimes bad literature can get throngs of teeming idiots to read. My only hope is that some of them continue to read, and eventually realize just how bad twilight is.

One of my friends was a Twilight fan. Now, she hates the series. And she's a (rather peppy) teenage girl who likes darker things. The target audience.

That should tell you how bad Twilight is.

This post has been edited by Spin-Out!: Sep 30 2009, 02:20 PM

[Database]

Just becuase a book is a classic doesn't always mean its good. Classic books are classic becuase they stood out and were diffrent for the time period. However, as time as past those ideas have been used, expanded on, or broken themselves by other authors. Some classics, are flat out boring, its like trying to eat stale bread without water where you have to force yourself to continue on. No, no all classics are like that, and it tends to vary from person to person but you have to face facts that some people arent gonna like every single classic out there just becuase is a classic.