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Foreign Policy: Ten Reasons Washington Needs Potter
Hundreds of moviegoers wait in line for the midnight showing of <em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two</em> in Merrimack, N.H., Thursday, July 14, 2011. The film is expected to put up franchise-record numbers as it debuts just after midnight Friday.
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Charles Krupa
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AP
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This week marks the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two, the eighth installment of the most successful series in movie history. As such, it offers a useful comparison in the differences between what makes a successful summer blockbuster in Hollywood and what makes for one in Washington, DC. Here are the top ten:
10. Too Few House Elves in Washington (Too Many House Death Eaters)
Oh Dobby, Dobby, if only there were a man in Washington of your stature. Poor Dobby who died, according to his epitaph, "a free elf" was cranky and even less photogenic than Anthony Weiner, but he had heart and courage and took risks for those he served in ways that none on Capitol Hill seem to even comprehend. Meanwhile, there are far too many Death Eaters up there on the wrong end of Pennsylvania Avenue, swirling around in service of He Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken (Grover Norquist) regardless of the pain it may bring to those who actually elected them. (Norquist may succeed with anti-tax religion in doing what the leadership of the Soviet Union could not — bankrupting and thus breaking America.)
See the nine reasons at Foreign Policy.
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