RL & Fandom Ponderings of the Day

[heidi]

1. Dear People on National News:
The reason the stores are less crowded now than they were three hurricane scares ago is because we still have our flashlights. Still got those water bottles. Still have protein bars and pretzels and cans of tuna. Many of us still haven't managed to overfill our freezers since Katrina - why stock up if you're going to lose power again?

2. Dear HP Fandom:
We're upset that Sirius was sent to Azkaban without a trial.
We're upset that the same thing seems to have happened to Stan Shunpike.
But even if Lucius Malfoy is guilty of whatever they've accused him of (and he may not be - for all we know he's in Azkaban for, oh I dunno, wand theft, which he didn't do) shouldn't we be equally upset that he hasn't had a trial?
Isn't it the principle of the thing, and consistency, and all that?

3. Dear WB:
Thank you for finally figuring out
what sorts of products adult HP fans want
to fondle.

Mer, clearly I need to go back to sleep. Brain addled.

Comments

[mooncharm.livejournal.com]

shouldn't we be equally upset that he hasn't had a trial?
Isn't it the principle of the thing, and consistency, and all that?

That? Is an excellent point. I, in my shallow ways, never even thought of it like that.

*plans Free Lucius campaign* ;)

[greyandgrey.livejournal.com]

perhaps a "Try Lucius Malfoy" campaign would be better - not much good to free him if they find that he is in fact guilty! ^_^

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Lovely double entendre!

[mooncharm.livejournal.com]

Lucius? Guilty? Bah! :P Besides, if he's found guilty he doesn't get to run around and shag everything that moves like a bunny! *g*

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Re: 2. This is true. I shall wave my FREE LUCIUS banner with pride, and when others accuse me of falling prey to Teh Pretty, I shall beat them with my snake-headed cane in defence of the concept of ethical justice*.

* I am sleep deprived.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Would you like to borrow one of my kids? Then you can blame him, as I do.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Am I allowed to him full of cupcakes? It's really the only level on which I can relate to children.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Sure, it's almost halloween anyway.

Also...

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Snake-headed cane? Did someone mention a snake-headed cane?

[catlily.livejournal.com]

Is there definite canon to say that he *didn't* have a trial? Just because it wasn't mentioned, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

This was my immediate thought. JKR's pretty good about telling us precisely when someone hasn't had a trial. Unless the book stated it and I missed it, I'm going to assume he did. Most DEs during the days just after Voldemort's actual fall did; Barty Crouch Jr. and Ludo Bagman and all.

[starrysummer.livejournal.com]

Those were some great examples of fair and inbiased trials, too. ;)

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Well, at least they were trials. I don't think the term "objective" exists in the HP world, so we take what we can get :D If we're going to be morally outraged about fair trials (rather than trials at all) then you're looking at a total overhaul of the Wizarding system.

[enelya-oronar.livejournal.com]

1. Absolutely true.

2. We would be equally upset if we were all able to suspend our personal opinions long enough to evaluate the situation from an omnipotent and unbiased perspective. People are inconsistent. People are opinionated. As a result, (in general) people would prefer the 'bad guy' Lucius to go to Azkaban based on the principle that they just don't like him. Fair and consistent don't usually factor in with an individuals perspective on a situation and that person's assignment of meaning to the particular situation.

[titti]

But Lucius is smarter. He's waiting to see what happens before raising that arguement. If Voldie wins, he's freed, and if Voldie loses, he'll get free without having risked his neck under the crazy lord. :)

[1anonymous1.livejournal.com]

You know, I never thought about him going to jail without a trial before. Wow.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

I'm upset about it! The poor love.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

You're upset that WB is selling his pimp cane?

[gmth.livejournal.com]

No, that he's all locked up and stuff. And no one even cares! I may weep.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Draco cares! He is willing to put his life on the line to save Lucius! Oh, the woobie!

[captainjames.livejournal.com]

But even if Lucius Malfoy is guilty of whatever they've accused him of (and he may not be - for all we know he's in Azkaban for, oh I dunno, wand theft, which he didn't do) shouldn't we be equally upset that he hasn't had a trial?
So very true. And even if he is in Azkaban for something he did and everyone knows it, he should have a trial. Not only because he deserves it, but also because everyone else (especially the families of those he killed) deserve it too. Just my opinion. :)

[ani-bester.livejournal.com]

I love the antional news, theya re so clueless have the time. Myf avorite part is the meidcal sections where they annoucne medical facts that I've known since second grade.
My roommate and I are waiting for FOX to have a special report about a new cure for polio =P

I also can't wait for this shopping seasons because they're gonna start talking about how no one is buying the amount of they did last year and we're hurting the economy and boo hoo for the large companies and why is this happening (actually maybe this year they won't ahvea way because the can blame the hurricanes and not need to mention all the people who got laid off as was the case last year).

2. Wait . . do we know Lucius did not get a trial? I kinda thought he might have given that Wizards only seem to enjoy trying people whoa re clearly guilty. If there's doubt, then you don't geta trial >.>

3. What products? I can't see the page *Flails*
One thing I learned from TWH, fanmade shirts are the best things ever and blow Hot Topic shirts out of the water.

[straussmonster.livejournal.com]

2. On the one hand, there's all the rule of law human rights blah blah blah stuff.

On the other hand, who exactly is weeping when someone who got off solely due to influence and judicial cowardice is rotting in the hole for something else, even if it's not the right thing?

I love JKR for, if nothing else, puncturing the "Lucius Malfoy is ultra-smoove and talented and super-special" fanon cliche.

[leni-jess.livejournal.com]

In Chapter 3: Will And Won't of HBP, the Prophet said

...highly placed sources within the Ministry have confirmed that the disturbance centered on the fabled Hall of Prophecy.

Though Ministry spokes wizards have hitherto refused even to confirm the existence of such a place, a growing number of the Wizarding community believe that the Death Eaters now serving sentences in Azkaban for trespass and attempted theft were attempting to steal a prophecy.

The Prophet may of course be representing a ministerial decision as a trial, but that seems a pretty clear statement to me. I seem to recall ranting in my LJ post-HBP about what wusses the Ministry were, not even bringing common assault into the charges.

But yes, however safe and protected from incriminating himself further Lucius is, he must be pretty bored by now. (I spent some of this morning deeveloping increasingly frightening sexual fantasies for him to pass the time - ie they even frighten him.)