前总统布什撰稿人新书披露，美国政府因哈里波特作者“鼓吹巫术”，拒绝向其作者颁发自由勋章。
A memoir by George W Bush’s former speechwriter claims that Bush administration officials objected to giving JK Rowling a presidential medal of freedom on the grounds that her Harry Potter books "encouraged witchcraft".
According to the liberal American blog Think Progress, Matt Latimer’s Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor reveals how politicised the medal, which is America’s highest civilian honour, became during the Bush administration.
Latimer, whose memoir was published last week by Crown in the US, says that the "narrow thinking" of "people in the White House" led them "to actually object to giving the author JK Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft".
The medal is given to "individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavours". During the Bush administration, it was awarded to individuals including Tony Blair, Harper Lee, Muhammad Ali, Alan Greenspan, Nelson Mandela, Doris Day and Charlton Heston.
The first 16 recipients of Barack Obama’s presidential medal, handed out in August, included Stephen Hawking and Senator Ted Kennedy – who, according to Latimer’s book, failed to receive the medal during the Bush administration because he was "a liberal".
前总统布什的撰稿人马特·拉蒂默（Matt Latimer）在回忆录中披露，布什政府官员以哈里波特丛书“鼓吹巫术”为由，拒绝向其作者J.K. 罗琳颁发自由勋章。
根据美国自由主义者网站Think Progress的网络日志，拉蒂默在其回忆录《无话可说：一位白宫幸存者的故事》（Speech-Less: Tales of a White House Survivor）中披露了自由勋章这一美国最高平民荣誉在布什政府时期被政治化的情况。拉蒂默的回忆录于上周由皇冠出版社（Crown Press）在美国出版发行。他表示，“白宫官员的狭隘思想”导致他们“发自内心地反对将自由勋章授予J.K. 罗琳，认为她的著作哈利波特丛书是在鼓吹巫术”。
自由勋章是授予给那些“对美国国家安全或利益、世界和平以及在文化或其它公共、私人领域作出重大贡献的个人”。在布什政府期间，获得这一荣誉的个人包括英国前首相布莱尔，美国女作家哈珀·李，拳王阿里，美联储前主席格林斯潘，南非前总统曼德拉，好莱坞巨星桃乐丝黛和奥斯卡影帝海斯顿。
奥巴马政府在今年8月首次颁发了16枚自由勋章，获得者包括斯蒂芬·霍金和参议员爱德华·肯尼迪。根据拉蒂默的回忆录，布什政府之所以没有将自由勋章颁发给肯尼迪竟然是因为他是“一个自由主义分子”。
责任编辑：张瑶
