Well, Hitler and Stalin had their year, too, among other "characters." Talking about characters, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman reflects on the riff-raff caused in Russia by the alleged resemblance between Putin and Dobby, the house elf in the Harry Potter movies. According to Wikipedia, supporters of Putin accused the filmmakers of modeling Dobby after the new Tsar. There is one notable difference, though: Dobby is a good guy.illustration via Paul Krugman's blog
