When I saw the difference between the way that Lucas portrayed JarJar in the first of the two movies he's been in and the second, I thought it was pretty obvious that George was responding to the seemingly universal dislike of the character--changing him from a big goof to an actively negative character. And it pissed me off... Having him be a bad general was totally in character for the JarJar of the first film. (was I the only one who cringed when he was given so much responsibility?!) But having him represent his planet after having proved decisively that he just wasn't up to the job, was either a stupid writing decision or a deliberate attempt to placate the very vocal fans who hated him by having him be the one who fails at a crucial moment. IMHO, George Lucas is a great myth-maker, but a 'real' writer should have veto power over his scripts.....