Posted on 05/07/2008 4:31:52 AM PDT by metesky
BANGOR, Maine — Stephen King has fired back at conservative critics who attacked him over a remark he made a month ago at a writers symposium for high school students.
A blogger jumped on King´s statement at the Library of Congress about the importance of reading in which he suggested poor readers have limited prospects, including service in the Army.
"I don´t want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don´t, then you´ve got the Army, Iraq, I don´t know, something like that. It´s not as bright," King said at the April 4 event in which he was accompanied by his wife Tabitha and son Owen.
Blogger Noel Sheppard likened the comment to former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry´s remarks that if you don´t get a good education, "you get stuck in Iraq."
"Nice sentiment when the nation is at war, Stephen," Sheppard wrote.
King fired back Monday.
"That a right-wing-blog would impugn my patriotism because I said children should learn to read, and could get better jobs by doing so, is beneath contempt," he said in a statement posted on his Web site.
King said he supports the troops but believes the war in Iraq is a "waste of national resources ... and that includes the youth and blood of the 4,000 American troops who have lost their lives there and for the tens of thousands who have been wounded."
"I live in a National Guard town, and I support our troops, but I don´t support either the war or educational policies that limit the options of young men and women to any one career — military or otherwise," King said.
It figures things have changed in 30 years.
Things have changed considerably in 50 years. My dad was drafted for WWII out of his sophomore year at the Citadel. My F-I-L was a little older, already had his bachelor's degree in English and was a school principal in North Carolina. They both went through OCS. Dad got out of the Reserves as a captain in the 50s because meetings conflicted with church choir. By that time he had a law degree. My F-I-L stayed in and retired as a bird colonel, never did get another degree.
But I am an odd sort of reader, currently I'm pretty much stuck in the 16th century and before. I'm never going to get through all the old stuff in time to get to much modern literature, let alone trashy potboilers like King's. Right now I'm reading C.S. Lewis on Gavin Douglas (b. 1497) the Scots poet and translator of Virgil.
Attack? Isn’t dialog a good thing?
W/o cliches Mr. King would be speechless.
Although there is always the trite, the hackneyed, the formulaic, and of course two dimensional characters.
He worked in a laundry as a kid in high school. If you want insight into King, read his “On Writing,” which many consider a great “how-to” book for writers. King grew up hard and my admiration of him grew after reading “On Writing” because it contains a lot of biographical information. He also writes about the accident that almost killed him (and I don’t know that he’s ever been the same since that accident).
Well, I’m an armchair historian when it comes to the Civil War and the American West, but I do read my share of contemporary novels; the likes of Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, and then stuff by writers like James Patterson, Michael Connelly or Jeffrey Deaver. But these are simply for enjoyment. It’s the history I crave.
Anything like King’s stuff that brings in what I’d call the supernatural is something I avoid. Never have, never will have, any taste for that.
Go live for 3 decades under the brutal, oppressive, and genocidal Hussein Regime, Stevie... and get back to me -- you disrespectful, freedom loving assclown.
You must have a 4-year undergraduate degree to become an officer. You also must have an undergrad degree to continue as a warrant office past the grade of W2. There are a few exceptions. Battlefield promotions used to be common enough, especially back in WWII. The brutal fact of large-scale ground warfare is that lieutenants die very quickly. Sometimes those slots were filled by NCOs getting a battlefield promotion.
As you progress through the officer ranks, graduate education doesn’t matter as much. It does if you want to make O6 (Colonel-Army, Marine Corps, Air Force or Captain in the Navy). You can make O5 with no graduate degree as long as you finish all the required service related schools in each branch, keep your nose clean and do well in your command positions.
I’m a Major (O4) Army-type. If you have any questions, drop me a freepmail.
avacado, if you're going to post something so stupid and childish, please don't post at all.
Stephen King obviously doesn’t understand our military, maybe he should take a field trip to a few army bases or take a field trip to Iraq.
Besides what kind of reading skills do you need to read Stephen King anyway? a third grade reading level would probably suffice.
Piss off fool. My reply was appropriate for the level of King's comment.
I'm not so sure I agree with that assessment. Was it possible, say, to appreciate or support the troops that Bill Clinton sent to Kosovo in the 1990s, without necessarily supporting the need for them to go there in the first place?
"I love those goofy retart bastards."
Did we actually have boots on the ground? I thought it was all air support.
Keep up the challenges! This weird individual needs to learn that being an author of weird books doesn’t give him any insight into world affairs. He should go back to writing scary warped books that I never read.
Oh, shut up Stevie. We know you were putting down our brave military men and women. Just go back into your little hole and swallow whatever pills you need to have another horror fantasy.
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