Archives » Thursday, May 08, 2008
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David Botti
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May 8, 2008 02:52 PM
A war of words began recently between writer Stephen King and a
conservative blogger over remarks King made about literacy and the U.S.
Army. During an appearance at the Library of Congress last month King said:
"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."
Blogger Noel Sheppard of the Website NewsBusters: Exposing and Combating Liberal Media Bias, criticized King
and likened his words to those of John Kerry when he said in 2006 that
having a poor education would get someone stuck in Iraq. Sheppard
wrote further: "Nice sentiment when the nation is at war, Stephen."
After Sheppard's blog post appeared, King countered on his own Website:
I guess he also feels that the war in Iraq has
nationwide approval.
Well, it doesn’t have mine. It 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 further instructed readers of his website to email Sheppard with the words: “Hi, Noel—Stephen King says to shut up and I agree.”
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Army released a statement yesterday responding to King's remarks:
"America's soldiers are proudly serving and fighting for us all. We can
be proud of our soldiers' selfless service, their skill and their
ingenuity. They certainly are role models for every high-school student
in America considering a noble career...and many book authors."
Just
as John Kerry's 2006 remarks sparked the ire of veterans and average
citizens alike, King has found himself the subject some negative
blogging since Sheppard's original post. One commenter for the
original post did offer a point of view from the middle ground:
I actually don't think King meant to insult the troops. He made a
mistake of trotting out an outdated draft-era notion about the military
to prove a totally different point. But he compounded his error by
lashing out at those who pointed out his mistake. Now it's a "thing" in
the media, and he's not looking very good, or smart.
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