I heard on the news the other day that last month he was speaking to a group of high school students at the Library of Congress, when he said the following:
Yikes. This guy has clearly been living in his Addams family house in Bangor for too long. He needs to take a walk downtown and say that directly to the people who wait on him at Deering's or Hannaford Brothers. He might need Cujo to protect him. But then again, maybe not. I think the good people of Bangor have sense enough to know how to properly treat feeble-minded people.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, it's not as bright. So, that's my little commercial for that.
5 comments:
It's surprising for me to become an apologist for King, but the last time I checked, it's a free country and he, like everyone else, is entitled to his opinion. I can think of far subtler ways for him to get his point across, or even to simply intimate that reading is good for you. But he was in front of a group, may perhaps have spoken off the cuff, and media's perennially poised to choose the more incendiary comments of a public figure for reportage. I'm not fond of his books and have heard reports of him that have often been less than kind, but he and his wife do a lot of good in Maine, and 'give back' to the community more than many of our rich and famous folk. Bill Cosby told African Americans to get off their bottoms, stop feeling sorry for themselves, and become what they could be, but I don't see you excoriating him here. I do recognize the bugbear in King's comments that set you off, Craig, but he's entitled to express his opinion, like me and thee, dear old friend.
Yep, he is entitled to his opinion. I reread what I wrote and I don't see anywhere that I said he isn't, so I'm not sure how that point even fits. America is the land of the free and the home of the opinionated. You, he and I are all demonstrating that!
I agree...he probably spoke off the cuff, but so often when we do it reflects what is deepest in our beliefs. The truth comes out in unguarded moments, and I bet that was one of his unguarded moments. He certainly is adept as speaking in front of people and should know how to control himself, especially when is leading the conversation and not being interviewed and caught off guard.
There "bugbear" that set me off is that I know many people in the military, including family members, and it is abundantly clear that he has very little respect for, or understanding of the military, and absolutely no appreciation for the fact that their existence enables him to be as free and as ignorant as he wants to be.
As far as being generous, good for him. It doesn't make what he said right either.
I have no idea what Bill Cosby has to do with this. Moreover, I wouldn't excoriate him because I agree with him.
That all being said...I've decided to leave "The Stand" on my list of favorite books. I really like it and am not going to allow his ignorance to affect my appreciation for it.
So do you agree with King?
Craig, the Cosby reference isn't out of place. Famous person says something controversial. Is or is not excoriated over comments. Draw the comparison. I'm not dumb, nor obtuse.
Your reason for taking up the cause against King's comments was perfectly obvious, but I suggest that the rationale you attach to them may be flawed. I'll offer another possible expansion of them. Maybe he was saying that the public should read and educate themselves so that their only perceived chance for a break out of poverty or perceived dead-end jobs isn't to become 'cannon fodder' for a government war in which they have no personal, ideological stake. You don't seriously believe that all the youth who sign up for the US armed forces do so in solidarity with the US military mission, do you? I'm certain that some do, and equally certain that some do not. Maybe he simply hopes for perceived options for them. Not so nefarious an interpretation, eh?
And don't get me started on your link between reading and elitism. Good grief, man: how did you get where you are today, if not (in part) by reading? Or perhaps you are of the Elite because you read? LOL
#1 - what link between reading and elitism? I didn't create one!
#2 - The difference between what I wrote and what you wrote is this: I commented on what Stephen King said. What he said is pretty direct, simple and awful. You have attempted to come up with tortured renditions of what he meant. So it's all hypothetical and therefore unarguable.
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