Stephen King said this in an interview on April 4, 2008 at a writer’s symposium for high school students:
"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 rebutted his statement on Monday. The following quotes are from The Associated Press article titled "Stephen King fires back after blogger attacks remarks"
"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.
Both statements are completely ridiculous and insensitive to all those fighting in Iraq right now. King claims to support the troops, but he obviously does not because he thinks they are unintelligent and need to learn to read. He obviously does not know what goes on in the army. From my understanding, some military troops are extremely intelligent because they have to handle life and death situations and are responsible for running army intelligence. If these people were stupid, then we wouldn't be able to do what we're doing at the moment. I'm not saying that each and every member is the smartest person ever, but I don't think they're stupid.
Its comments like this that angers me. People should support their troops and not make comments, like this, about them. It’s ridiculous. America has seemed to run out of patriotism. (I don't mean everyone has.)
And I'm not saying war is a good thing. I'm saying that it's neccessary at times for the safety of our country. The United States in Iraq is helping to keep the terrorists from us.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=164000&zoneid=500
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/9669/
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Patriotism is a term that anyone can twist to their liking. I don't see what's unpatriotic about his comments. It's sad that so many young people join the army because that's the only way they can go to college. A person does not have to be "extremely intelligent" to join the army. You have to make a 30 on the ASVAB, which is not hard at all. I made a 90, and I'm sure I did badly on the questions about mechanics. It is a waste of resources. It's a shame that so many people who are so young are being killed and permanently handicapped in this war.
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I'm gonna betch slap the dumb outta you
It is sad, but its also neccessary. I didn't mean that all are "extremely intelligent." Sorry that wasn't clarified, I'll add that.
Tegan.
I heard Glenn Beck reporting on this story. Is that where you heard about it from?
Most military recruits come from low-income households and urban areas. Military Recruiting 2005 is an example, but I assume the trend hasn't changed significantly. Now, it's a pretty fair assumption to make that urban and low-income neighborhoods have poorer schools, lower graduation rates, lower rates of graduates going on to college, and high rates of crime. So I'd say King was correct in his assessment that many of the people currently entering the military had few alternatives, and college certainly wasn't one of them.
And ads for military recruitment make it sound like a pretty fair situation to get into. You get job training, you get paid, you get "Army Strong". But I think it's also fair to say that the government shouldn't be putting military lives at risk unless its for a good cause, and King isn't alone in thinking that the Iraq War isn't a good enough cause.
It's probably a good guess to say that if many of the people in the military could have chosen college instead, they would have done it.
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I heard it from him and the Drudge Report.
I'm just angry at the fact that he said the military men and women are stupid.
Tegan.
My dad wasn't stupid by any means. But he was a college drop out who spent most of his days riding a motorcycle and drinking (not together). He pretty much chose partying over education.
Then he met my mom and they got married. Then my mom got pregnant with me and my dad needed something that paid enough to support a family. He went into the airforce because the armed forces will take anyone for various jobs. Anyone includes those with limited or no education--and they'll pay them and provide housing, medical, dental, vacation, and educational benefits to them and their family members
Steven King didn't say the people in the armed forces were stupid. He said people who can't read don't really have many career options for the future. It's true, and the military is one of those limited career options.
Don't take insult where none was given.
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It's all how you percieve what was said. I believe he was saying one thing, you think another.
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I dont think he was saying that they troops are stupid. I think he was just saying that people with less education choose the military because it tends to be the most appealing option available to them. He thinks that's unfortunate and thinks that we should make sure that our young people have plenty of good options, including higher education available to them.
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Are we talking book-smarts or street smarts? I can understand King's first quote. Oftentimes you'll see the less educated students in school going off into the Army or Navy or Marines because they feel they have no direction in life (and by less educated, I mean the ones who didn't do so well in school).
And I do think it's possible to support the troops--but not the war. I don't agree with the war, but I certainly sympathize with those who go over and fight.
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I think its also possible to support the troops, but not the war.
But I do not think Stephen King can do so because of his comments.
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