Wish you hadn't of............

[jimson]

Not that I think the man himself will ever read this but I sure wish you entertainers would stop wading into hot button political issues.

I'll never read your 99 cent essay on guns because I don't want a dime of my money going to the Brady Center. Now I have the tough decision of whether I should ever purchase another book by my favorite writer, a book of whose I almost always have in progress on my Kindle, for fear I will indirectly be supporting that organization.

Wish you would have stuck to writing instead of using your bully pulpit to advance a political agenda.

Thanks for ruining it for me.

[Moderator]

Last I heard celebrities still have as much right to wade into any issue they want as anyone else. Why is it

a) a lot of people think celebrities have given up their right to free speech just because of their celebrity status
b) there's always the undertone to these types of comments that because a celebrity has said it that people are being forced to agree with their opinions--as evidenced by use of terms such as bully pulpit--instead of forming their own opinions

You have choices and the freedom to use them as does Stephen and your post has been approved so that you can express your opinions in spite of the fact that you disagree. Sorry to hear that you're upset by Stephen's use of his first amendment rights to express his opinions and disagree with the use of money to support the Brady Campaign and that it may influence whether to remain a fan. However, it's not his intention to be bullied by those who disagree with his views or support of an organization that he feels will best serve to support reasonable changes to current guns laws.

[GNTLGNT]

Not that I think the man himself will ever read this but I sure wish you entertainers would stop wading into hot button political issues.

I'll never read your 99 cent essay on guns because I don't want a dime of my money going to the Brady Center. Now I have the tough decision of whether I should ever purchase another book by my favorite writer, a book of whose I almost always have in progress on my Kindle, for fear I will indirectly be supporting that organization.

Wish you would have stuck to writing instead of using your bully pulpit to advance a political agenda.




Thanks for ruining it for me.

[PatInTheHat]

Not that I think the man himself will ever read this but I sure wish you entertainers would stop wading into hot button political issues.

I'll never read your 99 cent essay on guns because I don't want a dime of my money going to the Brady Center. Now I have the tough decision of whether I should ever purchase another book by my favorite writer, a book of whose I almost always have in progress on my Kindle, for fear I will indirectly be supporting that organization.

Wish you would have stuck to writing instead of using your bully pulpit to advance a political agenda.

Thanks for ruining it for me.

So, just exactly how bad does it suck to be you?...get thee a super sized high colonic, butt now that's just a suggestion, I mean I understand there's some crap slingin' dingbats what loves that plugged up full of feelin', you?

[dregj]

I take it mr king has come out in favour of NOT slaughtering people en masse with automatic weapons in cinemas ,high schools and your local mcdonalds.How dare he

[fljoe0]

Why be angry over something you haven't even read?

The essay is not radical at all. The essay is mostly a call for some common sense in dealing with the gun issue. I don't agree with absolutely everything he says in the article but I don't see anything in the article that should make anyone angry. Isn't one of the reasons that we read to expand our horizons and listen to some other voices other than our own?

[Todash]

Never will I ever, ever understand why famous people are expected to just SHUT UP AND ENTERTAIN once they have a certain amount of fame. Famous people give up privacy and anonymity, but they are still afforded the same rights as the rest of us, including the right to free speech. Heck, if you really believe in something, wouldn't it be a little hypocritical to shut up about it right at the point you thought you could be the most convincing (because you have a wide audience)?

Famous people are still people, and the idea that they should stop being people and just be cardboard cutouts once they reach a certain status is really an offensive one (to me, anyway). This goes for any and all of them, regardless of what or whom they support.

[Todash]

You're right about one thing, though: it is indeed your right to "vote with your pocketbook," so to speak. Seems an odd choice to make based on a piece of work you've never even read, but hey. It's an odd kinda world out there.

[~Ally~]

Jimson; I'd be more inclined to take your views seriously if you had actually read the essay. Until then please do not accuse people of bully tactics. After all, a bully forces their behaviour onto others...SK isn't forcing anyone to read his views. We all have a choice whether to buy/read it or not, and you have made your choice not to read. Bravo for you.

I don't understand why this essay would prevent you from buying further stories from SK, though. Every time you purchase something in your everyday life do you question what the recipient of that money will do with it? I'm sure you don't, so what SK does with his hard earned money is no concern of yours, or mine, or anybody. If you can't handle the realism of that then don't buy his books. Simple.

[Sepia and Dust]

Not that I think the man himself will ever read this but I sure wish you entertainers would stop

Well, I agree with you, to some extent. Many celebrities routinely spout off about whatever social or political issue is currently a hot topic as though the opinion of somebody famous is of any value whatsoever. So we get stuck with ignorant blowhards like Jenny McCarthy.

Mr. King, however, does not fall into that group, in my opinion. He rarely offers an opinion on current events. Guns was a special case, though--he had personal experience with one issue that only a famous writer can have. He wrote something that was quite popular, and he later felt that it might contribute to our culture of glorifying gun-violence, so he pulled the story from the market. No average Joe has that experience.

As to why he chose to publish Guns in the venue he did, I can't answer. Probably, not much forethought was given, except to make the piece widely and immediately available. Maybe Mr. King should have released the essay as a free .PDF on his website, maybe he shouldn't have. What I do know is that I respect him as a hardworking family man who rarely wears his celebrity crown unless he's promoting a new novel, so I give him the benefit of the doubt in hot-off-the-presses matters like this.