Stephen King made news this week, explaining that if you don’t learn to read, you could get stuck in Iraq. Our brave but not-too-bright (according to King) soldiers, last seen begging John Kerry to help them, have turned their pleas to his fellow Northeasterner.
Those poor guys. If only they’d read The Tommyknockers, they could have avoided this mess by learning valuable lessons about alcoholism, projectile vomiting, AA batteries and why you shouldn’t dig up alien spacecraft.
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Hmm. Looks like a photoshop, although it’s still funny.
Are idiots like King aware that the vast majority of service members graduated High School and a huge percentage of them are either in college or already have degrees? Yeesh.
Oh, it’s definitely a Photoshop, but a pretty good one. Whoever did it actually tried to follow the shadow patterns.
Stephen King is an author, not a political analyst. I’ll read his books and ignore his policy statements, whether they’re in public or implied in his texts.
At the risk of coming across as ignorant, how can you guys tell it is Photoshop? I have zero experience with such things.
Dave,
I remember that the protagonist in The Tommyknockers also bitched for a couple pages about nuclear energy.  That seemed like an awkward insertion of the author’s personal belief system but I tried to not let it get in way of a good story.Â
I remember that the protagonist in The Tommyknockers also bitched for a couple pages about nuclear energy.Â
In fact I think it was a minor obsession for the character, with repeated references. As I recall, he was arrested with a gun at a anti-nuke demonstration in an event that was central to his realizing his life was out of control, and a recurring theme of his life is him getting drunk and railing on the issue.  Not sure that was a great endorsement of nuclear protestors, actually.
Like most pop-media icons, King’s always leaned left; we’re just now noticing, is all, as is true with other authors. Re-reading Frank Herbert’s books as an adult, he seems awfully comfortable with terrorism, and dismissive of liberal democracy.Â
In this case, Rodger, the key is that it is the exact same picture as "Halp Us Jon Carry." Inside knowledge rather than Photoshop knowledge. (No matter how hard you try, it’s damned near impossible to duplicate a picture under uncontrolled circumstances.)
As I said, it’s a pretty good one. They didn’t just copy/paste letters; they stretched them and lightened or darkened them as they thought appropriate. It’s amazing how many people don’t bother with those steps. I do this sort of thing for work since we photograph high schoolers and their dances— with the zero tolerance policies in place regarding drugs and alcohol, I’ve been known to change T-shirts and other accessories so that the student is no longer advertising. (I usually replace alcohol with its purported place of origin. Guinness becomes Ireland, Corona becomes Mexico, and so on.) The trick lies in doing it in such a way that the student in question won’t notice when he or she picks up their pictures.
(I’ve also had to lengthen skirts. Lord help us all.)
Thanks guys,
Dave,
I used to really enjoy how author’s could "enlighten" us on certain perspectives. Moral rage and all that. These days, I find myself buying into the world view (opinions) of, say, Micheal Crichton. Its a slippery slope, for we tend to quote "authority" to augment that what we wish to believe as being true.
B. Durbin,
You answered my question very well. Thank you. I really didn’t know!
I like that you used common sense and realized that that photograph was a re-tailoring of the Jon Carry entreaty from the troops.
Guys like you exposed the "font incongruity" that Dan Rather still believes is correct "in spirit".
"I’ve also had to lengthen skirts. Lord help us all".
B. Durbin
“I totally disagree with the lengthening of skirts.”
Rodger V Rossman
I didn’t read the King conversation but…you don’t see many senator’s kids who voted for the war going there. Bush’s girls didn’t sign up. I think one can be educated, able to read and write but possibly still open to brainwashing for before the age of 21 their critical thinking skills haven’t really kicked in…and if they come from a military family…it’s the ‘follow in my footsteps’ sort of thing..and..aren’t they saying now that you shouldn’t do drugs like alcohol before the age of 21 because the brain isn’t fully developed yet… developed enough to brainwash into going to war for any contrived reason. The military offers, especially during peace time, a way for lower to middle-class young people to attend college after highschool. I remember when I went to college that many of the students there couldn’t spell..well, enough said for a highschool education in some parts of this country. My brother was drafted at 18 and went to Viet Nam…(those who were in college were deferred)..so we can say that many of those who did go were the low income kids who couldn’t afford college. I know a little about wartime..seeing young friends coming back in pine boxes. My brother was a good soldier…a changed man after the war.. a war that was unwinable and inconsequential. I think it too bad that some parents sit back and say nothing..I can understand being in the military and not saying anything..your life would be in danger if you did…but their parents..for shame. Â
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