Stephen King is known as the “King of Horror.” I’m not much of a fan. As of 2011, King has written and published 49 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, five non-fiction books, and nine collections of short stories. Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile are two of my favorites. Most of his other works are disturbing. I’ve heard The Stand is good, but I just couldn’t plow through it.

King’s latest book is 11/22/63, a time travel novel. Here’s a short synopsis from the editors at USA Today:

Jake Epping of Lisbon Falls, Maine, is whisked back to Sept. 9, 1958, giving him five years to make his way to Dallas and prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Can Jake keep Lee Harvey Oswald from squeezing the trigger from the sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository?

I wish actors and writers would keep their mouths shut about politics and religion. I was seriously considering reading 11/22/63 until I saw his interview with Chris Matthews.

According to King, as reported on News Busters, “conservative ‘hate’ of Barack Obama is similar to the anger that led to the assassination of John Kennedy. Appearing on Friday’s Hardball [with host Chris Matthews] to promote . . . his new novel, the author compared” the assassination of JFK with political rhetoric against President Obama: “Here is where hate will get you eventually. This is what happens. Finally, it’s the barrel of a gun.”

Chris Matthews was incredulous: “Yeah, but it was a communist sympathizer. It was Lee Harvey Oswald, a man of the most extraordinary Left by our standards who killed him. So, how do you put that together with the right-wing mood of Dallas?” I know it’s hard to believe Matthews would say this, but as they say, a broken clock is right twice a day. Here’s the exchange:

STEPHEN KING: And I started to think about it again in 2008, because there are a lot of parallels between John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama: The age. They’re both young politicians. They both spent a short time in the Senate. They both have beautiful wives. They both have beautiful kids. And also, there’s also been this sort of atmosphere of real hate and obstructionism that surrounded both men. So, I began to think history repeats itself and at that point I thought to myself, “You know I really would like to write this book.” And one of the things I that I’d kinda like to say is “Here is where hate will get you eventually. This is what happens. Finally, it’s the barrel of a gun.”
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Yeah, but it was a communist sympathizer. It was Lee Harvey Oswald, a man of the most extraordinary left by our standards who killed him. So, how do you put that together with the right-wing mood of Dallas?

Where was King when horrible things were being said about George Bush? George Bush is probably the most maligned president in American history. There were wanted posters on the internet. One says “Dead or Alive.” Another says, “Wanted for Crimes Against the Planet.” There’s a “Kill Bush” T-shirt. The earth worshippers had a sign that read “Save Mother Earth, Kill Bush.” How about, “Hang Bush for War Crimes” “Bush is the Disease, Death is the Cure,” “I’m Here to Kill Bush,” “Bush: The Only Dope Worth Shooting,” “Death to Extremist Christian Terrorist Pig-Bush.” Then there’s the promotional photo from the mock-documentary film “Death of a President,” showing Bush being killed Jack Ruby style. Here’s a description of the scene:

Held up by a secret service bodyguard in his dying moments after being shot in the stomach, this is President Bush being assassinated.

Surrounded by a crowd of panicking onlookers, the American leader is pictured just seconds after being gunned down by a sniper following an anti-war demonstration. . . . This scene, which was created by putting the President’s face onto an actor with digital wizardry, shows him being gunned down just hours after driving past an anti-war demonstration while doing a talk in Chicago.

It goes on, and on, and on, but Stephen King waits until 2011 to make his claim, when there is a very liberal Democrat in the White House. The Tea Party demonstrations can’t compare to the Occupy crowds where there have been acts of violence, rapes, tons of refuse, drug use, threats, destruction of property, liberal use of excrement, and one or two deaths. King should be more concerned about these Occupiers than conservatives. As one protester said, “This movement is still young, and we’re not going away.”

One more thing. Who is Stephen King to address the subject of violence? His books are filled with murders . . . lots of murders. High school kids are murdered in Carrie. There’s “REDRUM” – “MURDER” spelled backward — in The Shining and several other King novels. Let’s not forget Misery, Christine, Pet Sematary, ’Salem’s Lot, It, Secret Window, Secret Garden, Thinner. Need I go on?