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Stephen King, massive hypocrite

January 28, 2013
Wilson

Writer

Updated: Glenn addressed Stephen King's hypocrisy Monday night - watch it in the clip above!

Notorious horror author Stephen King has decided to publicly bash the NRA for apparently promoting violence. He said they should have to be the ones who clean up the blood and ‘guts’ in the next shooting. For a supposedly brilliant it’s quite difficult to understand how he does not see the hypocrisy in this statement.

Transcript of segment is below:

GLENN: Plenty of gun advocates cling to their semi‑automatics the way Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson clung to the stuff that was killing them. This is according to Stephen King in a 25‑page essay called "Guns. Guns. I don't like guns." It's a ‑‑ it's amazing. He says to claim that America's culture of violence is responsible for school shootings is tantamount to cigarette company executives declaring that environmental pollution is the chief cause of cancer. It took ‑‑ it took more than one slim novel to cause these teenagers to do what they did. Yeah, one, one slim novel? Don't you do, these ‑‑ Stephen King is the only one who can churn a book out faster than I can. And everybody's like, geez, my gosh, Glenn Beck is writing another book? Yeah, mine aren't 8,000 pages long. He's got book after book after book, and tell me the sweet "Cuddle by the fireplace and read to your children" books that he has created. They're all bloodbaths. And he says, "One only wishes that Wayne La Pierre and his NRA board of directors..." oh, please. Wayne, please make me an honorary board of directors, make me ‑‑ I'll empty the garbage. Please, I'd wear it as such a badge of honor, such a badge of honor to be ‑‑ I count it as one of my ‑‑ I might even want to have this engraved on my tombstone: Lifetime member, NRA, currently trying to make it post‑lifetime member.

So anyway, he says, "One only wishes Wayne La Pierre and his NRA board of directors could be drafted to some of those violent scenes where they would be required to put on booties and rubber gloves and help clean up the blood, the brains, and the chunks of intestines still containing the poor wads of half‑digested food that were some innocent bystander's last meal."

PAT: Good gosh.

GLENN: This guy's bad.

PAT: He's sick.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

PAT: Sick.

GLENN: Remember this is a guy who says all people in the military are stupid. Do we still have that?

PAT: I think so.

GLENN: This is a guy who says, you know, if you want to be ‑‑ you know, if you want to be in the military, don't read. Just be stupid.

KING: I don't want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is that if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like...

PAT: Mmm‑hmmm.

GLENN: Oh. So if you can't read, you have the Army. This guy is an America‑hating ‑‑

PAT: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: ‑‑ military‑hating dirtbag. And I hate it because I like his work.

STU: Yeah, he's one of the ‑‑

GLENN: I mean, he's one of the best writers, you know, of the 20th century. He's a great horror writer. He's great.

STU: But one of the most purely stupid political commentators in existence.

PAT: Oh, no question.

GLENN: He is just an idiot.

STU: Every time.

PAT: And to blame the NRA for this. When he pumps out the books and movies he pumps out, he's got no culpability for any of it.

GLENN: Here's the reason why: Because he knows, he knows that the culture of violence ‑‑ look. You have the American Pediatrics, you have the American Medical Association, you have every single study that has ever come out say ‑‑ any credibility, they all say movies and violent games with kids lead to these things. Not in all cases.

STU: And obviously the vast, vast minority of them.

GLENN: Right.

STU: But ‑‑

GLENN: But your brain is not formed. Your brain's not set really until it's like 25. But up until, like, 13 or, what is it, 10 or 13, it's really, you're laying new pathways down. You start to put this kind of violence and stuff, it changes the way you process stuff. And so it's proven. It's proven fact. And yet nobody wants to talk about this. And so he wants to make sure that he's the guardian. He's the guardian of the gate. "I'm Stephen King, after all. And I mean, I've written about shootings and guttings and everything else." He's poured it into your mind, and he's done it well. I read Stephen King novels. Scares the crap out of me. Although, you know, Stephen, there is another writer. I mean, I know you want to be the king of all scary writers. There's another writer. Who was the guy who wrote that book? Oh, man, I can't remember. I only read half of it. Scared the ‑‑ makes ‑‑ it makes Stephen King look like the president. Makes him look like a girl. You're a girl. Demon Game, Devil's Game? I can't remember. Scary.

So Stephen is out now. All he's doing is carrying all of the water for the culture, for those who want to put violence and blood and everything else in the culture and say that there's no effect. I'm sorry. I'm not saying regulate you. I'm not saying ban you. I'm not saying regulate the movies. I'm just saying be responsible, that's all. I don't want to put you out of business or anything else. Be responsible. And understand as a consumer be responsible and understand that this is affecting your children. Once your ‑‑ once your brain is formed and everything, some people are going to take, you know, Catcher in the Rye and they're going to read Catcher in the Rye and they're going to be like, "Oh, I've got to go kill somebody." Okay. Well, that's just because they're crazy. But when it comes to the youth, it does make a difference. I don't want more regulation. I don't want more power. I want the power to remain with the people, and I want the power of the people to be able to go, "You know what? Stephen King is an ass. Stephen King is an idiot. He might write a good book but I don't need to give him any more money," you know, or not. Again, I read his books, or used to. I read his boobs. I think he's a great writer. I like his stuff. I think It's one of the scariest movies, until you find out it's a stupid spider, you moron! You make us read 800 pages and you give us a spider in the end?

STU: (Laughing.)

GLENN: Man!

PAT: Thank you. That had to be said.

STU: Yeah, no.

PAT: Had to be said.

GLENN: I'm a lifetime member of the NRA and I didn't even think about picking up a gun and coming and stalk you, my friend. And after 800 pages, you give me a spider. If the NRA membership made me a killer, you'd be long gone, brother.

STU: (Laughing.)

GLENN: Spider!

STU: But nobody has a higher opinion of Stephen King than Stephen King.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

STU: I mean, this guy thinks he is the greatest thing ever.

PAT: Oh, yeah.

STU: And he constantly is commenting on topics like this and he's just a more ‑‑ in his own, in this essay he talks about how it's the NRA, it's the people like these that cause these incidents, it's not the culture. And then he talks about how he pulled his own book off the shelf because it kept popping up at school shootings. It kept popping up with all these violent teenagers and so he pulled ‑‑ I can't remember, Rage maybe was the name of the book, but he popped ‑‑ he pulled it off the shelf because he was worried about its impact on children.

PAT: Wow.

STU: But the culture isn't at all a problem.

GLENN: No, uh‑uh.

PAT: And Carrie is like a lullaby. That's like a lullaby for kids.

GLENN: The Shining? The Shining is great.

PAT: All of these bloodbaths that are just horrifying. Those are just sweet little tales. It's really the NRA that's the problem.

GLENN: The Stand. The Stand.

PAT: Mmm‑hmmm.

GLENN: It's a love story. It's a love story.

PAT: Mmm‑hmmm.

GLENN: You'd think that this guy would realize, you know, he's seeing that he wrote The Stand, that he's practically setting up the kingdom of Vegas. I mean, you're on the wrong side, Steve. You're on the wrong side. Come to the other side of the mountains.

STU: No, stay over there. I don't want you.

GLENN: Yeah, you're right.

STU: Seriously.

GLENN: I know how it ends. Go over there. We don't want you.

STU: I don't remember that book, but ‑‑

GLENN: We should never give up. We love you, Stephen.

STU: Well ‑‑

GLENN: We'd love you over here. We really ‑‑

STU: Well, I don't know what "over here" means but if "over here" means I have to talk to him in the next 50 years, no thanks.

GLENN: I'd like him to change his mind. I'd like you to ‑‑ I'd like you to find happiness. I'd like you to ‑‑

STU: That's up to him.

GLENN: I'd like you to find it.

STU: Good luck.

GLENN: You know, there in Maine. Not down here in Texas.

STU: Yes.

GLENN: But if you can find it in Maine ‑‑

STU: E‑mail us.

GLENN: ‑‑ e‑mail us. And I'm hoping before I get that e‑mail, we're hit by an EMP. I'd rather be foraging for food in garbage cans after an EMP than read your e‑mail saying, "I found Jesus."

STU: You find that, just ‑‑

GLENN: No, he's going to find him and it's going to be great and I wish him all the best of luck in finding Him. Now I'm ‑‑ you know what, Pat?

PAT: Hmmm?

GLENN: We should ‑‑ we should send the boys and bikes over to his house. I know where he lives. We should send the boys. Because I care so much.

PAT: No, I'm sensing some of that from you.

GLENN: We should call ‑‑

PAT: I'm sensing that.

GLENN: We should call every night every time you see one of those commercials on TV, call for your copy, "Hi, I'm Stephen King."

STU: (Laughing.)

GLENN: "I know you guys have come over to my house every day for the last four weeks, but this time..."

PAT: But this time I really want you here. I really want you here. And don't even listen to me when I say I don't want you here.

GLENN: Don't take no for an answer. Come in and sit down.

PAT: I think I might be possessed by demons. So make sure that you just don't listen to what I'm saying.

GLENN: Please ‑‑

PAT: That's just the demons talking.

GLENN: Please do it. Please do it.

STU: I'm calling you now because this is my one moment of sobriety for the day.

GLENN: I need help.

STU: When you come, I'm going to be hammered and I'm going to resist. Please, listen.

GLENN: I need your help. Listen. Please, help me, help me. Bring some Catholic priests with you. Bring ‑‑ heck, bring some Jehovah Witnesses with you. Just keep coming to my door.

PAT: I like that.

GLENN: Yeah. See?

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: That's ‑‑ and that's what Jesus taught.

PAT: Right. Yes. Be persistent.

GLENN: He was like, "Don't give up. Be persistent." I highly recommend. Get his address. I'm making a call the next time I see the ad.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar brings white fan onstage to sing with him, but here’s the catch

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for American Express

Rapper Kendrick Lamar asked a fan to come onstage and sing with him, only to condemn her when she failed to censor all of the song's frequent mentions of the “n-word" while singing along.

RELATED: You'll Never Guess Who Wrote the Racist Message Targeting Black Air Force Cadets

“I am so sorry," she apologized when Lamar pointed out that she needed to “bleep" that word. “I'm used to singing it like you wrote it." She was booed at by the crowd of people, many screaming “f*** you" after her mistake.

On Tuesday's show, Pat and Jeffy watched the clip and talked about some of the Twitter reactions.

“This is ridiculous," Pat said. “The situation with this word has become so ludicrous."

BIAS ALERT: MSNBC’s Katy Tur pressures Texas AG to ‘promise’ school safety

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

What happened?

MSNBC's Katy Tur didn't bother to hide her pro-gun control bias in an interview with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the wake of the Santa Fe High School killings.

RELATED: Media Are Pushing Inflated '18 School Shootings' Statistic. Here Are the Facts.

What did she ask?

As Pat pointed out while sitting in for Glenn on today's show, Tur tried to “badger" Paxton into vowing that he would push for a magical fix that will make schools “100 percent safe." She found it “just wild" that the Texas attorney general couldn't promise that schools will ever be completely, totally safe.

“Can you promise kids in Texas today that they're safe to go to school?" Tur pressured Paxton.

“I don't think there's any way to say that we're ever 100 percent safe," the attorney general responded.

What solutions did the AG offer?

“We've got a long way to go," Paxton said. He listed potential solutions to improve school safety, including installing security officers and training administrators and teachers to carry a gun.

Pat's take:

“Unbelievable," Pat said on today's show. “Nobody can promise [100 percent safety]."

OVERREACH: These presidents are the worst ‘executive order offenders’ — here’s why

Every president from George Washington to Donald Trump has issued at least one executive order (with the exception of William Harrison who died just 31 days into his presidency) and yet the U.S. Constitution doesn't even mention executive orders. So how did the use of this legislative loophole become such an accepted part of the job? Well, we can thank Franklin Roosevelt for that.

Back at the chalkboard, Glenn Beck broke down the progression of the executive order over the years and discussed which US Presidents have been the “worst offenders."

RELATED: POWER GRAB: Here's how US presidents use 'moments of crisis' to override Constitutional law

“It's hard to judge our worst presidential overreachers on sheer numbers alone," said Glenn. “However, it's not a shock that FDR issued by far the most of any president."

Our first 15 presidents issued a combined total of 143. By comparison, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued 3721, more than twice the next runner up, Woodrow Wilson, at 1803.

“Next to FDR, no other president in our history attempted to reshape so much of American life by decree, until we get to this guy: President Obama," Glenn explained. “He didn't issue 3000, or even 1800; he did 276 executive orders, but it was the power of those orders. He instituted 560 major regulations classified by the Congressional Budget Office as having 'significant economic or social impacts.' That's 50 percent more regulations than George W. Bush's presidency — and remember, everybody thought he was a fascist."

President Obama blamed an obstructionist Congress for forcing him to bypass the legislative process. By executive order, President Obama decreed the U.S. join the Paris Climate Accord, DACA, the Clean Power Plan and transgender restrooms. He also authorized spying in US citizens through section 702 of FISA, used the IRS to target political opponents and ordered military action in Libya without Congressional permission.

All of these changes were accepted by the very people who now condemn President Trump for his use of executive orders — many of which were issued to annul President Obama's executive orders, just as President Obama annulled President Bush's executive orders when he took office … and therein lies the rub with executive orders.

“That's not the way it's supposed to work, nor would we ever want it to be," said Glenn. “We have to have the Constitution and laws need to originate in Congress."

Watch the video above to find out more.

Holding T-bills now pays 30x more than your bank savings account

Sharon McCutcheon/Unsplash

Six months ago, I alerted readers to the very attractive benefits that the TreasuryDirect program offers to investors who are defensively sitting on cash right now.

Since then, those benefits have continued to improve. Substantially.

Back in November, by holding extremely conservative short-term (i.e., 6-months or less) Treasury bills, TreasuryDirect participants were receiving over 16x more in interest payments vs keeping their cash in a standard bank savings account.

Today, they're now receiving over 30 times more. Without having to worry about the risk of a bank "bail-in" or failure.

So if you're holding cash right now and NOT participating in the TreasuryDirect program, do yourself a favor and read on. If you're going to pass on this opportunity, at least make it an 'eyes-wide-open' decision.

Holding Cash (In Treasurys) Now Beats The Market

There are many prudent reasons to hold cash in today's dangerously overvalued financial markets, as we've frequently touted here at PeakProsperity.com.

Well, there's now one more good reason to add to the list: holding cash in short-term Treasurys is now meeting/beating the dividend returns offered by the stock market:

"Cash Is King" Again - 3-Month Bills Yield More Than Stocks (Zero Hedge)
'Reaching for yield' just got a lot easier...
For the first time since February 2008, three-month Treasury bills now have a yield advantage over the S&P; 500 dividend yield (and dramatically lower risk).
Investors can earn a guaranteed 1.90% by holding the 3-month bills or a risky 1.89% holding the S&P; 500...

The longest period of financial repression in history is coming to an end...

And it would appear TINA is dead as there is now an alternative.

And when you look at the total return (dividends + appreciation) of the market since the start of 2018, stocks have returned only marginally better than 3-month Treasurys. Plus, those scant few extra S&P; points have come with a LOT more risk.

Why take it under such dangerously overvalued conditions?

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em

In my June report Less Than Zero: How The Fed Killed Saving, I explained how the Federal Reserve's policy of holding interest rates at record lows has decimated savers. Those who simply want to park money somewhere "safe" can't do so without losing money in real terms.

To drive this point home: back in November, the average interest rate being offered in a US bank savings account was an insutling 0.06%. Six months later, nothing has changed:

(Source

That's virtually the same as getting paid 0%. But it's actually worse than that, because once you take inflation into account, the real return on your savings is markedly negative.

And to really get your blood boiling, note that the Federal Reserve has rasied the federal funds rate it pays banks from 1.16% in November to 1.69% in April. Banks are now making nearly 50% more money on the excess reserves they park at the Fed -- but are they passing any of that free profit along to their depositors? No....

This is why knowing about the TreasuryDirect program is so important. It's a way for individual investors savvy enough to understand the game being played to bend some of its rules to their favor and limit the damage they suffer.

Below is an updated version (using today's rates) of my recap of TreasuryDirect, which enables you to get over 30x more interest on your cash savings than your bank will pay you, with lower risk.

TreasuryDirect

For those not already familiar with it, TreasuryDirect is a service offered by the United States Department of the Treasury that allows individual investors to purchase Treasury securities such as T-Bills, notes and bonds directly from the U.S. government.

You purchase these Treasury securities by linking a TreasuryDirect account to your personal bank account. Once linked, you use your cash savings to purchase T-bills, etc from the US Treasury. When the Treasury securities you've purchased mature or are sold, the proceeds are deposited back into your bank account.

So why buy Treasuries rather than keep your cash savings in a bank? Two main reasons:

  • Much higher return: T-Bills are currently offering an annualized return rate between 1.66-2.04%. Notes and bonds, depending on their duration, are currently offering between 2.6% - 3.1%
  • Extremely low risk: Your bank can change the interest rate on your savings account at any time -- with Treasury bills, your rate of return is locked in at purchase. Funds in a bank are subject to risks such as a bank bail-in or the insolvency of the FDIC depositor protection program -- while at TreasuryDirect, your funds are being held with the US Treasury, the institution with the lowest default risk in the country for reasons I'll explain more in a moment.

Let's look at a quick example. If you parked $100,000 in the average bank savings account for a full year, you would earn $60 in interest. Let's compare this to the current lowest-yielding TreasuryDirect option: continuously rolling that same $100,000 into 4-week T-Bills for a year:

  1. Day 1: Funds are transferred from your bank account to TreasuryDirect to purchase $100,000 face value of 4-week T-Bills at auction yielding 1.68%
  2. Day 28: the T-Bills mature and the Treasury holds the full $100,000 proceeds in your TreasuryDirect account. Since you've set up the auto-reinvestment option, TreasuryDirect then purchases another $100,000 face value of 4-week T-Bills at the next auction.
  3. Days 29-364: the process repeats every 4 weeks
  4. Day 365: assuming the average yield for T-Bills remained at 1.68%, you will have received $1,680 in interest in total throughout the year from the US Treasury.

$1,680 vs $60. That's a 27x difference in return.

And the comparison only improves if you decide to purchase longer duration (13-week or 26-week) bills instead of the 4-week ones:

Repeating the above example for a year using 13-week bills would yield $1,925. Using 26-week bills would yield $2,085. A lot better (34x better!) than $60.

Opportunity Cost & Default Risk

So what are the downsides to using TreasuryDirect? There aren't many.

The biggest one is opportunity cost. While your money is being held in a T-Bill, it's tied up at the US Treasury. If you suddenly need access to those funds, you have to wait until the bill matures.

But T-Bill durations are short. 4 weeks is not a lot of time to have to wait. (If you think the probability is high you may to need to pull money out of savings sooner than that, you shouldn't be considering the TreasuryDirect program.)

Other than that, TreasuryDirect offers an appealing reduction in risk.

If your bank suddenly closes due to a failure, any funds invested in TreasuryDirect are not in your bank account, so are not subject to being confiscated in a bail-in.

Instead, your money is held as a T-Bill, note or bond, which is essentially an obligation of the US Treasury to pay you in full for the face amount. The US Treasury is the single last entity in the country (and quite possibly, the world) that will ever default on its obligations. Why? Because Treasurys are the mechanism by which money is created in the US. Chapter 8 from The Crash Course explains:

As a result, to preserve its ability to print the money it needs to function, the US government will bring its full force and backing to bear in order to ensure confidence in the market for Treasurys.

Meaning: the US government won't squelch on paying you back the money you lent it. If required, it will just print the money it needs to repay you.

So, How To Get Started?

Usage of TreasuryDirect is quite low among investors today. Many are unaware of the program. Others simply haven't tried it out.

And let's be real: it's crazy that we live in a world where a 1.68-2.09% return now qualifies as an exceptionally high yield on savings. A lot of folks just can't get motivated to take action by rates that low. But that doesn't mean that they shouldn't -- money left on the table is money forfeited.

So, if you're interested in learning more about the TreasuryDirect program, start by visiting their website. Like everything operated by the government, it's pretty 'no frills'; but their FAQ page addresses investors' most common questions.

Before you decide whether or not to fund an account there, be sure to discuss the decision with your professional financial advisor to make sure it fits well with your personal financial situation and goals. (If you're having difficulty finding a good one, consider scheduling a free discussion with PeakProsperity.com's endorsed financial advisor -- who has considerable experience managing TreasuryDirect purchases for many of its clients).

In Part 2: A Primer On How To Use TreasuryDirect, we lay out the step-by-step process for opening, funding and transacting within a TreasuryDirect account. We've created it to be a helpful resource for those self-directed individuals potentially interested in increasing their return on their cash savings in this manner.

Yes, we savers are getting completely abused by our government's policies. So there's some poetic justice in using the government's own financing instruments to slightly lessen the sting of the whip.

Click here to read Part 2 of this report (free executive summary, enrollment required for full access)

NOTE: PeakProsperity.com does not have any business relationship with the TreasuryDirect program. Nor is anything in the article above to be taken as an offer of personal financial advice. As mentioned, discuss any decision to participate in TreasuryDirect with your professional financial advisor before taking action.