Tweets to the States 1: Sue Reality Mr. Stephen King!
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Personal SubStack
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/10/31
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: This post is from October 21st at 4:04 PM, aimed at the U.S. audience: “Stephen King @StephenKing should sue reality for ripping off the plot of The Stand — a plague followed by an epic confrontation between forces for good and an army of douchebags led by an evil messiah.” Rick Rosner, explain yourself.
Rick Rosner: The Stand is Stephen King’s 1,152-page epic novel in which a plague called “Captain Trips,” potentially engineered by the government, spreads worldwide and kills 99.4% of the global population. When it was written, that would have meant about 4 billion people, leaving only around 2.4 million survivors worldwide. In the story, many of the survivors in America — roughly 1% of the original population — are drawn to one of two groups.
The forces of good unite behind a heroic leader, with some survivors developing divine, satanic, or mystical powers. The good survivors gather in Boulder, Colorado, while those who align with evil follow Randall Flagg, the novel’s dark messiah, to Las Vegas. Eventually, there’s a climactic confrontation between the two sides.
In real life, we experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, which, while far from wiping out humanity, did result in the deaths of millions. While the death rate wasn’t as extreme as The Stand, it did take a substantial toll, especially among seniors. I think Donald Trump has acted as a divisive leader, though more metaphorically, representing the novel’s “evil messiah.” That was my underlying point — plus, I was hoping to get Stephen King’s attention.
I would love a like or retweet from Stephen King, though it has yet to happen. Someone else mentioned that my comparison also has elements of The Dead Zone, another Stephen King novel adapted into a movie. In The Dead Zone, a man is in a coma for several years and, when he wakes, can see visions of the future by touching people. He touches a political candidate and foresees that if this man becomes president, he will initiate a nuclear Armageddon. The hero then takes steps to prevent this from happening. I replied, “Yes, but if it were Trump, he’d fumble the baby.”
On the topic of Boulder, Stephen King lived a block or two from my high school there before he became a successful novelist. He even references Boulder landmarks in his work, like the Cliff Brice gas station and scenes from The Shining. Seeing hometown settings in popular stories is always fun. We’ll see if anything develops from this tweet tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Twitter has been pushing Joe Rogan’s latest content since Donald Trump appeared on his podcast. This caused Trump to be three hours late to a rally. His followers stood outside in the cold, waiting for him while he recorded the podcast. The interview is quickly gaining traction — there were already 2 million views within three hours.
I assume Trump probably made some controversial claims during the interview. However, these are unlikely to cost him any votes, and they might even attract more support from Rogan’s fanbase.
Jacobsen: The most views he’s ever had were 61 million, followed by 38 million. The 38 million was for Edward Snowden. Also, today, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has three Trump-appointed judges, changed the voting laws in 18 states. If their ruling stands, ballots postmarked by Election Day but arriving afterward within a reasonable time may not be counted.
These judges said, “Nope,” meaning those ballots could be thrown out. Now, it has to go to the Supreme Court, and it’ll not stand because we’re only 11 days from the election. Radically changing the rules in 18 states, potentially affecting up to 80 million people, is a significant issue. Election rules are supposed to be kept the same this close to Election Day.
So, I assume the Supreme Court will reject it. People are trying to sway the electorate. Harris held a rally with Springsteen and Obama, maybe in Wisconsin, and then went down to Houston to rally with Beyoncé. Everyone’s pulling out all the stops. About 25% of voters have already cast their ballots.
Around 40 million ballots have been registered as received but have yet to be counted since they can only count the votes once polls close on Election Day. So, about 37 million ballots have been received, and another 3 million have been sent in the mail. Everyone is still going all out with October surprises and big rallies, but the election is already over 25% decided. There’s only 75% of the electorate left to persuade.
Jacobsen: You should call it a day.
Rosner: Thank you. Thanks for putting up with me.
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