Novelist Stephen King Tries to Defend His Comment that iliterate students Can Join the Army

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

New Approach

Barack Obama talks about transcending partisan politics in favor of something new and better and more appealing to voters weary of attack politics. Well how about this: A Democrat running for the state legislature in North Carolina not only refused to attack his opponent, he actually endorsed him and campaigned for him. And it, well, worked.

Stan Morse beat Sam Brewer, the man he endorsed and campaigned for 54 to 46 percent to be the nominee from their district in Raleigh. Morse won despite submitting a concession speech the day before the election and spending Tuesday outside a Raleigh polling place asking people to vote for Brewer.

The problem is that Morse actually meant it. He wanted to lose. He tells FOX News he only entered the race when it appeared the Republican incumbent would go unchallenged, not knowing Brewer had earlier thrown his hat in the ring. Now Morse says he doesn't know what he'll do.

The Doctor Is In

A group of students and faculty at Washington University in Saint Louis is planning to protest the awarding of an honorary doctorate to longtime conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly. The dissenters are upset with Schlafly's record of criticizing feminism — particularly her opposition to the equal rights amendment in the 1970's.

There has been no word of protest about any of the other five people being awarded honorary degrees, a list that includes liberal cable news broadcaster Chris Matthews and outspoken liberal musician Quincy Jones.

The school is defending its decision to honor Schlafly, saying she has been a catalyst for vigorous debate on difficult issues.

Blame Game

The president of the African nation of Senegal says the United Nations' food agency is a waste of money that should be eliminated. And Abdoulaye Wade also says the U.N.'s food and agriculture organization is itself largely to blame for the rising cost of food because of its inefficiency.

Wade calls the agency a "bottomless pit of money largely spent on its own functioning with very little effective operations on the ground."

He terms the traditional international food aide system a "huge swindle" and says the money often ends up being used for trips and luxury hotels instead of concrete actions on the ground.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he understands Wade's frustration, but says the food and agriculture organization is a key player in the push to improve agricultural productivity.

Storm of the Century

Novelist Stephen King is firing back against critics upset with a statement he made about education and the military.

King said in April at the Library of Congress, "If you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that. It's not as bright."

One blogger likened King's remarks to those of former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry about how young people without a good education can get "stuck in Iraq."

King responds by saying, "That a right-wing blog would impugn my patriotism because I said children should learn to read, and could get better jobs by doing so, is beneath contempt. I live in a National Guard town, and I support our troops, but I don't support either the war or educational policies that limit the options of young men and women to any one career — military or otherwise."

— FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.