Ted Nugent’s Double Standards (DO As I Say, Not As I Do)

Ted Nugent

Ted Nugent is a draft dodger

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO… Ted Nugent spent the hours before his speech at the National Rifle Association’s recent national convention as just another vendor, hawking his books to the public. Then, as the confab’s final speaker, he gave his stock speech about his love of guns and his eagerness to kill people (“if you dare attempt to argue with me about my right to self-defense, I will just have to destroy you”). But the truth of the matter is that Ted’s never killed anyone and when he had a chance to, he bailed. Ted Nugent is just another chicken hawk.

He was born in 1948, so he was eligible to enlist in 1966 or early 1967. Why didn’t he? Not because his family didn’t want him to–his father was professional military, a staff sergeant. In 1977, Nugent described to High Times his efforts to evade conscription. Later he claimed to have a 1Y deferment because he was enrolled at Oakland Community College. It would be interesting to know how many times he entered a classroom, considering that by 1967 his band, The Amboy Dukes, had a record contract, which tends to make the band members pretty busy.  Nugent also claims he lied to a gullible High Times reporter. Why would he do that? Was it macho to be a draft dodger back then?

Nugent likes to brag about jamming with fellow veteran Jimi Hendrix…oh, that’s right, Jimi enlisted as a paratrooper, while Ted fled. As for his “support for the troops,” which he trumpeted again at the NRA’s Houston convention, in 1977 he said that “If I would have gone over there, I’d have killed all the hippies in the foxholes.” Now he’s an avid supporter of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least Nugent’s consistent—in all these cases Americans are being killed while Ted lives a protected life out of harm’s way.

Nugent also brags about his deep Christian faith, which by his own account hasn’t prevented him from screwing hundreds of teenage girls, often well after he’d reached the outer fringes of middle age. More recently, Nugent couldn’t marry his third wife, Pele Massa, because she was underage so Ted arranged (at what price one wonders) for Pele’s parents to sign legal guardianship over to him until she legally ripened. Three of his children were born out of wedlock. Wonder what Christian splinter group he’s found to endorse all that?

 Nugent’s first hit was with the Amboy Dukes on “Journey to the Center of the Mind,” which he claims not to know was about drugs, making him a unique teenager who wasn’t able to decode psychedelic drug references in 1968. Did he also not know it when he played the song at a Dukes reunion in Detroit in 2009?

In 2007, Nugent went on the Hannity and Colmes TV show to complain that at the Coachella festival Zach de la Rocha said that the Bush administration should be “hung and tried and shot.” On April 17, 2012, Nugent said that if Obama was re-elected he would “either be dead or in jail by this time next year.” This proved to be a lie. Or maybe he’s filed for an extension.

Anyway, Ted couldn’t die because he remains on Federal probation until next April. Seems the great sportsman killed more bears than he was entitled to in Alaska. (Nugent has a previous conviction for deer baiting in California.) His other monumental achievement as a nature lover is his support for Massey Energy’s mountain removal program: “On behalf of the Nugent family, I say, start up the bulldozers and get me some more coal, Massey.” Might as well, since he couldn’t go hunting around there–the mountain removal devastates all wildlife.

Come to think of it, maybe  if Nugent took a closer look at the actual record of Barack Obama, he’d see a kindred spirit. After all, both Ted and Barack are big fans of fossil fuels. Nugent hates immigrants (“We should put razor wire around our borders and give the finger to any piece of shit who wants to come here”) and Obama has deported more immigrants than any President in U.S. history. Ted Nugent likes to kill defenseless creatures (animals), while Barack Obama is the world’s leading proponent of drone warfare. Maybe Ted should go over to the Pentagon with the President and spend an afternoon using a computer mouse to target and destroy a wedding party in Afghanistan. All would be forgiven. Except by us.

written by Rock Rap Confidential

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Was President Obama’s Re-Election About Our Hopes or Our Fears?

There’s a lot to reflect and say about last night’s election. The re-election of President Barack Obama brought enthusiastic cheers from all corners of the country. But one should be cautious and not misread those cheers. They weren’t the cheers of 2008 where there was literally dancing in the streets as history was made and folks were left hopeful.

Last night what we heard were cheers of relief. It was relief that came from millions of people having to endure he humiliation of chaos at the polls , where many wound up standing for up 6 or 7 hours or were aggressively questioned by Tea Party backed True the Vote poll watchers who suspected their eligibility, and a range other widespread voter suppression efforts.

Last night the cheers were being relieved of having to deal with Neandrathrolic behavior from sitting lawmakers who felt that there was ‘legitimate rape‘ and that women should not only not be allowed to have abortions, but shouldn’t have access to birth control

Last night we heard cheers of relief, because folks were fearful of having what little safety nets were left to be immediate dismantled or repealed on the day those seeking power took office…

Like it or not, Obama won last night’s election because of widespread politics of fear..not hope. Many who voted for him, did so with lots of dissatisfaction and disappointment on an array of policies the President championed or did not champion, but what they perceived was coming down the pipe was so frightening folks quickly got in line and pulled the lever for the President..

It was clear with Mitt Romney that there was a 47% of the population that needed to be ousted. He and many of his supporters felt like many of us were ‘leeches’ and no longer needed to be seen as fellow human beings… The mean-spirited racially charged policies being proposed and brought before the floor in Congress, sent a strong message to many, that there was a helluva a lot of white folks who were not playing around and were going all out to roll back anything and everything that had progressed in the past 50 years. That frightened people and Obama was a beneficiary.

Last night Mitt Romney had a voting base that consisted of 89% white people. That xenophobic angry base and how they see the world is best personified with the remarks of Bill O’Reilly and his Fox News cohorts. Its personified with the nasty tweets sent out by singer Ted Nugent where he refered to Obama supporters as whores and welfare cheats. Its personified by the angry tweets from Donald Trump who said the election was  sham and a travesty and America must fight to stop what had just happened.. (an Obama win)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZZt3jPDvNQ

Only time will tell if what we experienced was some grand exercise of Good Cop Bad Cop with the end game of getting everyone to reinvest into a system that has constantly failed people. But for now many are happy that they pushed back on something they felt would be irreversibly catastrophic. By voting and re-electing Barack Obama many who are part of a growing demographic of folks who feel they’re constantly marginalized felt like they were standing up and pushing back on the type of attitude expressed in the O’reilly video..

Unfortunately, it’ll take more than just voting. More push back is needed. It ranges from deading citizens united which allowed unlimited money to come into politics to having comprehensive election reform that restricts deceptive practices and voter suppression tactics. Close to 5 Billion dollars was spent for this past election..

It’s gonna require push back to stop the relentless attempts by corporate giants to own and privatize everything from our drinking water to FEMA which is what Mitt Romney proposed. It’s gonna require us to push back and demand economic and social justice..

All the forces that worried folks are still here, most likely plotting and scheming on how to better advance their cause. Bain Capitol and uncaring companies like it are still around and doing business as usual. In fact that might be vengeful and economically spurn their workers because of the win.

The forces behind banning ethnic studies books in Arizona have not left. Those who wish to public education and privatize public universities are back at work gearing up for the next round of tuition hikes. Police are still gunning down Black people every 36 hours..The people who obstructed Obama and demonstrated racial hostility are still in Congress and the Senate.

The policies that Obama embraced or didn’t embrace are still in front of us..How will we get him to match the words he uttered in his speech last night that left many feeling re-charged?  How will we become partners in reshaping America so that beneficial for all vs being disposable tools who are only tapped when its election time? In short there’s lots more work to do and hopefully all of us are up to the challenge.

written by Davey D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddx8t6zGWxA