Recently, entertainer and NRA Board Member Ted Nugent shot off his mouth at the 2012 NRA Convention after previously endorsing Mitt Romney for the 2012 National Election. The Secret Service has determined that Nugent's words presented no actual threat to the life of the President.Ted Nugent's rants are nothing new. For example, according to Rolling Stone in 2007:
Renegade right-winger Ted Nugent recently went on a vicious onstage rant in which he threatened the lives of Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Decked out in full-on camouflage hunting gear, Nugent wielded two machine guns while raging...Read more about Nugent's political activism HERE. Apparently, he has considered running for public office although he has never done so.
Is Ted Nugent the new face of conservatism? I don't think so, but he may be one of the faces of conservatism. Frankly, I don't care for that face and for all the screeching that goes along with it.
Indeed, in my view, there is too much screeching from all sides of the political spectrum.
At the rate our society is devolving, all that will remain is the screeching, which never changes anyone else's mind but can incite listeners to taking action that they might otherwise not consider.
I haven't heard much about this fellow, you are right about the screeching though, way too much of that going around, especially from the left.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. I am a member of the NRA; I support gun ownership, and the right of citizens to act in self-defense. I do not support loud mouth politics and infantile behavior, which describes Mr. Nugent’s rant. The Secret Service was right to interview Mr. Nugent after his deplorable behavior. There is not too much about Mr. Nugent that makes him an acceptable spokesman for the conservative movement.
ReplyDeleteOh, I suspect Mr. Nugent, who's been on the scene as The Only Genuine Conservative Who Acts Like a Typical Liberal" regards his crude, hyper-histrionics as "fighting fire with fire," but I don't like it.
ReplyDeleteI'll ensure my continuing unpopularity in the blogosphere, and come right out and say that I have recognized Rock 'n Roll as a degenerate, powerfully harmful influence on society since I saw it emerge as a force to be reckoned with when I was in junior high. There's a brute savagery, a militant opposition to all that is gentle, kind, decent and refined in its blatant coarseness, its witlessness, and the frankly hideous modes of dress and deportment it has succeeded in "normalizing" in our society.
I know there are many perfectly lovely people who actually enjoy this stuff, but I can't see how. It's crude, boorish, violent, disrespectful, and vulgar.
So, while Mr. Nugent verbally embraces tenets of conservatism in his saner moments the "art form" on which he has based his career has obviously had a corrosive effect on his personality and character.
That any of us would even TOLERATE-much-less-EMBRACE such carryings on is a clear indicator of just how low we've sunk as a people.
Rock 'n Roll was FOISTED on us by evil geniuses in the entertainment and communications industries who were determined to make vast sums of money by pandering to our basest instincts. I believe, however, that money was only a secondary goal to them. The TRUE purpose was to undermine Christianity, kill romance, and at the same time glorify vulgarity, immorality, licentiousness, disrespect for God and Country while gaining acceptance the uncontrolled expression of anger, resentment, rebellion and even violence as "normal."
I'm sorry if I've insulted anyone's "taste," but I truly believe that those who like this stuff have no idea of how twisted their minds have become by the massive, incessant brainwashing visited on us by the news and entertainment media and the perverse educational establishment.
Seeing this as clearly as I do is the price I must pay for being "advanced in years." It's very painful to witness, I can tell you that.
While God works in mysterious ways, Satan's methods are subtle, insidious and cunning beyond measure. The primary hallmark of the devil's work is that few if any of his victims realize the peril they're in. Satan is known for making evil seem irresistibly attractive. He can even make evil appear to be virtuous.
~ FreeThinke
The 'screeching' will stop when the Leftists are run out of office. The message behind the 'screech' is "Leave us alone, Leviathan!" When there is no longer a gub'ment Leviathan assuming the illegitimate power to reach into every corner of our lives, there will no longer be a need for the so-called 'screeching.' (Actually, I'd prefer to label it righteous anger). Until then, it is an essential tool, or the republic is lost.
ReplyDeleteI'm of two minds when it comes to Nugent. I think he does go too far with his rants, but there are times when he is the only voice in the Conservative wilderness. Some of what he says needs saying. Should it be said with more decorum, sure, but it needs to be said.
ReplyDeleteI think Cube is right in what he just said,
ReplyDeleteBut a lot of the time STYLE is even more important than CONTENT.
It's like poor Glenn Beck. I've always said, that because of his clownish, quasi-hysterical demeanor and bearing, he was the wrong man to carry a VITALLY IMPORTANT, absolutely TRUE message.
Its the same with Mr. Nugent.
~ FreeThinke
There was no basis to consider Nugent's remarks a threat to the president.
ReplyDeleteBut I do wonder if anyone in federal law enforcement would follow up the death threats to the judge who released George Zimmerman, the shooter of Trayvon Martin, on bail?
For that matter, what about the "dead or alive" bounty the Black Panthers are offering for Zimmerman?
I take threats to the life of the President seriously. What a shame the feds don't also take threats to judges and average citizens seriuosly as well.
Freethinke, QUICK! Get back under that rock before someone is violently repelled by your stench and ugliness and steps on you.
ReplyDeleteRe: Nugent, I may not agree with what he says but I'll defend with my life his right to say it. Though in this case I totally agree with what he says. Obama and his adminsitration IS evil and America-hating. I don't see why anyone would have a problem with that, it's the plain truth.
Politically, he should tone it down though, if he's going to be endorsing Romney or anyone. Leave the outrageous stuff to the Democrats and be careful not to embarass the guy you endorse. No matter how right you are, Ted, put it a tad more gently for Romney's sake, okay? We don't need to be seen as more radical than the effing Dems and we need all the votes we can get.
Regarding "Freethinke", I'm referring to the remarks about rock and roll and (Oooo) Satan.
ReplyDeleteRock and roll developed out of black music in the late 1930's and by 1941 was becoming a genre of its own. It wasn't FOISTED on anyone. What happened was that a few songs were picked up by radio stations and became popular. It was gradual and actually resisted by most disc jockeys. But the beat caught on.
Rock music made very little money for anyone for years, because it was performed by black musicians and record sales were few, in spite of your Evil Greedy Genius theory. Do you ever do any research at all before your fingers start stabbing at your keyboard?
"Satan" is all in your mind. Humans are plenty capable of doing all the evil we need without some mythical monster helping out.
I normally never address other comment posters, even when they jump on my comments. But you've become an irritation. It would be good if you would speak from factual knowledge and hopefully a little background checking before you start ranting.
I've no idea what Ted Nugent said that was threatening to Obama or anyone other than himself. I heard him say that if Obama was reelected he (Nugent) would be, by this time next year, either be dead or in prison.
ReplyDeleteAt the end he implores the people to vote for Romney thereby allusionally chopping off the head the criminal organization known as the Obama administration much as one would chopped off the head of a snake. Pure free speech hyperbole that is far tamer than much of political speech used in American history.
To call his purely political, Constitutionally guaranteed free speech a "rant" ( to speak or write in an angry or violent manner, to utter or express with violence or extravagance, speech or writing that incites anger or violence) is acquiescing to the language of the Left. Ted Nugent was expressing his political opinion and no one has even attempted to argue his facts are wrong, just the tone of his speech which he has every right to express.
The objections above are precisely what the Left are counting on - Conservatives are supposed to be polite, quiet, meek, unobjectionable, slow on defense, never making waves, always submitting to the louder voice as if the louder voice is always true and virtuous because that's how Bible thumpers live their lives - blessed are the meek, blessed are the peace makers.
Just as the Islamists are using our laws of freedom to wreak havoc on our nation, the Left use the Judeo-Christian ideals of Conservatives against us. There is nothing saying we can't call evil what it is, we can't forcefully point out criminality when we see it, we can't fight fire with fire. The evil of slavery, Nazism, Communism, Maoism were not defeated by saying 'please' and 'thank you'. No. People fought and died, figuratively and literally, to destroy such institutions some of which still exist and they profess the same tyrannical goals as they ever have. To do other than fight back, to condemn voices defending liberty because we don't like the tone or the music style risks nothing short of national suicide.
Ted Nugent was right. He was right to speak out, he was right to use his Constitutionally guaranteed words, he was right with his facts. It is the Left that should be whining and objecting to the words and tone of Ted Nugent, not the patriot Right.
Why is this douche nozzle given any publicity?
ReplyDeleteWhy is there a sizable following for morons like this.
Cut off their media and Ted , the New Black Panther Party and hordes of dolts disappear but you so would a lot of the rabies media so we can't have that.
DO IT FOR BREITBART !!!
America is in desperate need of more adults.
ReplyDeleteHe has the right to say whatever he wants, but I've never liked the way he expresses himself. I'm a supporter of the NRA and gun rights, they knew what they were getting when they invited him.
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com
What Indigo Red said...
ReplyDeleteI love Uncle Ted, but I understand he may not be everyone's cup of tea.
"The Right" in not a monolith, and we don't march in lockstep. Nugent no more speaks for the right than the Smirking misogynist Bill Maher or that fat pig Michael Moore speaks for the left.
More offensive to me is the speech of politicians. Do they really believe their own BS? More importantly, do they hold us in such low regard that they think we believe them?
A semi-Liberal Facebook friend of mine wrote on her status, "Ted Nugent is an idiot."
ReplyDeleteThat was several days ago, and I confess, I didn't know to what she was referring. Yesterday, I found a video somewhere that explained what Ted Nugent said, along with equally idiotic things a couple of Liberals said about George Bush.
I posted the video on Facebook with my own opinion, "Yes, Ted Nugent said something idiotic. That, I guess, makes him an idiot, as some have charged. So that puts him in the company of Enimen and Common. Except, the latter two weren't called idiots. I wonder why."
I know you think he's the nibs, Silverfiddle but what separates this moron from the hordes in the audience of The Jerry Springer Show chanting "Beat that ho'"?
ReplyDeleteOther than a right wing audience, of course.
Our media is crushing our reasoning.
DO IT FOR BREITBART !!!!
Too bad Romney or any other GOP didn't have the nads to thow this creep under the bus and call him out on his hatespeak.
ReplyDeleteNuget crapped his pants, in public, to keep out of the draft. Nice 'patriot.' If this is your hero you have big problems
I'll repeat part of my first statement for emphasis:
ReplyDelete"I truly believe that those who like this stuff have no idea of how twisted their minds have become by the massive, incessant brainwashing visited on us by the news and entertainment media and the perverse educational establishment.
Seeing this as clearly as I do is the price I must pay for being "advanced in years." It's very painful to witness, I can tell you that.
While God works in mysterious ways, Satan's methods are subtle, insidious and cunning beyond measure. The primary hallmark of the devil's work is that few if any of his victims realize the peril they're in.
Satan is known for making evil seem irresistibly attractive. He can even make evil appear to be virtuous.
Thank you for proving my point with such remarkable eloquence, Black Sheep.
~ FreeThinke
FT,
ReplyDeleteThe TRUE purpose was to undermine Christianity, kill romance, and at the same time glorify vulgarity, immorality, licentiousness, disrespect for God and Country while gaining acceptance the uncontrolled expression of anger, resentment, rebellion and even violence as "normal."
I'm not sure about that. Some of that, very possibly, but I'm not sure that all of the above applies to all rock 'n roll.
And we should remember that every "new generation of music" is seen as evil by many of previous generations. Recall objections about jazz and Big Band? I'd go so far as to say that pure Classicists didn't think much of Romantic Period music.
Indigo Red,
ReplyDeleteI do not disagree with you that Nugent has the Constitutional right to rant. And certainly he was speaking in metaphor and in hyperbole.
Frankly, I am amused at some of the complaining from the Left, who have been using similar tactics for decades.
Conservatives are supposed to be polite, quiet, meek, unobjectionable, slow on defense, never making waves, always submitting to the louder voice...
We may have reached the point in today's society that such conservative ways are not effective.
That said, there is indeed a difference between screeching and passionate speech.
Today we take the famous words of Patrick Henry as right and eloquent. However, many of Patrick Henry's contemporaries thought that he was too much of a hot head and one playing too much to the mob mentality.
Are decorum and civility relative concepts or concepts set in stone?
Debbie,
ReplyDelete[The NRA] knew what they were getting when they invited him...
True.
But Nugent may not really help the NRA's reputation.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI do wonder if anyone in federal law enforcement would follow up the death threats to the judge who released George Zimmerman, the shooter of Trayvon Martin, on bail?
For that matter, what about the "dead or alive" bounty the Black Panthers are offering for Zimmerman?
I've seen no sign thus far that the DOJ is doing any such follow up.
Again, the double standard rules. **sigh**
Sam,
ReplyDeleteThe best that I can discern, Nugent doesn't himself pose a physical threat to any political leader -- and never has. Just a screecher.
I do not find screeching endearing or persuasive.
FT,
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that those who like this stuff have no idea of how twisted their minds have become...
It is my view that the age of exposure to such stuff matters.
In my case, I grew up on classical material; later, in college, I "rebelled" and started listening to music of which my parents would not have approved. Nothing nearly as ugly sounding or as vulgar as "today's music" (some of it, anyway).
Black Sheep,
ReplyDeletePolitically, he should tone it down though, if he's going to be endorsing Romney or anyone. Leave the outrageous stuff to the Democrats and be careful not to embarass the guy you endorse. No matter how right you are...
[...]
...We don't need to be seen as more radical than the effing Dems and we need all the votes we can get.
I agree with that.
In the scheme of things, Nugent's words and tone do not matter much. He's been carrying on like this for a long time.
Again, I'm weary of all the screeching. And I doubt that the screeching will stop even if Obama loses in November.
Screeching and the shock value thereof have become the norm. **sigh**
Here's a bit of the climactic part of Patrick Henry's most famous utterance with emphasis added:
ReplyDelete"Is life so dear or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
~ Patrick Henry (1736 -1799)
We do, indeed, accept this today as a hallowed part of the body of contemporary rhetoric that brought about the American Revolution, but think of what it must have sounded like the first time it was heard. In my admitedly wicked imagination I can easily see the flecks of foam that must have been flying from the corners of Mr. Henry's mouth, the flames spurting from his nostrils and the the smoke puffing out through his ears when he addressed the House of Burgesses in such a manner.
It may very well have struck many of his hearers the way Mr. Nugent's untoward antics have struck many of us.
Of course our Constitution permits us to say just about anything we want. It says nothing, however, about the wisdom of expressing many things -- or the manner in which they are likely to be received.
People who speak the truth clearly and directly very rarely become popular, and even more rarely become powerful.
Perhaps that's exactly the way God intended it to be?
He works in mysterious ways, indeed.
~ FreeThinke
Cube,
ReplyDeleteSome of what he says needs saying.
It IS being said, but somehow lots of people will not listen unless there is screeching.
Duck,
ReplyDeleteWhy is there a sizable following for morons like this.
I'm not sure that there really is a sizeable following.
FT,
ReplyDeleteIt is worth noting what Patrick Henry did after the War for Independence. He refused to support the Constitutional Convention:
...He declined to attend the Constitutional Convention of 1787, saying that he "smelt a rat in Philadelphia, tending toward the monarchy." An ardent supporter of state rights, Henry was an outspoken critic of the United States Constitution. He worried that the untested office of the presidency could devolve into a monarchy and became a leading opponent of James Madison.
Henry served as a representative to the Virginia convention of 1788, where he argued against ratifying the U.S. Constitution, on the grounds that it gave too much power to the federal government....
Beyond the above excerpt, he also showed some contradictory behavior in the early days of our republic.
In my view, Patrick Henry was good at leading a charge, but inconsistent about the how to apply the principles of governing.
"Screeching and the shock value thereof have become the norm."
ReplyDeleteYes, Ma'am, and again you give a good illustration of what I've been saying -- or tying to say -- about the abysmal state of our popular culture and the depressing influence it's impudence, arrogance, irreverence, essential coarseness and lack of wit and subtlety have brought to bear on the way we conduct our affairs.
We'll have to try to talk in some depth another time about how and why Rock 'n Roll suddenly emerged in the early-to-mid fifties -- like The Creature from the Black Lagoon -- and almost instantly transformed, and then dominated the pop music scene.
The "creature," of course, had been born sometime before -- spawned by demons from Hell no doubt -- and grew stealthily and insidiously nourished in the putrefaction of the deep black mud at the bottom of its place of origin till it grew to monstrous size and was thus ready to be unleashed on the unsuspecting world.
Yeats' "rough beast [that] slouches its way towards Bethlehem," perhaps?
I am sure most of us are "fond" of just about anything that tends to give the illusion of bringing back our carefree youth, so it's nostalgia rather than any true love of this so-called music that creates what-I-would-insist-is a misplaced affection for some of it.
What has always amazed and dismayed me is the ease with which this regrettable phenomenon took possession of Western Society. We've been not-so-merrily swirling down the drain ever since it took hold -- an incredible coincidence if you stop to think about it.
Of course, there has always been resistance among critics and the self-styled "cognoscenti" to anything new and different, but the Rock 'n Roll phenomenon and all that attends it is different from anything that came before.
The sociological implications of various types of music is an enormously complex subject, and this is neither the time nor the place to get into it. It just happens to be one of very few things I know rather a lot about, Black Sheep's vehement opinion to the contrary notwithstanding.
~ FreeThinke
Yes, AOW, relations among the various Founders were often fractious -- not infused with pomp, splendor, single-minded devotion to an ideal and decorous camaraderie at all.
ReplyDeleteThe divisiveness among key figures in our founding was often brutal -- every bit as fraught with treachery, calumny, trickery and vilification as we are today. It's beyond astonishing that we ever became an independent republic at all, and even more that we have survived and prospered to the extent we have.
Thanks for providing that information about P.H. I'm not a particularly good student of history, and never knew that before. I was aware, however, that after his initial start as a political firebrand, he receded into the background and became only a minor figure.
Thomas Paine, surely a seminal figure in our founding, also wound up being disgraced and abandoned by many to whom he'd been something of a hero early on. I remember reading that George Washington virtually denied ever having known the Thomas Paine before it was all over.
And of course we've all heard by now that Dams and Jefferson, once good friends and allies became bitter rivals and political enemies. In latter years, they resumed their friendship largely through correspondence, I believe, and both managed to die on July Fourth in the very same year.
Incredible what the human race has gone through since it all began, isn't it? I find it incomprehensible that we are still here frankly.
The history of the world has been predicated on brutal aggression and ought to be written in blood.
~ FreeThinke
""The Right" in not a monolith, and we don't march in lockstep. Nugent no more speaks for the right than the Smirking misogynist Bill Maher or that fat pig Michael Moore speaks for the left."
ReplyDeleteYou're certainly correct about Nugent, whom I used to find engaging when he spoke in interviews, but absolutely repugnant after I heard and saw him 'perform."
I'm not so sure you're right about Bill Maher and, especially Michael Moore, however. I know many leftists, and I have yet to met one who does not fervently believe Michael Moore to be a great American patriot a giant brain and a heart as big as all outdoors. Bill Maher, the sneering cynic, who looks like he ought to be playing Fagin in a third rate road company's production of Oliver Twist, may be less popular, but even Ann Coulter considers him to be a friend. Learning that certainly gave me pause in my thoughts about Ann.
Frankly, I think ALL these top media personalities are in it for the money and don't really give a good country crap about anything but increasing their store of fame and wealth. They're all whores.
As I keep saying, The popular culture is ROTTEN.
~ FreeThinke
Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech is one of the greatest exemplars of American rhetoric. However, it must be kept in mind that there is no extant copy of the speech and no evidence of a contemporary written speech. It seems the speech was given extemporaneously and probably without notes.
ReplyDeleteThe currently read text was assembled by William Wirt from the memories of listeners and others who were acquainted with the speech through recitation and it was published seventeen years after Henry had died 1n 1799. As great as the speech is, it's accuracy has been in doubt for more than 100 years and calling upon it is an appeal to American myth. Most people recalling Henry's speeches said much the same as Thomas Jefferson, "Although it was difficult, when [Henry] had spoken, to tell what he had said, yet, while speaking, it always seemed directly to the point. When he had spoken in opposition to my opinion, had produced a great effect, and I myself had been highly delighted and moved, I have asked myself, when he ceased, 'What the devil has he said?' and could never answer the inquiry."
Indigo Red,
ReplyDeletePatrick Henry was quite the orator and excellent trial attorney. Some might have called him a rabble rouser -- albeit an eloquent one.
However, many of the listeners, among them the Founding Fathers, had cooler heads.
Both types are needed when freedom hangs in the balance.
The language of today is not Patrick Henry's language. I understand that, so I don't CONDEMN Ted Nugent. However, I do not believe that Nugent needs or should have a cult following, particularly those who don't have cooler heads.
Ah, well. Maybe I'm a dinosaur. I do prefer "calmer" speech and one without vulgarities.
FT,
ReplyDeleteThe sociological implications of various types of music is an enormously complex subject....
No doubt!
And music does have great power, too.
there has always been resistance among critics and the self-styled "cognoscenti" to anything new and different, but the Rock 'n Roll phenomenon and all that attends it is different from anything that came before.
Maybe.
We shall have to discuss that topic at some point.
Pure Classicists believe that "too much emotion" and "violation of rules" in music and art are dangerous. Are they?
In my view, tastes in music and art SHOULD BE eclectic as the arts speak to the heart and the mind. Too much of anything leaves "holes" in both the heart and the mind. Perhaps it all comes down to "there is a time and place for everything under the heavens."
He pooped his pant to get out of the draft. Coward!
ReplyDelete