“I’ll tell you this right now: If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year…We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November. Any questions?”
—Ted Nugent
originally wrote a piece Tuesday night on Ted Nugent, who has said some nasty things about Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney, who has sought the endorsement of Ted Nugent. But I had to scrap the piece after I saw Lawrence O’Donnell’s segment last night on the Last Word:
Vodpod videos no longer available.
That segment just about covers it all, except for this: It happened that I first heard about Nugent’s nauseating narrative—which is the subject of a Secret Service inquiry—just before I heard a report on (accused) terrorist and mass murderer and right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik’s appearance and statement at his trial in Oslo, Norway. I quickly noted a few similarities between him and Nugent.
Breivik, who is charged with massacring 77 people—most of them were kids at a political youth camp—said he killed them in order to defend Norway against immigration and multiculturalism.
Among other things, he said this as part of his mostly incoherent testimony:
I don’t recognize Norwegian courts because you get your mandate from the Norwegian political parties who support multiculturalism…
Multiculturalism is evil? Hmm. Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah. Ted Nugent wrote a piece for The Washington Times, titled:
NUGENT: Multicultural rot in the melting pot
The commentary began:
Europeans are finally awakening from their self-imposed Rumpelstiltskin deep slumber to discover that multiculturalism is actually cultural rot and is ripping their countries apart.
Well, Anders Behring Breivik is one European who is definitely awake to Nugent’s anti-multiculturalism. And Breivik, as reported by The Telegraph, had a target for his anti-multiculturalism violence:
Breivik has admitted to the attacks, claiming they were necessary to protect Norway from being taken over by Muslims, but has rejected criminal guilt. He claims he targeted the government headquarters in Oslo and the youth camp to strike against the left-leaning political forces he blames for allowing immigration in Norway.
“Taken over by Muslims“? Hmm. Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah. Ted Nugent again:
The brain-dead politically correct facade of multiculturalism was primarily for the benefit of Muslims, and you know it…
Well, I don’t know whether “we” know it, but I suspect Anders Behring Breivik knows it.
Breivik told the court:
Anyone could do what I did.
Oh, not anyone. It takes a special kind of person to be a right-wing mass murderer. But it also takes a special kind of person to say things like Ted Nugent has said.
He called Democratic leader Debbie Wasserman-Schultz a “brain-dead, soulless, heartless, idiot,” and he called former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi a “sub-human scoundrel.” He has previously referred to Obama as a “piece of sh*t,” and Hillary Clinton as a “toxic c**t.”
Watch the following and then wonder how far Nugent’s rhetoric is from the rhetoric of Anders Behring Breivik:
And what has the endorsement-seeking Mittens said in terms of a rebuke of Ted Nugent? Not a damn thing.
Not-a-damn-thing.
As someone remarked yesterday, if Romney didn’t have the desire or the guts to stand up to Rush Limbaugh, after he hurled three days worth of insults at a female student, it isn’t likely he will take on Nugent with much gusto.
The Erstwhile Conservative: A Blog of Repentance 
Jim Wheeler
/ April 18, 2012The similarity between Nugent and Breivik hadn’t occurred to me, but it comes through clearly in this post. The visceral rejection of culture alien to one’s own is tribal and basic to human nature. The prime example, I would suggest, is the sheer diversity of language and ethnicity across Europe. The Wiki page on the European Union (27 countries) lists about 150 different languages. The EU is an interesting experiment, especially considering that the global economy is dependent on its shaky health and the United States is dependent on the global economy. If the U.S. now politically rejects the multi-cultural traditions of history’s most successful ethnic melting-pot, that would menace the economic future for everyone. These right-wing crackpots are playing with economic dynamite. That’s ironic since they espouse economics as their forte.
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R. Duane Graham
/ April 18, 2012Jim,
You know, I have no problem with social norms requiring people to generally assimilate into any given dominant culture. That’s just the way we are as people. If you want to live in the United States, you should live by our laws and make an attempt to speak the language and so on. That shouldn’t be controversial, and the fact we have been so successful at incorporating various folks into our system is, as you say, part of why we are so economically dominant (natural resources don’t hurt).
But people like Nugent fail to appreciate the fact that people can both assimilate and retain their ethnic identities. Just because you speak English doesn’t mean you have to stop speaking Spanish, for instance. If I put carrots and potatoes into a stew, they don’t cease becoming carrots and potatoes. What Nugent (and his violent counterpart in Norway) want, it seems to me, is that only potatoes get into the stew, and if the carrots want in, they have to become potatoes first.
Duane
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Jim Wheeler
/ April 18, 2012Well said, Duane. I completely agree.
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ansonburlingame
/ April 18, 2012I would point out that the difference between Nugent and Breivik is that Nugent has not been charged with killing 77 people in a mass murder. The distinction is speech versus action for starters
We all know there are right wing crackpots out there saying many things and parading signs around to reflect their feelings. But the same can easily be said for the left wing crackpots as well.
I have NOT seen any recent clips of the New Black Panthers rants of late about what is happening in FL, as just an example. I also note that Duane has never shown a clip of past rants by Ayers or the ever so reverend, Rev Wright, people with whom Obama associated for years. Is there any question that just those two men had some influence on the young Barack Obama?
About 3 years ago Duane and I both attended a Tea Party rally in Joplin. There was one particular man with a sign that was despicable. Putnam, the leader of the rally tried to get him to remove the sign and he refused. Duane of course took a photo of same and posted it herein. My guess is that same guy is still around with the same thoughts in his head. There are nuts everywhere on both sides, for sure and they will never go away.
But equally for sure, pointing out those nuts sure does keep the “flies off the watermelon” to avoid having a serious discussion about “little things” like debt, deficits, the size of government, etc., etc.
Now does anyone believe the Secret Service investigation of Nugent will show any actions that can be prosecuted??? Nugent could have simply been saying that he would die of a heart attack if Obama was reelected!
Closing, Nugent’s words make me “angry” far more than a Secret Service guy(s) being “serviced” in Columbia. And I refuse to waste my time trolling the internet for despicable hate speech from the left as well.
Anson
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Treeske
/ April 18, 2012Anson, you may clean it as much you want, there’s no comparable, obscene and really totally gutter ignorant speech among the Liberals even most Democrats, like that of the nutwings the Republican party has embraced and welcomed with open arms. As to the comparison of the Norse rightwing terrorist and Nugent, the latter may not read a lot but the Norseman is a devout reader of the American rightwing hate litterature. Also not to be ignored is the strong rightwing undercurrent, present through Scandinavia wanting to eliminate the Social Democrat system (which gave them the best quality of iving ), going the length of asking advise of no one less than our Carl Rove!
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KABE
/ April 18, 2012I hadn’t heard about Ted Nugent for years, but the name brings back memories. As a youth in the late 70s in Michigan, it was every young rebellious teenagers desire to see Ted in concert. I asked my father if I could go see him when I was about 14. Of course, I was told no. The reason? Because, and I quote, ” he probably is a N—-, a Queer, or he steps on baby chickens.” I bet my father is agreeing to all the Far Right’s defense of Ted’s statements as we speak.
Now, isn’t this the same party that deplores Rap music for all its violence invoking lyrics? I don’t care for either( Teds rant or some of the Rap lyrics) and I do believe that words by either do influence people. If not, why would any company spend millions to get prime television spots for their commercials?
Kabe
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R. Duane Graham
/ April 19, 2012Your commented reminded me of the video clip I forgot to post. Watch Nugent go off on Obama and Hillary in 2007 and then watch Sean Hannity defend him by attacking Obama!
It is so bleeping disgusting it is hard to watch.
And by the way, for someone to compare what some tiny group of “New Black Panthers” may have said to what a popular right-wing entertainer who is a Fox and conservative darling is, well, almost as disgusting as what Hannity did.
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Reynardine
/ April 19, 2012Note Nugent advocating decapitation of Democrats and Breivik saying he had planned to do exactly that with Gro Harlem Bundtland. Coincidence much?
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R. Duane Graham
/ April 19, 2012Wow. Unbleepingbelievable. Thanks for that note. For those who don’t know what you are referring to, here’s Nugent’s quote:
And here is part of the latest story about Breivik:
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ansonburlingame
/ April 19, 2012Interesting, Kabe,
Last night I listened to the old musical Hair. Boy did that bring back some memories.
The show started on Broadway in the late 60’s. I was a junior officer in the Navy, married with two kids, living in Charleston, SC, a bastion of …….. My wife saw the show on Broadway while I was at sea and brought home the album for me to listent to the night that I returned from sea after a three month absence.
I was astounded, shocked, aghast, sputtering, etc. About six months later while enroute to Hawaii for a new duty station my wife and I saw the complete show in San Fran.
Guess what? I LIKED the show and hummed the music for months thereafter. I still love Aquarius and a few other songs of so long ago, today. As well, while in San Fran I observed “hippies all over the place” and enjoyed the “color” of such gatherings. I considered their political views crazy, but watching half naked women parade around the streets of San Fran, well I looked (but did not “inhale”).
My grandkids, reasonably well to do kids with good upbringing, love Rap music. I on the other hand cannot even understand the words being sung. As well, my grand children would probably not like to listen to Hair today.
Music is speech in another form. Some I like, some I don’t like. But music just as speech is free to be sung or said, regardless of my political views.
One other point for Treeske,
I HAVE seen clips of speeches (rants) of late by New Black Panthers. To me those rants are as despicable as anything I heard Nuggent say recently. And for sure I have not heard Obama “slap down” the New Black Panthers. Have you??
Anson
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KABE
/ April 19, 2012I just missed out on a lot fun by one generation! My point is that seeing a person (Nugent) that was at one time considered the anti- Christ is now revered by the same people. I am sure we could find many examples of this by others on both sides. I do feel strongly that persons in high pro-file positions can influence a certain segment of our society.
Kabe
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ansonburlingame
/ April 19, 2012Franly, but honsetly, Kabe,
I NEVER heard of Ted Nuggent until I read this blog
But if did the online research to find “rappers” saying things with which I disagreed, well I am sure I could find a lot of them.
It is what the candidates say in response to such “stuff” that concerns me. Romney did call for “civility” just as Obama did a while ago. But then both of them restrain for “slapping down” supporters, do they not?
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