Ted Nugent

There's no better indication of how stranger than fiction American politics is then when a washed up rock musician and gun nut becomes front and center in the political forum. Yet Ted Nugent is just that, a person that Republicans of the Tea Party stripe have cozied up to, and now many of them are running for their lives from him.

I remember Nugent listening to classic rock in the '70s. Though Wikipedia states he has several hits, the only I knew was "Cat Scratch Fever," which is now running through my head like an unwanted guest (I can remember the refrain, but no other words from the song). I was surprised to learn that he was a member of the Amboy Dukes, who made the psychedelic hit "Journey to the Center of Your Mind," which the anti-drug Nugent didn't realize was a song about hallucinogenics.

Nugent disappeared from most of the airwaves, though he always maintained a following of fans of guitar rock, as he is proficient on that instrument. But later he became more well known as a gun and hunting enthusiast, taking on anti-gun and animal rights protesters, usually in crude language.

It was in this way, I think, that Nugent became a prize of the Republican Party. Not too many entertainers are right-wing. When Republican politicians have used rock songs, the artist usually objects (this has happened with Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and others). So Nugent was a get, especially since he was the face of a key part of the party--the gun-loving white male who is afraid of other races.

But Nugent has since been a consistent embarrassment. He has made too many inflammatory comments to count, most notably saying, before Barack Obama's re-election, that if were elected, Nugent would be dead or in jail a year later. That earned a visit from the secret service. Later he would say that Trayvon Martin deserved what he got, and that George Zimmerman should sue Martin's family for emotional distress. Finally, what drove even conservatives like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul over the edge, was his referring to Obama as a "sub-human mongrel."

In their eagerness to embrace Nugent, Republicans overlooked many things. For one thing he shat his own pants to avoid the draft. Secondly, he adopted a seventeen-year-old girl because he couldn't marry her. He owns a ranch in Michigan for "canned hunts," basically places where men with small penises go to shoot wild game that are just standing here, waiting to be shot.

Nugent, despite his claims otherwise, is obviously a racist. He was dubbed "The Motor City Madman," but I think he may actually be mentally ill. I have no doubt he's sincere about he says--I don't think he does this for his career. Still, I'm sure many of his die-hard fans--racist, homophobic, gun nuts like himself, congregate. I'll take a wild guess and say that you can't find one non-white face at any of his shows. Here's a challenge--go to a Nugent concert wearing an Obama t-shirt. It may be a passive form of suicide.

I'm trying to think if there's an equivalent in liberal politics. There are a lot of performers who are vocally liberal or Democratic, some to uncomfortable extremes (Sean Penn comes to mind, as does Susan Sarandon). Bruce Springsteen is certainly active in leftist politics, but has never said anything as vile as Nugent has--I don't think he has it in him. Nugent is just an outlier, a person who has no reason to be famous other than that he believes things that decent people find offensive. I suppose people will still be paying attention when he starts back in on saying disgusting things about Hillary Clinton.