He's made me want to buy a gun all right. To shoot him.

Life is Precious and God and the Bible.

Nugent has the worst of asshole personality without actually crossing the line to the pathological.

It's true that he despises people who hurt kids and that he stands up for personal freedom. That much I admire.

But he also combines complete lack of self-doubt with rigid ideology, contempt for those who don't agree with him, impatience with details and lack of concern for spiralling consequence that play right into the minds of people who want all decisions simple.

Vigilantism would destroy this country within months. God knows how many people would be declared guilty who aren't guilty. And how many creeps would be the ones doing the judging.

Nugent presents his ideas as if they're common sense and that anyone who doesn't agree is obviously stupid and weak.

But, if his ideas were actually implemented, we would live in a bunkered-down world where no one could be trusted and chaos would only be reigned in by guns. I don't mean on a global scale, nation vs nation like it is now, I mean just getting to the grocery store and back.

He wants everyone to admit that we're just savages trying to survive in a jungle and the strong savage is what's best to be.
But his claim is bullshit.

I'd guess what he really is is a man whose father was extremely hard on him and he's spent his life trying to prove that he's harder.

since when does anyone give a fuck what ted nugent says? why is this even coming up? just put on cat scratch fever and be done with him.

For all his tough talk, Nugent is actually kind of a wuss. For example:

Nugent avoided the draft during the Vietnam War. In an interview for the Detroit Free Press July 15, 1990, Nugent described how he avoided the draft: He claims that 30 days before his Draft Board Physical, he stopped all forms of personal hygiene. The last ten days he ingested nothing but junk food and Pepsi, and a week before his physical he stopped using the bathroom altogether, virtually living inside pants caked with excrement and stained by his urine. That spectacle won Nugent a deferment, he says. His quote: “ but if I would have gone over there, I’d have been killed, or I’d have killed, , or I’d have killed all the Hippies in the foxholes… I would have killed everybody.”

I can make the "wuss" point in 2 words :

Damn Yankees.

Unfortunately, a lot of people think of Nugent as a role model. His radio show, hunting tapes, personal appearances, writings and behind-the-scenes activities have been influential amongst wahoo-reactionaries who prefer to think of themselves as being more sensible and practical than religious right wingers.

The non-Christian, kick-ass fringe of the right wing is growing nearly as fast as the Christian end of it. And there's been a growth in non-party extremists whose only concern is protecting their immediate environment, devoid of any greater ideology.

Nugent preaches to the dude in the lake cabin who doesn't give a shit about anything except keeping his rifle and not being told what he can do with his land.

My problem with him is that he's not speaking in hyperbole. He actually believes that problems could and should be solved with quick violence against the perpetrator. He equates it to being an animal in the wild protecting yourself and your offsping from predators.

You can't run a modern planet with that kind of philosophy because stupid people will kill other people who didn't actually do anything.

That's not to say Nugent can actually cause any real danger in the country. I just posted the quote because the man makes me ill and this story I read made me more ill than usual.

Ted's favorite quote...

"Jimi (Hendrix) got high and Jimi is dead; I went hunting and I'm still Ted"

And yeah... he's a sworn deputy sheriff in the state of michigan.

"A recipient of numerous commendations from state police, sheriff departments, FBI, DEA, U.S. Army and police agencies nationwide, Nugent has been a sworn Michigan Deputy Sheriff since 1980, and was a guest speaker at International Law Enforcement Convention by invitation from Director of FBI William Webster, Attorney General Edwin Meese and President Ronald Reagan."