Ted Nugent is a pretty committed supporter of the right to bear arms. In fact he got up in arms when a cub reporter from Arizona tried to interview him on the matter. The discussion went like this:
UP: How do you make rock n roll and conservative politics fit together?
TN: How old are you, Martin?
UP: I'm 28.
TN: Then you haven't the faintest fucking idea...[Rush Limbaugh] had a prescription drug problem for a period of time. But, in the final analysis, is Rush in the asset column or the liability column. Did he learn from his mistakes or didn't he?
UP: I don't know. I don't know him.
TN: You call yourself as journalist and you don't know that?
UP: I don't know him personally, I don't know where he is personally.
TN:... Martin, I gotta tell you, when I see you I'm going to have slap the shit out of you. I'll buy you a mocha, then I'll knee-cap you. Because that is so soulless. What a far-reaching fantasy.
...Martin. Did you go to college, are you in college, did you graduate from college?"
UP: Oh yeah.
TN: Did they ever tell you about the Bataan Death March in college? Did they ever tell you about how the trains lined up in Nuremburg in '37 and '38 and took people to Auschwitz, to the internment camps, and then ultimately to their death? Did they ever tell you about the Japanese emperor who gathered up Japanese little girls for the army to rape and torture and murder so they could get in the right frame of mind for war. My point is: In the absence of the most evil moments in human history you can pretend those moments didn't happen, so you can pretend that certainly no human would ever force another human to be unarmed and helpless. Unfortunately, there are people in America, there are people in politics, there are people in positions of authority, who want to forcibly unarm, and force in to helplessness, American citizens. That's what this is all about... None of the politicians who want gun control - they can't claim ignorance - they all know that forced unarmed helplessness is a guaranteed victim orgy. They know that. So, they can't claim ignorance, they are either evil to the core or just deranged. Either way, they must be stopped.
UP: Hmmm.
TN: Hmmm.
UP: You believe that anyone that believes [in gun control] is evil or deranged?
TN: Evil to the core or deranged. If you would force me to be unarmed and helpless I would have to do everything in my power to neutralize you... Peace and love will get you killed. That doesn't sound like a hippie. Good try, Martin. You've gotta tell me, I want the words, say "Uncle Ted is the best interview I've ever done." Say it.
UP: Uncle Ted is the best phone interview I've ever done.
TN: Well if I was there in person with my short shorts on then you'd say it.
Hey there Ann Coulter, did I catch you on the rag?
Now for the uninitiated interview means that the reporter asks the questions and Nugent answers them. However Teddy managed to turn the tables and bully the kid on to the defensive. Poor Martin got derailed at "How old are you/You're just some snot nosed kid aren't you?" Now that's a pointed question intended to undermine the interviewer's creditability and shake his confidence. The inference is that the reporter is inexperienced and doesn't know anything. Martin obligingly answers "28". At least he didn't call him 'Sir'. After that Nugent is fully in command of the interview; asking questions and making the reporter look foolish. The original question got lost in the shuffle.
"Are you afraid to answer my question?"
A more experienced reporter might have pointed out that Nugent was answering a question with a question. Furthermore the response question wasn't directly related to the issue. That's an old political trick. Maybe Teddy's picked up slippery habits from hanging around with Rush & O Reilly? If the reporter was more hard boiled, then he'd have asked Nugent if he was being evasive, or was just stuck for an answer. If they wanted to be rude about it, which would be in order considering Nugent's tone, then they might even reply "Oh about the same age as you were, when you used to be a rock star." Now gun control is an important issue, and Nugent has some valid points to make, but getting slippery with a cub reporter is just cheap.
Shoot off mouths, not guns!
Now the gun issue is certainly open to discussion. For one thing the right is enshrined in the constitution. "Liberals against the constitution" puts the left in a kind of odd position. Nugent goes on to point out certain historical cases where a defenseless population was preyed upon by the authorities. Unfortunately I doubt that we're so evolved as a species so that such things couldn't happen again.
The Patriot Act and 911 hysteria has shown us how easily Americans' civil rights might be stripped away if they are scared enough, and if their leaders are forceful enough. You might even argue that the right to defend yourself and your family is a basic civil right. This was the thinking of
Malcolm X, among others.
Let's not let this fight get sidetracked by clarity!
Nugent can be a surprisingly bright and articulate speaker for his cause. Unfortunately he chose to be rude and belligerent on this occasion. Perhaps he was tired of getting beat up on by people with and agenda, and saw a chance to get his own back. The result is that a chance to have a real discussion, as opposed to a political argument, was wasted. The kid obviously wasn't in a position to give him a hard time, so he might have chosen to explain his position instead of becoming combative. His tactics have backfired too, as 80% of the Internet is claiming he was on crack and comparing him to
Mike Tyson &
Billie Bob Thornton. So whether or not it's guns or people with guns that kill other people (who may or may not be armed), an argument over issues has once again brought out humanity's less evolved instincts.
PS.
Malcolm X on non violence:
"It is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself, when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks. It is legal and lawful to own a shotgun or a rifle. We believe in obeying the law."
"It doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time, I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence."
"If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us, and make us violent abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and me to do whatever is necessary to defend our own people right here in this country."
"I don't mean go out and get violent; but at the same time you should never be nonviolent unless you run into some nonviolence. I'm nonviolent with those who are nonviolent with me. But when you drop that violence on me, then you've made me go insane, and I'm not responsible for what I do."
"Last but not least, I must say this concerning the great controversy over rifles and shotguns. The only thing I've ever said is that in areas where the government has proven itself either unwilling or unable to defend the lives and the property of Negroes, it's time for Negroes to defend themselves. Article number two of the Constitutional amendments provides you and me the right to own a rifle or a shotgun. It is constitutionally legal to own a shotgun or a rifle. This doesn't mean you're going to get a rifle and form battalions and go out looking for white folks, although you'd be within your rights - I mean, you'd be justified; but that would be illegal and we don't do anything illegal. If the white man doesn't want the black man buying rifles and shotguns, then let the government do its job. That's all."
It is interesting to reflect that self defense enthusiast
Malcolm X was assassinated. So when
Ted Nugent says that "Peace and love will get you killed" it might also be true to say that "those who live by the sword die by the sword". While we're on the quotes
John Lennon once said that if people demanded peace the way they demand a new TV set, then there'd be peace. On the other hand if people wanted peace the way they want a new TV set, then they'd demand it. It's still the same old story, and the fundamental things apply, as time goes by.
Latest Gossip = Slap Egotists
Ms Brumfield got herself into some trouble while she was picking up some extra pocket money by baby sitting. It seems that the child died while under her care. Now Amanda swears she has now idea how this happened. One minute the youngster was toppling head first out of it's play pen onto the floor, and the next was happily eating fruit snacks - that is after Amanda cleaned up the blood.
Point Break actress Lori Petty is also in trouble with the man. Now she hasn't killed any kids, that we know of. What she has done, allegedly, is drove around under the influence. According to Sgt Richard Parks, Ms Petty was picked up for DUI in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles. Now he had no details as to the circumstances of her arrest, but it must of been a dilly, cause she was released on 100 000 bond. That's more than Chris Brown had to pay after beating the crap out of Rihanna! In addition to Point Break, Petty has also appeared in A League of Their Own and Tank Girl.
Marvelous Megan Fox may not be a criminal, but she feels that her career is a kind of crime. Meggers was interviewed recently in the British version of GQ. In addition to helping hype Transformers, Ms Fox had a lot of things to say about the movie biz in general, like such as - “When you think about it, we actors are kind of prostitutes, we get paid to feign attraction and love. Other people are paying to watch us kissing someone, touching someone, doing things people in a normal monogamous relationship would never do with anyone who’s not their partner. It’s really kind of gross." Now technically that's not prostitution, it's pornography. However nitpickery aside, I think you see her point.
Fox goes on to set the record straight about her sexed up image. Says the Foxy One: “I have this sort of promiscuous image. People assume I’m really overtly sexually aggressive and that I’m this wild child. And I’m not like that at all. I would rather have an image that is wild and promiscuous than to go out of my way to be proper all the time. There are some guys who think I’m going to be this little cupcake who’s going to bat my eyes and be like a receptacle for them. I shut them down immediately.” You can add these comments to the growing list of Meganisms which so far includes "I love cock", "I'm a man", and "I'm a tranny, I'm Alan Alda".
Someone who isn't a prostitute, but who is a convicted DIP is Mel Gibson. When he's not thwarting Jewish conspiracies or boffing (or biffing, doffing, buffing or which ever euphemism you prefer) Russian pianists, he's hanging around at the Spike Guys Choice Awards in LA. That's where he recently bumped into Brad Pitt. Pitt, who's had his own near misses with DUI, had some good natured ribbing for Mad Max. When Gibson introduced him at the awards, Brad responded with a "Thanks Sugar Tits." That was a reference to Mel's DIP incident, when he mouthed off to a female officer while getting booked. Apparently Gibson had no witty rejoinder. I guess thinking on his feet is a little tougher when sober. Mel should be glad that he got off so easy. There's much room for mockery in Octomel's life these days.
