130 replies to this topic

[Great Ape]

The Right-Wing Bully Machine

truthdig | April 20, 2012 - Not all overheated political rhetoric is alike. Delusional right-wing crazy talk—the kind of ranting we’ve heard recently from washed-up rock star Ted Nugent and tea party-backed Rep. Allen West—is a special kind of poison that cannot be safely ignored.

Let me be clear: I’m saying that the extreme language we hear from the far right is qualitatively different from the extreme language we hear from the far left—and far more damaging to the ties that bind us as a nation. Tut-tutting that both sides should tone it down is meaningless. For all intents and purposes, one side is the problem.

Believe me, I would prefer not to dignify the ravings of Nugent or West by commenting on them. Nugent seems to be motivated by paranoia; West, perhaps by cynical calculation. It would be satisfying to withhold the attention they seek, but this is not an option. The only effective way to deal with bullies is to confront them.

Nugent, who delivered his foaming-at-the-mouth peroration at a National Rifle Association convention, earned a visit from the Secret Service with his promise that “if Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

That might or might not constitute an actual threat to the president of the United States. More chilling, to me, was the way his audience of gun enthusiasts applauded in agreement as Nugent compared the Obama administration to a bunch of “coyotes in your living room” who deserve to be shot. Nugent ended by exhorting his listeners: “We are Braveheart. We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November. Am I—any questions?”

No, I think he made himself quite clear.

Violent metaphors aside, the nub of Nugent’s argument—and I use the word advisedly—was this: “If you can’t go home and get everybody in your lives to clean house in this vile, evil, America-hating administration, I don’t even know what you’re made of.”

Vile? Evil? America-hating? Nugent doesn’t just characterize those with different political views as misguided or wrong. He seeks to paint them as alien and anti-American—as enemies of this nation, rather than as citizens with whom he disagrees. In a subsequent interview, Nugent called Nancy Pelosi a “sub-human scoundrel” and referred to liberals as cockroaches to “stomp” in November.

This is what distinguishes the flame-throwers of the far right from those of the far left. Nugent and his ilk seek to deny their political opponents the very right to believe in a different philosophy. Agree with me, he says, or be stomped.

It would be one thing if this sort of vicious intolerance came only from aging rockers whose brains may have been scrambled by all those high-decibel performances. But it comes, too, from an elected member of the House of Representatives.

At a town hall meeting last week in Palm City, Fla., West was asked how many Marxists there are in Congress. He replied, “I believe there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party who are members of the Communist Party.”

That is, of course, a bald-faced lie. There are no communists in Congress. What makes the lie even worse is West’s subsequent declaration that he stands by his words because he was referring to the 80-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, which West considers a branch of the Comintern.

“There is a very thin line between communism, progressivism, Marxism, socialism,” West claimed this week. “It’s about nationalizing production. It’s about creating and expanding the welfare state. It’s about this idea of social and economic justice. You hear that being played out now with fairness, fair share, economic equality.”

West can’t really believe this nonsense. What he’s trying to do is delegitimize the entire stream of progressive thought that has run wide and deep through American history since the nation’s founding. Disagree with his views, West insists, and you’re not just a political opponent, you’re a godless Marxist.

There is no symmetry here. The far left may hurl insults at the right, but doesn’t scream “fascism” whenever a Republican proposes privatizing Medicare.

So this is what I want to know: Mitt Romney, do you agree with your prominent endorser, Ted Nugent, that the Obama administration is evil and hates America? House Speaker John Boehner, do you agree with your star freshman West that “78 to 81” of your colleagues are card-carrying communists?

Speak up, gentlemen, I didn’t hear you.

[Source]

Ted Nugent has made some horrible comments about President Obama lately. They were so serious, the Secret Service, investigated him because of it. The problem with right wingnuts like Ted Nugent is, they are only as big as their mouths are.

Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss Ted Nugent's vile comments.

Edited by Great Ape, 30 April 2012 - 09:55 AM.

[Ungodly]

Whenever somebody tries so damn hard to be butch and macho it makes me wonder what their dress size might be. Nugent is big, at least a 9 I'd say.

[Great Ape]

Whenever somebody tries so damn hard to be butch and macho it makes me wonder what their dress size might be. Nugent is big, at least a 9 I'd say.

Rofl.

[Great Ape]

Spoiler

Spoiler

[Great Ape]

John Raese Calls Ted Nugent A Patriot After Obama Threat

Republican West Virginia Senate candidate John Raese came to Ted Nugent's defense at a campaign event, calling the rocker a "patriot" and saying that "it's a concern" that the Secret Service investigated after Nugent's inflammatory speech threatening President Barack Obama.

Nugent, said Raese, according to video of the candidate's recent speech, argued that Nugent's words were merely "a figure of speech."

It was an unusually specific figure of speech, if that was the case. At the National Rifle Association convention, Nugent toldfellow gun enthusiasts that "if Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.”

"Government can’t control the economy without controlling the people, can it?" Raese asked during his talk, delivered over the weekend to the Harrison County Republican Party. "And that’s what’s going on in this administration. How many of you remember Ted Nugent? I do. Ted Nugent came to West Virginia to help me in 2010. He came along with Sarah Palin and we had a wonderful event."

[Full Story]

John Raese, Sarah Palin and Ted Nugent. Lawl!

So Ted Nugent voicing his opinion about President Obama is OK with John Raese. I wonder if he supported the Dixie Chicks, when they made a pretty innocent comment about President George Bush, at one of their concerts. The right was up in arms about that. The Dixie Chicks (one of my all time favorite bands) caused a firestorm with their comment, and a backlash so fierce, it caused the split up a great band.

Consider Natalie Maines comment on Bush compared to Ted Nugents on Obama.

Natalie Maines: "Just so you know, we're on the good side with y'all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas."

Yep, that is all she said. The group suffered immensely because of that comment. Ted Nugents comments were much worse and threatening.

Ted Nugent: "If you want more of those kinds of evil anti-American people in the Supreme Court, then don't get involved and let Obama take office again. Because 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."

If that isn't an obvious threat to the President of the United States, then I don't know what is. Hell, it even prompted a visit by the Secret Service, to look into the matter. Yet, John Raese has the audacity, to call Ted Nugent a patriot after he threatens the POTUS.

This is nothing more than another example of right wing bullying. I can't remember another sitting President being insulted, as much as President Obama has, during his time in office. No matter how you may feel about Obama, it is nothing short of disrespectful and scandalous behavior.

Edited by Great Ape, 25 April 2012 - 05:40 AM.

[Ungodly]

It is illegal to make a terroristic threat against any person in the first place. I believe there are also laws that are specific about threats to government officials.

It is clear that the response by the Secret Service was measured and appropriate. There is a history of cases in which the Secret Service has interviewed persons who make threatening comments about the POTUS, this is nothing new.

If Mr Nugent chooses to use implicit threats of violence to achieve his political goals he should also remember who it was that made his bed.

Nugent threatens violence, conservatives cheer.
Secret Service says "don't do that", conservatives play martyr card.

So it seems conservatives approve of assassination threats, but they draw the line at civil discourse.

An excellent post Great Ape.

[Great Ape]

So it seems conservatives approve of assassination threats, but they draw the line at civil discourse.

Yep, conservatives could definitely use a lesson in civil discourse.

An excellent post Great Ape.

Thank you.



Representative Allen West insults President Obama.




Bill Moyers warns about Rep. Allen West and his recent comments, that 78-81 members of the Democratic party, are card carrying communists. He compares West's comment to McCarthyism.

Edited by Great Ape, 29 April 2012 - 02:05 PM.

[Ungodly]

"So, beware Congressman West, beware. In the inflammable pool of toxic paranoia that passes these days as patriotism in America a single careless match can light an inferno."
--Bill Moyers

Rep Allen west is so amazingly evil and so willing to throw ethics under the bus to promote his hateful and intolerant agenda that I do not even need to ask whether or not he is a Christian.

If there was a God she'd prolly have a high opinion of Bill Moyers, Americans should too, he is the kind of a patriot that builds things up instead of tearing them down. Mr Moyers knows that America can do better and he is patiently waiting to see that happen. I get super nice guy vibes from him, I don't think we should let him down.

[Great Ape]

"So, beware Congressman West, beware. In the inflammable pool of toxic paranoia that passes these days as patriotism in America a single careless match can light an inferno." --Bill Moyers

Bill Moyers certainly knows what he is talking about.

Rep Allen west is so amazingly evil and so willing to throw ethics under the bus to promote his hateful and intolerant agenda that I do not even need to ask whether or not he is a Christian.

Allen West is always letting his mouth get him in to trouble and yes, he's a Christian.

If there was a God she'd prolly have a high opinion of Bill Moyers, Americans should too, he is the kind of a patriot that builds things up instead of tearing them down. Mr Moyers knows that America can do better and he is patiently waiting to see that happen. I get super nice guy vibes from him, I don't think we should let him down.

I agree. I have a lot of respect for Bill Moyers. He is one of my favorite journalists/commentators on PBS. Moyers has won many awards and has had a long and illustrious career in journalism.

Edited by Great Ape, 29 April 2012 - 04:06 PM.

[Great Ape]

Ted Nugent Says He's Insulted By Concert Cancellation In Wake Of Controversial Obama Remarks

Huffington Post | April 27, 2012 - LOS ANGELES — Ted Nugent said he was insulted by the cancellation of his planned concert at an Army post over his comments about President Obama.

Commanders at the Fort Knox, Ky., post nixed Nugent's segment of a June concert after the rocker and conservative activist said at a recent National Rifle Association meeting that he would be "dead or in jail by this time next year" if Obama is re-elected.

Nugent told The Associated Press this week that his words were not intended as a threat against the president.

"To think that there's a bureaucrat in the United States Army that would consider the use or abuse of First Amendment rights in determining who is going to perform at an Army base is an insult and defiles the sacrifices of those heroes who fought for the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights," Nugent said.

Nugent said he had received messages of support from troops and noted that the Secret Service had met with him and closed its case about the remarks.

"There is nothing in my spoken word or written word that could be even wildly considered by any stretch of the imagination to be a threat to anyone," Nugent said.

[Full Story]

Ted Nugent is so full of shit. He has absolutely no right to talk about, nay to even mention, the heroes who fought for the U.S. Constitution.

Many right-wing conservatives are vociferous war hawks. The thing is, most of them are really chicken-hawks. They want to send others to fight their wars, while they stay home nice and safe. They have no problem sending your son or daughter off to fight, but get deferments for their own sons and daughters.

Enter Vietnam War draft dodger Theodore Anthony ‘Ted’ Nugent. A man so patriotic he literally wears American flags on stage while playing a guitar with an American flag painted on it. A man so dedicated to American conservative ideals he brings guns out onto the stage between songs. A man so bound by duty he spent the time between receiving notification he’d been drafted to serve in Vietnam and appearing before the draft board…Well…shitting his pants.

In a 1990 interview with the Free Press Ted Nugent explained how he intentionally avoided the draft:

“He claims that 30 days before his Draft Board Physical, he stopped all forms of personal hygiene. The last 10 days he ingested nothing but junk food and Pepsi, and a week before his physical, he stopped using the bathroom altogether, virtually living inside his pants caked with excrement and urine. That spectacle won Nugent a deferment.”

I can understand and respect the conscientious objector that doesn't want to kill for moral reasons, but Ted Nugent had no such reason. Here’s a guy who literally bragged about how going to the Vietnam war scared him so much, he shit his pants.

Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break down the story.




Listen to Ted Nugents own words and decide for yourself what he meant. Also, Mitt Romney sought Ted Nugent out for his endorsement. One has to wonder, why, Mitt Romney has not distanced himself from Ted Nugent.

Edited by Great Ape, 30 April 2012 - 08:09 AM.

[Ungodly]

Mr Nugent seems to have chosen his path unwisely.

[Cousin Ricky]

Ted Nugent Says He's Insulted By Concert Cancellation In Wake Of Controversial Obama Remarks

He insulted the president, and now he's whining about being insulted? Sounds like Nuggles would be his hero.

And how can he possibly be surprised that some U.S. Army bureaucrat would refuse him a venue after he threatened the Army's commander-in-chief? It's as if he's not familiar with how the Army works. Oh, right...

[Great Ape]

Ritual terrorism: Hating Obama as a new form of religion

HAARETZ | April 26, 2010 - When I was young, I was taught that the purpose of religion was to foster compassion through lovingkindness, to seek peace by example, to perform with human hands the work of angels.

Then I moved to the Holy Land.

If ever the history of religion were written in blood, it was here. If ever religion has drowned history in blood, this is the venue. If ever the sword has beaten the plowshare, whether brandished along with the Old Testament, the New, or the Koran - we can show you the spot. And, more recently, if ever religion has succeeded in keeping peace, reconciliation, even the United Nations and the United States, at bay, ours is the place and time.

So it should have come as no surprise, I suppose, that a cluster of people here, people who cloak themselves in the garb of the pious, have decided to marry their furious loathing of Barack Obama to the custom of their faith, and to do what some in America have been doing for more than a year now: Hating Barack Obama as a new form of religious observance.

Once, on the holiday of Lag B'Omer, which falls this Saturday night, children cast into bonfires images of Adolf Hitler and others who have preached and in some cases practiced the mass killing of Jews.

This year, ahead of the Saturday night observance, professed followers of Meir Kahane have openly boasted of preparing effigies of the American president for distribution and incineration in bonfires across the country.

"There is no doubt that now the enemy of the Jewish people is Barack Hussein Obama," said pro-Kahane activist Noam Federman, a leader of the campaign.

"Obama is the most anti-Semitic president the U.S. has ever had," Federman told Maariv daily's website last week. "The time has come for our blind politicians to wake up and understand that you can't make policy according to the obsession of an Israel-hater."

These are not the rational people who oppose, take issue and disagree with Obama over his policies, his views, his performance. Not at all. These are the people who execrate the man, who despise him with every cell of their being, whose rage at his very name roars like napalm.

--snip--

What is it in the hearts of these people, who call themselves religious, whom the love or the fear of God should have filled with an openness toward humankind, that makes them hate this man with such fury?

Why is this President different from all other presidents?

They call him every manner of names - Communist, Muslim, racist, Jew-hater. They call him all manner of names, and he is none of these.

Curious, isn't it, that they never mention what he actually is. Which is, for many of them, enough reason to revile him, all by itself: Black.

[Full Story]

This story, written in April of 2010, summed up what I believe to be the reason, some Americans hate President Obama so intensely. The fact that Obama is a black man.

Even President Obama's name, is reason enough for some Americans to hate him. Couple this, with malicious rumors of him not being a United States citizen, and that he is a Muslim, and you get one big ball of hate. I think for some Americans, hating President Obama is a new form of religion.

Just my two cents worth.

Edited by Great Ape, 01 May 2012 - 11:56 AM.

[Cousin Ricky]

This story, written in April of 2010, summed up what I believe to be the reason, some Americans hate President Obama so intensely. The fact that Obama is a black man.

It is no longer socially acceptable to hate people because they're black.

But apparently it is still acceptable to make shit up about black people and hate them for that.

[Ungodly]

Well, you can't have a True Religion® without hate, and it is so convenient to hate somebody for something they can not change because you get to keep hating them, hating them, and hating them.

The constant hate means you are racking up the soldier for Jesus points in heaven, or soldier for Yahweh, or soldier for Allah points. After all, these are just three different names for the same amazingly evil invention.

Holy hate sure does rate with human beings as of late.

[Great Ape]

It is no longer socially acceptable to hate people because they're black.

But apparently it is still acceptable to make shit up about black people and hate them for that.

Well said Cousin Ricky.

Well, you can't have a True Religion® without hate, and it is so convenient to hate somebody for something they can not change because you get to keep hating them, hating them, and hating them.

ad infinitum

Edited by Great Ape, 01 May 2012 - 11:58 AM.

[Great Ape]

[Great Ape]

Patrick Lanzo, Georgia Bar Owner, Calls Obama 'N*****' On Road Sign Again

Huffington Post | May 3, 2012

Georgia bar owner Patrick Lanzo of Paulding County has made habit of claiming he's not racist, an argument that becomes harder to make each time he decides to display the n-word on a large roadside sign outside his establishment, the Georgia Peach Oyster Bar.

Lanzo's latest message reads, "I do not support the n***** in the White House." He recently told a local reporter that the offensive wording was not meant to be racist.

"I say just because you're offended by it doesn't mean you don't have the right to say something just the opposite,” Lanzo said, according to a report from Atlanta's Fox 5. “I don't feel bad about anything whatsoever. Therefore, they can go out and put their own sign in their own yard and I will not be offended.”

Controversy is nothing new to Lanzo, who seems to bask in the negative attention each time he posts a new inflammatory message.

In 2009, Lanzo drew outrage with a sign that read, "Obama's plan for health-care: n***** rig it." Again Lanzo maintained it was just a simple health care protest and not racist, a strange claim considering he advertises his establishment as a "Klan Bar" and has a rich history of catering to some of the nation's most notorious racist groups.

Asked why he had chosen those words to express his feelings on the matter, Lanzo replied, "Well, I've used it most of my life. There are different ways to put your opinion up, but that's just the words I choose."

Fox 5 reports that Paulding County officials know about the sign, but can't do much about it.
Unsuccessful protests have also been mounted by the NAACP, a group that Lanzo once told CBS Atlanta he was a member of. From previous coverage of his actions, his sign has been a longstanding issue in the area, as have the strange displays of prominent black leaders alongside racist imagery inside his bar.

Lanzo isn't the first "not-racist" to protest against Obama with language that many would consider patently racist. Paula Smith, distributor of a much-maligned "Don't re-nig in 2012" anti-Obama bumper sticker, argued that neither she nor her product were actually racist.

He uses the N word. He owns a bar that caters to the Ku Klux Klan and he has the unmitigated audacity to say he isn't a racist. If you use the N word and claim it isn't racist, you might be a redneck.

Or you might be an ultra-conservative, religious, right wing nut.

[Ungodly]

I think this man contains his own punishment. His hatred and inability to empathize with other human beings will keep him isolated and in a state of constant anxiety all of his days, without peace or harmony in his life.

We can always hope he will get drunk and decide to play with one of his guns.

Meanwhile the rest of us have a reason to celebrate because we are not Patrick Lanzo.

[Great Ape]

Ted Nugent Slams 'Brain Dead' Liberals, Flings Profanity At CBS News Team

Huffington Post | May 4, 2012

Rocker Ted Nugent was given another chance to speak out this week in an interview that aired Friday on CBS' "This Morning." He didn't fail to deliver on the bombast and provocation that have characterized his recent public appearances, especially graphic comments he made last month about President Barack Obama and Democrats.

At a National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis in April, Nugent unloaded, saying that he would be "dead or in jail by this time next year" if Obama is re-elected. The Secret Service took notice of his remarks, and as is customary in such situations, paid the entertainer a visit. Nugent has maintained that he had a cordial meeting with the agents, a claim that he repeated on Friday.

"They came in as professionals," Nugent told CBS in an interview from his Texas ranch. "Good, solid, professional law enforcement representatives, some of the greatest warriors in law enforcement. Anyway, so we had a meeting and it was serious, dead serious, because I can actually be serious, and it was serious."

Continued Nugent: "I feel sorry for liberals who can be that brain dead as to take a clear statement of fear on my part and turn it into a threat against somebody else."

Nugent also called the event "adorable" and explained his belief that the Secret Service personnel who had interviewed him never believed his perceived threat was actually a concern.

The controversy created by the "Motor City Madman" -- who reportedly endorsed GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney after the campaign called him -- was seized upon by Democrats last month, who used it as an opportunity to hold the presumptive GOP nominee's feet to the fire.

The Romney campaign was largely silent on the matter, however, saying that "divisive language is offensive and inappropriate" and announcing that the former Massachusetts governor believes "everyone needs to be civil." Nugent told CBS that the campaign "expressed support" after his NRA comments.

During the interview, Nugent launched into a rambling tirade about being a "moderate." It concluded with profanity directed at the interviewer and a female producer who was off-camera. From CBS:

"I think in an honest and sincere analysis of what Ted Nugent is, I think once you take away the battle fatigues of my rock and roll insanity -- I like to use this analogy: I'm a welder. When I work, sparks are flying and there's soot, but you know what? When I'm done welding, I take off the regalia. I shower, and I'm a pretty nice guy to hang around with. You know what I am after the welding? I'm a moderate. I'm an extremely loving and passionate man, and people who investigate me honestly, without the baggage of political correctness, ascertain the conclusion that I'm a damned nice guy. ... And if you can find a screening process more powerful than that, I'll [expletive] your [expletive], or [expletive] you. How's that sound?"

Nugent later apologized for the outburst after pressure from his wife.

[Source]

Ted couldn't even hold it together for one interview. I call anger management issues.

Edited by Great Ape, 04 May 2012 - 08:49 AM.