Ted Nugent: NRA Just Like Boston First Responders

Even in the recent months of gun-riddled news reports and potential anti-gun legislation coming into fruition, rock musician turned conservative political activist turned all-around turd-disturber Ted Nugent has yet to shy away from his signature controversial statements — and he isn’t about to start now.

However, his most recent remarks use the Boston bombings as a platform to further his own pro-gun anti-Obama agenda. In a time when the nation needs to come together rather than engage in immature dialogue, perhaps it’s finally time for Nugent to un-don his army-patterned cowboy hat and shut the hell up.

Reports concerning the Boston bombings have reflected positively on the bystanders, first responders, and emergency workers who have heroically and tirelessly worked with success in aiding the victims maimed by two shrapnel bombs. The New Yorker surmises, “It now appears that every one of the wounded alive when rescuers reached them will survive.” These aid workers exemplify patriotism to the core. However, Nugent feels they represent entirely something else — the National Rifle Association. 

Speaking on the April 16 broadcast of NRA News, he compared the heroic acts of the first responders running towards the site moments after the bombs go off as what “represents what the NRA is.” After the comparison, he charged the Obama administration with “anti-Americanism” because of its efforts to enact new gun control measures.

This is not Nugent’s first foray into colorful discourse concerning guns rights and the Obama administration. Last week, he accused the Obama administration of engaging in “jack-booted thuggery,” and said that more action should have been taken to stop Obama’s reelection. 

Back in April of 2012, he was questioned by the Secret Service prior to a concert in Ardmore, Oklahoma after his inflammatory remarks about the president in a NRA convention. He offhandedly labeled the Obama administration as “vile, evil, America-hating,” and also said it consisted of “criminals.” He also lightly recommended of his fellow conservative comrades to “chop [Democrat] heads off in November,” in coordination with the presidential elections.

Furthermore, during the 2008 presidential campaign, Nugent directed a thinly-veiled attack at then-candidate Obama and called him a “piece of shit.” Also, in a concert in August 2007, he suggested Obama to “suck on [his] machine gun” while flaunting his two machine guns on stage.

Clearly, there is a pattern with Nugent’s choice of rabble-rousing words and to whom they are directed. The Boston bombings, however, have no place in Nugent’s hateful language. Drunken concert revelry may be the stage for repulsive insults, but Nugent should know better than to use Boston in any kind of speech other than to bring well wishes and respect to victims of the attack.