I don’t ordinarily do anti-endorsements for NRA Board members, but I have been known to make exceptions. This is one of those exceptions: It’s time for Ted Nugent to be off the NRA Board of Directors, now that he’s doubled down on his previous statement of calling President Obama a “subhuman mongrel.” I get that the term “racist” is being thrown around so casually these days for things that aren’t racist, that its meaning has been debased as a word used to describe actual racism. But I believe this is actual racism.
Usually we use the word “mongrel,” to describe a dog which is mixed breed. We currently have a President who is half-white and half-black. So how exactly, Ted Nugent, is calling Obama a “subhuman mongrel,” essentially comparing him to a mixed bred dog, not racist? According to the dictionary, this term has a history enough of racist use to be noted as such. If a Nazi said the same thing about a half-jew, would you give them a pass on the racist thing? I think most of us wouldn’t. There are plenty of ways to insult this president without having to drag his race and ethnicity into it.
What Ted Nugent said here is absolutely racist, and he should have apologized for it rather than doubling down. Get off my side Ted Nugent! The only way this is going to happen is if NRA members stop voting for him.
The fact that NRA has to pay him $50,000 to show up at the annual meeting is reason enough not to vote for him.
That’s outrageous!! $50k for that a$$hole?
I will never understand the NRA love for Ted Nugent. He has been on Cam and Company a few times and he is one of the most obnoxious individuals I’ve heard. He is such a poor ambassador for gun rights it’s stunning.
He was more mellow prior to Obama. I mean, he’s always been crass, but he’s also a rock artists, and what rock artist do you know who are aren’t half off their rockers? But racism I won’t abide by.
Tea party membership dues
Agreed. He is crass and just not a good look for our side.
Agreed. NRA board members need to be ambassadors to the general public. Nugent is a miserable failure at this.
Considering that you only need to be in the top 25 out of about 28-30 vote getters, he’s probably not going anywhere.
True. Though if the Nominating Committee would stop nominating him, then that would help. Those people may need to be held more accountable to members, too.
He’d easily win by petition.
Yup. And that, to me, is the bigger problem. I think he tends to get lots of people on his side simply because he is “outrageous” and un-PC. I remember him speaking at CPAC after he wrote “Kill It and Grill It.” Back then he was kind of an Ann Coulter type of figure. You could love him or hate his social commentary but there was nothing too malicious. Now it may hurt us. And we’ve all seen parts of that in the gun rights community too. Not all attention is good attention. So it’s going to be a soul searching.
Stop paying him all that money and see how long he stays on the BoD.
Yeah… I would agree.
Would he go through the effort of a petition drive? I know he’d have people willing to do it for him, but it’s not like he interacts with those members.
Meh… Obama is pretty much white anyway as far as I’m concerned. George W. Bush looked more like a Chimpanzee than Obama ever will.
I normally can’t stand anti-racist witch hunters and their torch mobs for tolerance, but I’ll have to agree here. Nugent is a nutball and his Captain America routine is getting tired.
The term ‘mongrel’, when applied to humans, connotes indeterminate lineage. It is not a racist term, and can be used against people of any racial composition or ethnic origin.
Google the definition. See:
offensive
a person of mixed descent.
My local dictionary says the same thing.
The first time, fine. I’m 100% in the “everything is racist and this is a racist campaign by anti gun bigots”.
But for him to not move along, and indeed say it again: either he’s dumber than crap or he is a racist.
I will cancel your vote to remove Ted by casting mine in his favour!
And you – oh no, not politically correct you – are racist, are ya?
You will sit there and tell us that freedom of speech protects black baboons like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Barkie Obama…but not Ted Nugent.
Screw you – how can you pretend to protect the second amendment when you can’t protect the first?
The First Amendment says you have to be on the NRA Board? Ted Nugent can be as racist and offensive as he wants. I just don’t want him representing the NRA anymore.
And way to be a racist yourself with the “black baboons” crap. Not that I have any love for Sharpton, Jackson, or the President, but that’s because I don’t like them as individuals.
Way to be racist dude. Please get off my side.
This
The 1st Amendment gives Ted the right to be an asshole. That does not mean we have to pay for his soapbox.
Also, the First Amendment protects Nugent’s right to be an asshole from reprisal from the government. The Bill of Rights doesn’t grant him any privileges or protections from members of the public telling him to sit down, shut up, and learn how to button his gorram shirt.
I don’t want or expect Ted Nugent to start acting like a college professor. My request is simple: please stop saying things that are racist.
wait, so you and Ted Nugent have the first amendment right to be racist idiots, but we don’t have to first amendment right to comment on it? that’s convenient.
The First Amendment has nothing to do with it – Sebastian is not the government.
What he is, is a member of the NRA that this racist waste of oxygen is acting as a representative for. He, and anyone else that is an NRA member, have a perfect right to tell him to either STFU or stop acting as our representative when he spouts out garbage like that.
You know what’s funny? I worked around him, that is, worked for a company that hired him for a short time.
He was perfectly normal in my time around him, even had a couple of things to say that were not only logical but good points. He was far more sharp than I had expected. The difference was my interaction with him was behind closed doors and in public when he was there to be nice to people and not make a fuss. Fwiw, I don’t care about celebrity and was SHOCKED to see a 50-55yr old man damn near loose his shit to get a photo with Nugent.
This ‘thing’ where you’re talking about him now – that’s marketing. And if you’re talking about him, it’s working. Don’t like it, ignore it and it’ll go away. He doesn’t represent you? Good. Don’t let him dominate the conversation with his brand. Make a big fuss over it and it’ll hang around because some people think being offensive and supporting offensive people is an act of defiance.
Yeah, I get that. But I also think that staying silent in the face of something you thing is wrong is wrong.
And for the record, I’m not saying Ted Nugent isn’t a nice guy when he’s not being Ted Nugent the rock star. I also don’t think he’s a racist. But if you’re going to say certain things for shock value, I’m not really sure you’re what I want representing me through the NRA.
There are plenty of other celebrities who like guns who do not behave like Ted. For example, Michael Rooker and Adam Baldwin were at this years Shotshow. Don’t tell me NRA could not reach out to more normal people like these guys for a PR campaign on gun safety or something and get loads of positive press while doing it. There is no reason to have Ted around for free, let alone paying him, when he deliberately goes out of his way to offend people.
“So how exactly, Ted Nugent, is calling Obama a “subhuman mongrel,†essentially comparing him to a mixed bred dog, not racist?”
Because Nugent isn’t a racist. Outrageous? Yes. (he’s a heavy metal rock and roll freak- they’re all outrageous!) Opinionated? Yes. Generally an accurate observer of the state of the union? Yes.
There’s a lot more wrong at the NRA than The Nuge- cronyism, defeatism, a spirit of ‘compromise’ and vicious in-fighting come to mind.
Remember the NRA gave HarryFreakinReid an A+ rating a little while ago?
Why don’t we start there, mmmkay?
Let’s move on.
Cheers
Is it racist to vote because your are black for a black candidate? Yet the blacks did that and Obama encouraged that behavior. So is Obama a racist?
Al Sharpton is.
Because I have conservative beliefs I have been called nativist and others with my beliefs have been called racists. I am sure Ted Nugent has been called racist. So if he is called that then why not use racist taunts?
I really do not care what he called Obama. Obama has been an overt enemy of whites, middle class and Americans . His actions show that.
He loves our enemies and hates our allies.
I do not care whether a person is green and purple as long we share the same values and aspirations. The liberals have been calling for a class and race war. Ted Nugent’s name calling is probably a result of that. More people will not care if they are called racists.
If you have a NRA vote, then vote him out. Probably not a good representative. But I have no moral outrage when worse was called about Bush or Palin or the Tea Partiers.
I think Al Sharpton is a racist. I don’t think Obama is, but he’s willing to use people who are as political tools to consolidate power. The more we let them set us against our fellow Americans, the more I think we play into their hands.
We agree on Sharpton. However I do think Obama is closet black racist. He went to a church that espoused that. He is also an anti semite by his behavior toward Israel. Netanyu and the Hebdo incident
I don’t think so. I think he used that church for political purposes. His mother was white. He was raised by his white family. I don’t really think he’s racist. But I don’t think he’s above playing racial politics to consolidate power.
“overt enemy of whites”. Go back to your meth lab.
Huh? Meth lab is a nonsequitor
I make it a point to not vote for Ted when those ballots come in the mail. But as another poster said, the system is practically rigged to get whoever is nominated elected. Speaking of which, isn’t Joaquin Jackson still on the board? That guy has flat-out said he supports semi-autos only for the military and aside from a few bloggers nobody tries to mount any kind of effort to oust him.
Joaquin Jackson is still on the board. He’s also one of my other rare anti-endorsements. I thought we had a chance to unseat him, though.
I’ve long wondered why the Board is a friggin’ large as it is, it always seems like half the members are just well-heeled lawyers and businessmen who regard the Board as a feather in their cap to impress their peers at the country club, another quarter of the Board are celebrities past their sell-by date who can use membership to keep their names in the papers, and the remainder are basically nepotism legacies who got the seat because their grandpa had it and the voters can’t tell “John Doe III” from “John Doe, Jr.” Maybe four or five Board members do anything productive, but the real work is done by Presidents, professional NRA-ILA lawyers, and door-knocking volunteers and volunteer safety instructors.
Why the hell do we need seventy-six (76!) empty suits to do this job?
I agree the Board is too big, but there are more than five people who do real and important work. Though, there are certainly more than a few who fit your description :)
I know some of the board members do “not flashy” stuff. Joe DeBergalis (up this year) is a solid, pro rights guy. He teaches safety and marksmanship, and is very pro-rights (including eeebil black rifles). He’s also a NYS trooper and unless you’ve met him or closely follow NYSRPA you’ve probably never heard of him.
I probably should have avoided using hard numbers, it obscured the hyperbole I was going for. I will concede that most Board members are probably fairly honest folk… I still think there’s too damn many of them.
The nra made a conscious decision years ago to go after the tea party to increase membership. This is the result.
Nugent has been on the Board long before the tea party existed.
This whole Nugent = Tea Party thing makes me laugh. The demographic that Nugent attracts rarely = actual Tea Party members.
Hey Sebastian, suck on this you weak hearted liberal sympathizer. Apparently Obama is a racist too!!! I’ll cancel out your vote and vote for Uncle Ted again. http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/news13668.html
And Black people can say “nigger” and get away with it too. What’s racist is when you intend it as an insult, and to be disparaging. And Jews can get away with saying things about Jews that we’d condemn if a Nazi said it in a different context.
You’re exactly the kind of person I want to get off my side. It is possible to disagree with people without being a jackass about it.
What a childish way to view the world. “You don’t agree with me 110% so you are a liberal sympathizer!” Oh brother. That line of thinking is getting old. I’m tired of people throwing temper tantrums and claiming someone is their enemy because another person don’t agree completely his or her opinions.
“You are anti-gun because you don’t support _______”
“You are a liberal in disguise because you don’t agree with ____”
Give it a break.
I should also note that the nature of NRA Board elections is such that your vote doesn’t cancel anyone else’s. It’s a rank ordering system, so people’s decision not to vote for Ted, every one of them, hurts his candidacy.
I think it is important to note in this discussion that whether or not Ted is a racist is debatable, my assertion that he is an asshole is not.
Sebastian,
Thanks for pointing out racism and speaking against it. Our side has a bad problem with “diet” racism (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdyin6uipy4)
It is nice to see people in the community point this out rather than tow the line.
Obama is no great president by any means, but he catches a surprising amount of flack just for being half black and a lot of derogatory names for it too.
We would all be better off if we attacked politicians for their actual decisions rather than calling them names based on color, gender, size, or orientation.
Wow a real conservative with a back bone that sends the PC’s running all butthurt, the anti-gun cult uses a double standard everyday of there live so of course they will whine. We need twenty more of him on the board. Go Uncle Nuge.
so apparently the standard for a “real conservative” is “sends PC’s running all butthurt?”
how intellectually demanding!
Oh, too bad. Uncle Ted is politically incorrect and steps on toes. So what?
Ted has been this way forever and now has an obvious target who is not doing the US any favors IMHO.
As for not returning him to the Board, a blog ain’t going to cut it! The NRA membership votes for Board members annually and I really doubt any of them know of your blog, nor care. if you really want him out, not just to vent, then you need a forum which will make more an impact.
Please let me know what it is so I can watch in the humor.
I give myself an approximately zero chance of getting Ted Nugent off the Board, because he’s a celebrity.
You don’t know anything about this blog or its readers, or what kind of influence I do or don’t have.
It’s a shame when political correctness permeates the ranks of law abiding gun owners in the country.
Ted doesn’t give a shit what you think. He says it like it is. If that’s too much for your sensibilities, maybe you should put in some earplugs and STFU.
Kinda sorta on topic.
Jonah Goldberg at National Review-
“More to the point, when you think about it, the really funny part is that we’re still hearing how we conservatives need to get control of our nutjobs and extremists before average Americans will take us seriously. I’ll tell you what: “What.†I’ll also tell you that the typical Joe on the street will find gun rights and the Tenth Amendment reasonable and mainstream long before he gets his head around the idea that The Vagina Monologues is sexist because it lacks wangs in the cast — and I don’t mean Asians.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/397604/china-syndrome-liberalism-jonah-goldberg/page/0/1
[wheep] LEAVE UNCLE TED ALONE [wheep]
One of the obvious reasons for the high number of board members is that it dilutes the power of each member. Gun people tend to be pretty independent, which makes it difficult to get a big enough group to agree to actually do something counter to what the directors want. Like herding cats.
You get the number down to what a typical table can seat, you may see some changes in what goes on. The directors have no intention of ever allowing a threat to their cushy, high paying gigs. Since nothing can be changed, nothing ever will be changed. Remember Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy. The NRA no longer exists to accomplish good things for gun owners, but to maintain their cushy jobs. Period. If they have to occasionally go through the motions to make it look like they are relevant, that will be the extent of it.
They can’t allow our side to win big regarding gun laws and the 2nd Amendment. Might threaten their jobs. That’s why they seem to do odd or crazy things when there is not a lot of light shining on them. Pournelle’s Law perfectly explains their actions.
After all it was the Second Amendment Foundation who brought about Heller v D.C. and McDonald v Chicago not the NRA.
Ted might be a load mouth but,someone has to be however. Ted could be a bit more diplomatic about what he is trying to get across. for example the interview with Rosanne Barr. I understand what he was saying but, it seemed a bit cold hearted on that specific issue as Roseann was trying to get across to Ted. Not that i’m siding with her. there are limitations and Ted has none. He’s all or nothing.
Another big reason the NRA will never enjoy support of the majority of the population. As the old white guys die off, the NRA will need to find another way to survive..
I personally would like to see Theodore bleed to death from a gunshot wound.
Yup lets put Chris Christie or Romney or Rand on the NRA board! Forget what a true 2nd amendment person is and if he describes Obama accurately, well that’s racist.
Pardon me? Exactly what is Obama?