With all of the chaos and cheap political attacks going on in the current campaign, we come to one logical conclusion: This might be the best time in the history of this country to get Ted Nugent officially involved.

The outspoken rocker is the greatest apostle of freedom and American values on the planet. A world-class hunter and outdoorsman who also picks at the guitar a little now and then, Nugent delivers the "right between the eyes" direct message this country needs now.

He is equal parts Ronald Reagan, Paul Revere and Wild Bill Cody, with a guitar strapped over one shoulder, and a hunting bow over the other. Ted tells it like it is, and like it should be. In a time when we are suffocated with political correctness, Ted Nugent is the real breath of fresh air out there.

Ted and his family eat what they hunt. He thinks it has been about 30 years since his family has been served store-bought meat. Now while that would be tough to pull off for some, it does show the independence of the man, and the fact that he lives the self-reliance he preaches.

We reached a real landmark moment in American history this past week when Nugent's new book - "Ted, White and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto"- charged its way onto the New York Times Best Seller's List.

What a country, when those pointy-headed, holier-than-thou, elitist snobs have to put the Motor City Madman on their prestigious list, ahead of such thrilling pieces of literary gunk like "The War Within" by former reporter turned liberal hack Bob Woodward, or the "New Paradigm for Financial Markets" by billionaire political weasel George Soros. You have to love the fact that on this haughty list, those boys are looking at Nugent's back flank, and that Nuge is the only one on the list wearing camo.

Most rockers just offer a few pathetic final performances, babble about the good old days, and then fade away when they are recognized as doddering old burnouts who have been purged of their talents. See Meat Loaf or Ozzie Osbourne for reference points. Nugent just keeps getting better. His high-energy act excites the crowds as much as his anti-drug, pro-America message.

Nugent, who will be 60 in a few weeks, was born in Detroit in a working-class family and had a tough, disciplinarian father. His beliefs are anchored in his Midwestern work ethic.

His views hit some like a cheese grater sliding across their face, but they can seldom argue with his logic. Ted thinks we ought to take oil from Mexico and the Middle East as payment for the massive debts they owe us for loans and foreign aid. He thinks we should refuse to fund health care for anyone who decides to smoke or drink to excess or eat to the point of obesity. If they choose an unhealthy lifestyle, they are free to do so, but Ted won't pay to clean up the mess that creates.

Nuge thinks our national security would be enhanced significantly if we announced that anyone who is armed and attempting to enter this country illegally will be shot on sight. Nugent says that if you can afford bling and booze and tobacco, then don't come asking for a free lunch at school for your kids.

He is terrified that Barack Obama wants us to be more like France. Nuge does not care if France likes us or not, and I love that in a guy. He once told an interviewer in Britain that deer were only interested in finding food, finding a lover, and seeing how fast they could run away from trouble - just like the French.

When a film crew working for left-wing movie maker Michael Moore tried to ambush Nugent in the Detroit airport recently, Nugent was too quick on the draw. After verbally filleting and field dressing the interviewer, Nugent offered Michael Moore a lifetime supply of personal hygiene products - priceless, indeed.

Nugent's mantra of personal responsibility and freedom comes without any sugar coating. He does not waste time trying to nuance the issues. He is direct and on target. Maybe what we need right now is a guy who believes in the principles that inspired the founders of this country, and he's not afraid to deliver his message with a shot right to the heart of the issues.

Matt Markey is The A-T outdoors columnist

Contact him by e-mail at: ohiooutdoors@wcnet.org

 

 COMMENTARY

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Nugent Strikes A Note - Source: Advertiser-Tribune.com

Professor Bob Murray's comments concerning Matt Markey's observations on Ted Nugent's Second Amendment opinions misses the mark, no pun intended. Murray's obvious vitriol toward anybody who would be pro-gun or socially conscious in an outdoor column doesn't have the foggiest notion of the average hunter's natural skepticism toward anybody who overtly or stealthily seeks to ban certain weapons and ammunition.

Murray cites Nugent as a sort of populist cretin who wishes to starve welfare babies and machine-gun illegal immigrants. Can Murray see the obvious hyperbole in these observations? As liberals cite G.W. Bush as "stupid," "racist" and a misogynistic homophobe (Podesta, Olbermann, Maddow), then Nugent also should be given editorial licenses to point out that there are winos, drunks and dopers on welfare. There are 2-20 million (pick a number) illegal immigrants in the country who tax municipalities, schools and hospital/health care services. There are eight of 10 births in the minority community that are out of wedlock. Nugent merely points these out as evidence that it's the swing to the left that will seek to destroy the Second Amendment, curb individual liberties, place higher taxes on the 60 percent who actually pay federal taxes, and eventually will destroy the sovereignty of the country we cherish.

Murray cites the French as an international role model. For a people who work an average of 30 hours per week, eat snails, have a simmering racial problem of their own and have hundreds of acres of U.S. war dead who died freeing the country twice - give me a "Merci!" Bottom line is, Nugent is a populist figure among the hunter/outdoor crowd. He reflects a substantial body of the citizenry who have had it with the politically correct looking down at gun owners and sportsmen as beer-swilling, no-account slobs. The left - oops! Sorry, progressives - now have the ball in their court. As always, they will overreach, and the real intent of their socialism will be laid bare. Murray, maybe you ought to listen to the lyrics of "Great White Buffalo" before you run your mouth.

Frederick Collar
Maumee, OH