Politics

Color of Change: NRA should fire Ted Nugent for suggesting wrong side won Civil War

Eshe Nelson Contributor
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Headline-grabbing musician and political activist Ted Nugent is once again causing a stir. In a July 5 column for The Washington Times, Nugent wrote that the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Barack Obama’s health care reform law was a sign that America would have faired better “had the South won the Civil War.”

In the op-ed, titled “Turncoat Roberts,” Nugent blamed Chief Justice John Roberts for squandering the opportunity to “restore judicial, financial and legislative sanity to a government that… is insane and addicted to centralized federal control of our lives.”

The outspoken guitarist said that Roberts’ “traitor[ous]” vote “didn’t give Fedzilla an even bigger shovel, he gave Fedzilla an earth mover with which to dig bigger financial holes.”

Nugent wrote, “because our legislative, judicial and executive branches of government hold the 10th Amendment in contempt, I’m beginning to wonder if it would have been best had the South won the Civil War. Our Founding Fathers’ concept of limited government is dead.”

In March, there were reports that presidential candidate Mitt Romney actively solicited Nugent’s endorsement. Since Nugent announced his endorsement, in exchange for no new gun control laws, the Romney camp has denied ever asking for it, but hasn’t rejected it.

Nugent’s latest thoughts are pushing the Romney campaign into a tight spot. If Nugent continues to make the controversial statements he is well known for, the Romney camp could be forced to clarify its relationship with the musician.

Nugent also sits on the board of the National Rifle Association. In response to his op-ed, activist group Color Of Change called for his firing from the NRA board.

“Ted Nugent’s suggestion that America would be better off if the confederacy had won the civil war is deeply offensive,” Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color Of Change, said in a statement. “Does the NRA believe we’d be better off if the South had won the war and slavery still existed? The NRA needs to clarify its stance on slavery and fire Nugent immediately.”

Although Color Of Change’s disdain for Nugent is directed at the NRA, Nugent is no stranger to animosity.

During the 2008 presidential election, Nugent wielding a machine gun on stage and said, “Hey Obama, you might wanna suck on one of these, you punk”. He added, “Hilary, you might wanna ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch.”

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