It really looks like he’s getting a bum deal here. I hate Ted Nugent and all he stands for. In fact, I’d go as far as to say I’d like to see him shot with a crossbow, strapped to the hood of a car and mounted on a wall…But, accusing him of racism is a pretty low blow.
Now, if that was George Carlin or Jello Biafra using those words to make a point, nobody would have thought twice about it. But because he’s THE NUGE everyone has to get all up in arms about it. There’s way top many valid reasons to hate the guy, but this isn’t one of them.
Granted, I didn’t hear the interview, so I may be wrong, in which case disregard this post
I just thought this would be a good topic to kick around.
Yeah, I would consider myself a liberal. Still, I thought the ‘nuge’ was okay - UNTIL I tried researching the story on why he didn’t get drafted. There’s all kinds of reasons you will run across if you search the 'Net - none of which would be considered honorable. But that’s just like the conservative “tradition” - they DON’T go to war - how about our current president ? John Wayne? Ted Nugent ? Arnold Schwarzenegger ? John Ashcroft ? (Okay the list goes on).
As far as the Nuge being racist - I doubt it. I think it is just a case of people waiting to pounce on someone the moment they say something that might be misinterpreted. The Nuge tends to be outspoken but racist? I don’t think so.
wolf_meister - an non-gossip information about how the Nuge avoided Nam? I’ve seen him and other folks quoted with outrageous stories. But talk is cheap.
j.c. - he was a healthy 19 year old in the late 1960’s - the draft was taking anyone that was breathing (height of the Vietnam War ya know) - I would like you to tell me what his deferment was. I have spent a lot of time surfing the 'Net - if you’ve got a reliable site, let me know.
As I said I’m a liberal yet I still like the Nuge. I like the idea that he promotes the idea that you can be a badass rocker without using drugs. Just that his avoidance of the draft and the Vietnam War gets me a little upset (like the other folks I mentioned).
Wolf-meister Hamsters just ate a LONG post about refuting your notion that they were taking everyone who was breathing. If Nuge was in fact born in 1948, his official birthday, then he would not have been called until after the selective service lottery, and he would have been called because his birthday comes up 163.
His story, that he faked crazy by crapping his pants and not bathing, sound fishy. Induction officers are unlikely to have been fooled by such tactics, and if they had been fooled they probably would have called the police or social services to come pick him up.
I have never seen any good information about his reaon for not serving. Perhaps it’s a mundane as flat feet, or maybe he was married to a teenager at the time…
It’s 1970, you’re the Nudge, you don’t go to Vietnam. Do you tell your fans you have an ass boil, or do you make up crazy stories?
Like I said, I’d love to see the reason why, if someone could point me to it.
By the way, the 1977 the Nuge was wearing Vietnam surplus on stage. To be sensational, one assumes.
j.c.
Well to tell you the truth I was born in 1951 so I know a little bit about how eager the draft was to take just about anyone.
Incidentally, the draft lottery (based on birthdays) was begun in 1970 - the Nuge would have been 22 by then. Let’s just say, as soon as you turned 19, you had to have a damned good reason for a deferment or off you would go. The Selective Service would not let someone just “hang around” for 3 years.
What about me? I was in college 1969-1973. The draft and the Vietnam War ended in January, 1973. Am I grateful that I did not have to serve in Vietnam ? Definitely.
Okay, here’s a site which quotes a Ted Nugent interview from 1982 in Hustler magazine. http://www.fitzdisc.com/ted.html
Yes, Hustler is not some bastion of journalistic integrity but it offers yet another reason for his deferment.
I hear Ted Nugent might run for Governor of Michigan in a few years. I imagine the issue of his deferment will come up then. Of course it might not matter. A former Michigan Governor (John Engler) failed the “draft” physical because he was 2 pounds overweight !!! Land sakes, there’s just so much someone can do for their country - lose 2 pounds ? That is too much to ask.
But to return to the original topic, I think some folks are just trying to give Ted Nugent a rough time (undeservedly).
People love bad news about someone. As Don Henley sang “people love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry”.
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I don’t want to hijack here, but I can find an equally long list on the liberal side of cowardly draft dodgers.
For the record, I’m conservative, and I’ve been to war. I’m not a war hero by anyone’s definition, but I have acted in direct support of operations in wartime conditions.
I’ll accept your apology anytime you feel like offering it up.
Please don’t interpret what I said about conservatives not going to war as a “totally, 100%, absolutely no exception, that every single one of them never served a day in the military gospel truth”.
I was speaking generally. Bob Dole and John McCain are 2 conservatives who probably saw the nastiest aspects of war.
Also, George Bush (Senior) almost lost his life in WW2. Some people have tried to fault him on the exact circumstances of his ditching a plane and his crewmates not survivng - personally, I think that judgment is unfair. It is too easy to judge someone else’s actions after the fact, when you are not the one in a life and death situation.
A man’s Selective Service System classification record is a matter of public record — you can request a transcript whether the person is living or dead, with or without his permission. (On the other hand, a living person’s Selective Service registration is protected under the Privacy Act.)
Ted Nugent was born December 13, 1948. He was living in Arlington Heights, Cook Co., Illinois when he turned 18 in 1966. Anyone know if Nugent’s “Ted” is short for “Theodore” or “Edward”?
Ted Nugent’s draft status 1966-1969: According to Going to College to Avoid the Draft: The Unintended Legacy of the Vietnam War by David Card and Thomas Lemieux,
Ted Nugent’s draft status 1970-1973: As j.c. said, Nugent’s birthday was #163 in the 1969 draft lottery. The highest number called up for duty from that draft lottery was #195. (Subsequent draft lotteries held in 1970, 1971, and 1972 were for men born 1951, 1952, and 1953.) So, if Ted Nugent was classified 1-A or 1-A-O (available for military service), then he was called to report for possible induction.
But that is “if”, and why I recommend that someone who wants to pursue this matter further should get a copy of Nugent’s Selective Service classification record first.
