# Rocker Ted Nugent threatens to assassinate President Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 17, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089 "2012-04-17T22:36:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/321 "2012-04-26T14:07:18Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > That wasn’t a winning strategy when Bill Clinton tried it. He admitted as much, himself. His '92 gun ban … Whose '92 gun ban? Was this an Arkansas thing? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/322 "2012-04-26T14:24:08Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Whose '92 gun ban? Was this an Arkansas thing? My bad. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban AKA The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act was in '94 not '92. As for Clinton admitting the political cost to his party was high: Excerpted from “My Life” by Bill Clinton: > [@](#): > > “Just before the House vote (on the crime bill), Speaker Tom Foley and majority leader Dick Gephardt had made a last-ditch appeal to me to remove the assault weapons ban from the bill. They argued that many Democrats who represented closely divided districts had already…defied the NRA once on the Brady bill vote. They said that if we made them walk the plank again on the assault weapons ban, the overall bill might not pass, and that if it did, many Democrats who voted for it would not survive the election in November. Jack Brooks, the House Judiciary Committee chairman from Texas, told me the same thing…Jack was convinced that if we didn’t drop the ban, the NRA would beat a lot of Democrats by terrifying gun owners…Foley, Gephardt, and Brooks were right and I was wrong. The price…would be heavy casualties among its defenders.” (Pages 611-612) > “On November 8, we got the living daylights beat out of us, losing eight Senate races and fifty-four House seats, the largest defeat for our party since 1946…The NRA had a great night. They beat both Speaker Tom Foley and Jack Brooks, two of the ablest members of Congress, who had warned me this would happen. Foley was the first Speaker to be defeated in more than a century. Jack Brooks had supported the NRA for years and had led the fight against the assault weapons ban in the House, but as chairman of the Judiciary Committee he had voted for the overall crime bill even after the ban was put into it. The NRA was an unforgiving master: one strike and you’re out. The gun lobby claimed to have defeated nineteen of the twenty-four members on its hit list. They did at least that much damage…” (Pages 629-630) > “One Saturday morning, I went to a diner in Manchester full of men who were deer hunters and NRA members. In impromptu remarks, I told them that I knew they had defeated their Democratic congressman, Dick Swett, in 1994 because he voted for the Brady bill and the assault weapons ban. Several of them nodded in agreement.” (Page 699) ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/323 "2012-04-26T15:43:35Z")
After re-reading Clinton’s thoughts on the matter, it would have been better for the country, the party, and better for Bill if Brooks, Foley, et. al. had had the courage to tell Bill to go make sweet love to himself and voted against the ban. The Republican-dominated legislature was able to turn the Lewinsky scandal into a full-blown (heh) impeachment. Remember how that dragged out over what seemed like eons only to result in acquittal? In a Democratically controlled legislature, I don’t believe it would have been nearly the circus the nation, and Bill Clinton, endured. When Gore ran against Bush, the NRA relentlessly beat the drums about Gore, as part of the Clinton administration, being one of the people responsible for the ban. Further, he was thought of as a traitor because of his previous NRA “A” rating. Maybe the election results would have been too heavily weighted in his favor for there to be any shenanigans if not for that. The ban itself accomplished nothing in the way of reducing crime or “gun violence.” It did, in fact, spur gun makers to develop lighter, smaller full-powered handguns. For example, previous to the ban a 9mm was typically a full-sized pistol meant to be carried in a belt holster like a cop or soldier might wear. When the ban limited magazine capacity to 10 rounds, such a pistol seemed less desirable. The manufacturers responded by reducing the size of the guns. 8 or 10 rounds in a gun that’s virtually pocket-sized sold like hotcakes. Not to mention that the “assault weapons” themselves continued to be sold after the makers made a few cosmetic rule-beater changes. Overall, being “the gun control party” is just a losing strategy. The Democratic Party would be well-served to simply let the whole gun issue alone at the national level. Let state and local groups pursue the issue if it is important to them. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/324 "2012-04-26T23:33:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The army has apparently [decided](http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/22/us/kentucky-nugent-canceled-concert/index.html?hpt=us_c2) that Nugent is no longer welcome to perform on their base in Kentucky:I think the most depressing thing about the story is this part:Styx, REO Speedwagon, and Ted Nugent? > > Never mind the waterboarding; the military apparently has a policy of torturing its own troops. \*At \* my Basic we had to listen to Lee Greenwood. Live. Isn’t Lee Greenwood in the Geneva Convention, as a ‘don’t’? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/325 "2012-04-28T18:39:10Z")
[Ted Nugent says he’s insulted by concert cancellation](http://www.freep.com/article/20120428/ENT07/120428008/Ted-Nugent-says-he-s-insulted-by-concert-cancellation?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE) Bwaah hah. I saw the headline and made a bet with myself that he’d mention his First Amendment rights, and I was not disappointed: > [@](#): > > “To think that there’s a bureaucrat in the United States Army that would consider the use or abuse of First Amendment rights in determining who is going to perform at an Army base is an insult and defiles the sacrifices of those heroes who fought for the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights,” Nugent said. Newsflash, Teddy, you already HAD your First Amendment rights tested this week, and they were rightfully upheld - when the Secret Service didn’t arrest your sorry ass after questioning you. Just once, I’d like to see some indication that some jackass braying about his First Amendment rights actually knew what they were. The First Amendment does not say “I can say whatever I damned well please and everyone is required to listen.” It does not say “I can say whatever I damned well please and my boss cannot fire me.” It does not say “I can say whatever I damned well please and face no monetary or social costs whatsoever.” All it says is that the government cannot punish you for saying whatever you damned well please. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/326 "2012-04-30T16:25:29Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I interpret it to mean that laws will be passed during Obama’s second term that would make gun ownership a crime. And if they tried to confiscate his guns, shots would be fired. I think Mister Draft Dodger Poopy Pants would be too much of a pussy to do a “shots fired” at anything or anyone who might shoot back. And, since there is no such law and probably won’t ever be, I think Old Poop Stain is just making shit up to appear all macho. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/327 "2012-05-04T22:53:46Z")
The Nugent crazy train ran off the tracks again: [Ted Nugent explodes on morning show interview](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/ted-nugent-explodes-morning-show-interview-155602856.html) ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/328 "2012-05-04T23:01:47Z")
That was awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/329 "2012-05-04T23:06:30Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The Nugent crazy train ran off the tracks again: > > [Ted Nugent explodes on morning show interview](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/ted-nugent-explodes-morning-show-interview-155602856.html) If he’s a moderate, I’d sure as fuck hate to see who he considers an extremist. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/330 "2012-05-04T23:08:25Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > That was awesome! He was channeling his inner Niedermeyer. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/331 "2012-05-05T02:37:09Z")
> [@](#): > > The musician hinted he told the agents they should be investigating their bosses. Oh he fucking well did not. I do wish the media would drop the “Motor City Madman” line. I don’t think the Motor City wants any credit for this guy. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/332 "2012-05-05T03:28:26Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > The Nugent crazy train ran off the tracks again: > > [Ted Nugent explodes on morning show interview](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/ted-nugent-explodes-morning-show-interview-155602856.html) That link is misleading. I was hoping for an actual explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/333 "2012-05-05T06:16:12Z")
Poor ol’ Nuge, so misunderstood. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/334 "2012-05-10T10:49:23Z")
He flew off the handle in the interview, because he was suffering from a kidney stone, ya see? And of course, he couldn’t possibly have meant he planned on killing Obama if he wins come November; rifle season doesn’t even begin until the 15th. What’s he going to use? This here 120 lb. draw recurve bow? Oh how he and the S.S. did laugh over that. Just adorable they are. I mean, Nugent is many things, but a _poacher?_ Most certainly not! ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/335 "2012-05-10T15:40:50Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I interpret it to mean that laws will be passed during Obama’s second term that would make gun ownership a crime. And if they tried to confiscate his guns, shots would be fired. You are going to live bitter and lonely and die angry. The revolution you’re hoping for will never come, and one day on your deathbed, but hopefully sooner, you’re going to realize that all the beliefs you hold are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/336 "2012-05-10T22:02:47Z")
No, he’ll never realize it. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/337 "2012-05-10T22:16:09Z")
Yeah, for that he’d need to have a molecule of self-perception in his body. Mostly he’s constructed of BBQ ribs and hatred. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/338 "2012-05-10T22:37:37Z")
Hey, I’d consider it a step forward if he came to realize these “beliefs” of his weren’t something he arrived at by himself, but was simply told to believe by the voices on a box. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/339 "2012-05-10T23:05:04Z")
I’m from West Virginia, and I have a close family member who says similar things about the government and his guns. Every few years (and/or at certain milestones like 9/11, which was supposedly going to FINALLY give them the excuse they needed) he solemnly declares that the government is going to _sweep_ in and take away all his guns. Every time he makes this prediction, he claims to not remember the previous dozen or so times he made it. Arguments about the logistics of a few thousand special agents in the FBI and ATF disarming a nation of 300 million are futile. _“They’ve got computers!”_ I think he does it to express contempt for government. And to feel formidable enough that the government would need to come after him (he’s getting older). Whatever gets you through the night. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089/340 "2012-05-10T23:06:27Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Yeah, for that he’d need to have a molecule of self-perception in his body. Mostly he’s constructed of BBQ ribs and hatred. What more do you need, really? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocker-ted-nugent-threatens-to-assassinate-president-obama/619089.md?page=18)