Cat Scratch Patriotism

If Samuel Johnson's quote that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel still holds true, then there may be no bigger scoundrel in America today than Ted Nugent. The "Motor City Madman", who is all too happy to paint others as hating America, would surely be the first to tell you what a true patriot he is as he shares his outrage at those who would compromise the values on which America was founded. The current target of Nugent's wrath is the Army officers who canceled Nugent's appearance at Fort Knox in the wake of comments he made about President Obama.

Not surprisingly, Nugent viewed the base commanders’ decision as an attack on his first amendment rights and an insult that “defiles the sacrifices of those heroes who fought for the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights.” While I'm obviously happy to see that Nugent's sphere of interest goes beyond the second amendment, it seems to me that he somewhat misunderstands the first. Yes, congress can't pass laws abridging freedom of speech (not to mention religion or peaceful assembly), but that doesn't mean your words can't have consequences, especially when you call the President a criminal and compare him to a coyote while extolling the virtues of shooting said coyote. 

Obviously Nugent should be able to say whatever non-slanderous and non-threatening things he wants about whoever he wants, especially the President, just as I can say whatever I want about him under those same parameters. On that note, it genuinely offends me to hear rants about patriotism and the sacrifices of our military from a man who, rather than risk being sent to Vietnam, decided to soil himself for a week before meeting the draft board. That seems like a far better place to begin a discussion about who’s “anti-American” or who's actually dishonoring our military.