Ted Nugent is a real piece of shiiite--work. The uptick in conservative-movement circus clowns and carnival barkers has risen past flood-level heights. But it's sickening to listen to a draft-dodging phony make a mockery out of the very serious business of military suicides.
In an appearance on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' radio show, NRA board member Ted Nugent blamed the epidemic of suicides among veterans and active duty military on frustration with President Obama for supposedly "violating" the Constitution.
Nugent, who has appeared on Jones' show several times, told the host that the military is frustrated with Obama for "violating the oath that they're dying for," which is leading to an unprecedented increase in suicides. Nugent went on to describe the Obama administration as "treasonous" and also characterized the president as a "groomed America hater."
On Sunday, Nugent will appear at the NRA's Annual Meeting for an event titled "Freedom Is Not Free - Repaying Our Debt to Heros [sic]" which is billed as a tribute to "those who gave all to utilize our precious freedoms as provided by the ultimate sacrifices of the US Military warriors and their families."
There's a lot of data on the rise in military suicides in the last few years, but suicides have been a big problem since the start of the Iraq war and conservatives wackos somehow forgot to even mention the topic, for fear it would look bad for Dubya. And then we have Ted "They'd call dead people before me" Nugent, who has the gall to make these claims after reveling in his draft dodging ways for so long.
Smoking Gun
With the Vietnam War raging, young Ted Nugent was not so anxious to bear arms in defense of his country.
The 64-year-old musician, now a vocal gun advocate and member of the National Rifle Association’s board of directors, avoided toting around an M14 thanks to a series of military deferments that allowed him to dodge the draft, according to Selective Service System records.
Theodore Anthony Nugent first received a high school 1-S deferment in February 1967, when he was 18. After briefly being reclassified as available for service, Nugent got a 2-S college deferment when he enrolled in Oakland Community College in Michigan.
In August 1969, Nugent took his draft physical and was rejected for service. He was classified as 1-Y, indicating that he was qualified for service only in time of a national emergency. The 1-Y classification was usually issued to candidates saddled with significant medical or mental issues.
In interviews, Nugent has provided varying accounts of how he avoided a seat on a troop transport to Southeast Asia. In a 1977 High Times interview, he claimed to have stopped bathing a month before his draft physical, adding that he showed up for the exam with pants “crusted” with urine and feces. “I was a walking, talking hunk of human poop,” recalled Nugent.
Now of course he refutes the poop comments, but never took back these words.
In his High Times interview, Nugent recalled his glee at evading the chance to defend his country (though he mixed up the 1-Y and 4-F deferments). “And in the mail I got this big juicy 4-F,” he said. “They’d call dead people before they’d call my ass.”
