Sayeth Ted Nugent, interviewed in — of all places — Isthmus. Since it is Isthmus (Madison's "alternative" newspaper), we get this bonus political interplay:
On the topic of politics, this year Wisconsin substantially limited the collective bargaining rights of public employees. There were intense protests against this at the state Capitol in February and March. Do you think public employees should have the right to collectively bargain, or do you see unions as too powerful a force in the public sector?
Overall, unions in America have brought this great country to its knees. The NEA has seen to it that American kids are the dumbest kids ever, the auto industry was raped, and government employees are rip-off artists that demand more than they produce. What's not to despise?
Wisconsin also just passed a law to allow concealed carry of handguns in the state. Do you think concealed carry makes communities safer or less safe?
It doesn't matter what I think. Every study ever conducted concluded that violent crime is reduced and neighborhoods are safest when gun-free zones are eliminated. Who doesn't know this?
Madison has a reputation as a liberal town. Given your own politics, what's your take on Madison? Do you like the city, or is too lefty for your tastes?
I have been rocking and hunting the great state of Wisconsin for over 45 years and connect with the good people of the Badger State. There are great Americans all across Wisconsin, including Madison, and I get along just wonderfully with all of them. People that hate America hate Ted Nugent, and I couldn't be more proud.
***
Sorry to do a post about Ted, after beginning the day — purely by chance — with 3 posts about George. I thought of making this a theme day, on the George theme, but Ted leaped out at me (like some wild animal that needed hunting). So... possibly a George and Ted day. But the purity is gone. Alas!
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90 comments:
Saw Ted at the Super Bowl of Rock, Soldier Field, 1977. Awesome. They only allowed people to carry in two milk jugs of water. Tens of thousands of the jugs were ultimately thrown up on stage at Ted's request. It was like being in a popcorn machine.
Lynard Skynard also played, a few months later the plane crash. We'll always have "Freebird" :-/
Just stick with Ted, and George, and George, and Dick, and throw in Rick and you can call it hyper-masculine day.
I was at the Michael Lang produced Miami Pop Festival of 1969. Booker T and the MG's had come down with the Hong Kong Flu and were unable to perform on the 2nd stage. Who took their place? The Amboy Dukes (whom I had never heard of). My introduction to Ted Nugent was profound. Orange jump suit and that big Gibson guitar came jumping down off a stack of Marshall amps as the band broke into "Journey to the Center of Your Mind". I was sold. Then the 4 way gold micro-dot acid wore off. Still. Great showman, fabulous guitar player, and, who would've thunk it, conservative political stance. Only in America. I can still play the opening bars of the Dukes great instrumental tune "Migration" lo these 40 years on...
Careful, Althouse....if you were a wild animal that needed hunting, he'd put your head over the mantle and make you sing "Journey To The Center of The Mind", (via remote control) like one of those singing fish!
What's not to despise.
Rock on!! Ted!
eople that hate America hate Ted Nugent, and I couldn't be more proud.
That's telling them, Ted.
Nugent is the only guy I've ever heard who can play speed metal without taking speed.
It was union workers that helped him put on his recent performance at the Capitol Theater. I can't help but wonder if he thought they were dumb rip-off artists that raped him, or if considers those folks some of the good people of the Badger State.
Given his flip-flops in the past, I'm gonna guess the answer is "both"
Great interview!
"... It was union workers that helped him put on his recent performance at the Capitol Theater. I can't help but wonder if he thought they were dumb rip-off artists that raped him, or if considers those folks some of the good people of the Badger State..."
I know reading comprehension isn't your strong suit so I should point out that his beef is with public employee unions.
As you were.
DAMN!! I LOVE Ted Nugent!
He is dead on and not afraid to say what he thinks.
I love Ted Nugent!!
Great guitar player and doesn't pussy foot around the topic.
When the shit hits the fan and while the Purple Penguins of the world quiver and whine about it all, I want Ted (and people like him) to have my back.
Frank Zappa's brilliant takedown of the ever so helpful union stage crew: Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink.
People that hate America hate Ted Nugent, and I couldn't be more proud.
Ted Nugent literally shat and pissed himself to avoid the Vietnam draft while his countryman were sent to the jungles to fight. So why do you hate America pants-shitter, you fucking pussy!?
Hate to say it, but "dance pop" has been popular in this country for, what, 200 years in one form or another.
Guitar rock may be his thing (not really mine), but rock may be the anthem of the (Lefty) Baby Boomers in flush times, but people danced during the last Depression, too.
Ron said...
Careful, Althouse....if you were a wild animal that needed hunting, he'd put your head over the mantle
Only Meade know if she fills the bill...
his beef is with public employee unions.
He said that "Overall, unions in America..." not "Some unions, the public sector ones, in America..." in his response. He also uses the auto industry as an example.
When ya add in the fact that the workers at Overture are paid by the city then you look just as silly/sad as the dude who wears a diaper in order to avoid the draft yet still urges other men to go forth and fight wars....
As much as I dislike it, "dance pop" has always been more popular than guitar based hard rock. Technically even Rock & Roll started out more as music to dance to in the 50s.
"... Ted Nugent literally shat and pissed himself to avoid the Vietnam draft while his countryman were sent to the jungles to fight. So why do you hate America pants-shitter, you fucking pussy!?..."
LOL!!!
"... He said that "Overall, unions in America..." not "Some unions, the public sector ones, in America..." in his response. He also uses the auto industry as an example..."
Yeah,.you're right, but do is he. Then again I guess he doesn't have much choice in what workers get assigned to setting up his shows.
As for Nam, wasn't that the bad war and avoiding it was the noble act? I wish you lefties would stick with one playbook.
"Just stick with Ted, and George, and George, and Dick, and throw in Rick and you can call it hyper-masculine day."
LOL. I just did!
Rick and Kinky and Joseph and God.
"It was union workers that helped him put on his recent performance at the Capitol Theater. I can't help but wonder if he thought they were dumb rip-off artists that raped him, or if considers those folks some of the good people of the Badger State."
And if there were no union, the workers would have been non-union workers. What's your point? Like he wouldn't have been able to do a show without the union!
Love Ted Nugent! That first album is still one of my faves. I may have been too young to discover him first off, but I appreciate his work now, and what a character he is! Thanks for posting this.
Anyone have his chick's cookbook? :)
Dance pop vs guitar rock: compared to classical music - be it Beethoven, Brahms or even Tschaikovsky - it's one form of infantilism versus another. The real tragedy isn't that one very limited form of expression has replaced another, the tragedy is that the yutes are no longer exposed to models of largeness. Which means they no longer are even aware of what could be, what they could be.
I wish you lefties would stick with one playbook.
Do you actually have a daughter named Sally or is this just a happy coincidence?
What's your point?
My point is I'm curious to know how he felt about the local crew.
Did he feel like the workers at the venue ripped him off while he was getting raped, or was he happy/satisfied with how they did their job that night?
".. Do you actually have a daughter named Sally or is this just a happy coincidence?.."
Sorry, Linky no worky.
"... My point is I'm curious to know how he felt about the local crew..."
Well my guess is that if he knew they were union then his sentiments expressed here probably summed it up.
That's called logic.
Sorry, Linky no worky.
Just saw that myself. Makes me sad-face that there isn't an edit function. Makes me happy-face that you didn't take a cheap shot when you told me about it. So things balance out, eh?
Lets try it this way instead: http://purplepenquin.com/2011/08/i-think-ive-meet-this-guy/
It was union workers that helped him put on his recent performance at the Capitol Theater.
Do you even get that these Sacred Union Jobs are completely dependent on and beholden to a non-union artists popularity with fans and the fans non-union cash?
And if you think that only union members have the ability to set up a concert stage, well, I'd like a bag of what you are smoking, because it must be some primo shit.
If nonunion Ted Nugent, and other nonunion, independent artists didn't exist to bring in people willing to pay to hear them perform, those unions pukes wouldn't have a job to begin with.
It is just another union thug operation, where they leech cash earned by other people and then congratulate themselves on what a great job they do.
Ted Nugent don't eat no road kill.
if he knew they were union then his sentiments expressed here probably summed it up.
I think you're right about that. It doesn't really matter how good of a job the crew does, as soon as some folks find out it is a "union" then the workers are automatically considered thugs who just want to rip-off and rape people.
"... Makes me happy-face that you didn't take a cheap shot when you told me about it. So things balance out, eh?.."
Well I don't take cheap shots. I may be a prick but I'm a fair prick.
Unlike Nugent, I think unions did a lot to improve worker rights but its hard to deny the pendulum has swung so far left. I worked at US Steel for an outside contractor (non union) for five years and saw a lot of things that soured me on unions so yeah, I'm a bit jaded when paying more into your union pension equals 'crushing unions'.
There needs to be a balance and the unions have to accept that making concessions doesn't mean were going back to 1920. It's great to make a high paying union wage but also realize someone has to pay for it, in the form of product cost or in taxes.
Do you even get that these Sacred Union Jobs are completely dependent on and beholden to a non-union artists popularity with fans and the fans non-union cash?
Not "completely". A lot of work comes from SAG artists as well.
And if you think that only union members have the ability to set up a concert stage
And if you think that is what I was saying...or even implying...then you need to, well..err...(I'm trying to be polite)...uhm...you need to stop thinking that, 'cause I didn't say it nor imply it.
It is just another union thug operation, where they leech cash earned by other people and then congratulate themselves on what a great job they do.
I wondered how long it was gonna take before these workers were labeled as thugs.
Thanks for sharing. Your comment is very insightful.
If Ted had known there were penguins listening in he could have said something like "each of the six people the union made me pay for to handle the one-man job of running power cables did 1/6 of a great job."
"... I think you're right about that. It doesn't really matter how good of a job the crew does, as soon as some folks find out it is a "union" then the workers are automatically considered thugs who just want to rip-off and rape people..."
Well for me I just accept I probably paid 30% more for said product or service.
Some people think paying a $1.25 service fit for using another bank's ATM is a rip off just like some people think they're one cause of unemploynent.
I use the word 'thugs' because, when unions don't get what they want, they invariably resort to thuggery and criminal acts to intimidate their opponents into going along with their demands.
Note I didn't call them 'rapists' which is, of course, not factual.
Union thuggery is, however, quite factual and historically accurate.
@purplepenguin It was union workers that helped him put on his recent performance at the Capitol Theater.
Did the union rules let Ted's musicians plug in their equipment or did they have to wait around for the union electrician?
You conflate workers and unions. Workers are individuals. The union hates individuals.
Hate is a strong word, but the union has no power unless all the workers submit to the union.
Where do you think the word "scab" came from? Not from Ted Nugent.
I wondered how long it was gonna take before these workers were labeled as thugs..."
I would not get too worked up over hyperbole. After all, making unions pay more for health care and pensions or suggesting the state not deduct dues and let members pay it themselves was called 'crushing unions'. Crushing. Back in the day crushing unions typically involved baseball bats, or calling in the army.
Union thuggery is, however, quite factual and historically accurate.
You remind me of some folks I know who say "Rape and murder by the Armed Forces is factual and historically accurate."
Seriously...how does one have a rational discussion with people like that?
Purple P: I think that he hired and paid the union people at the concert. They did not come to "help him" as you put it. Like most people who hire short term labor I doubt that he had "feelings" about them other than satisfaction, hopefully, that he got his money's worth.
After all, making unions pay more for health care and pensions or suggesting the state not deduct dues and let members pay it themselves was called 'crushing unions'
That wasn't the part that will crush the unions. It is the ban on allowing us to negotiate safety rules & work place conditions that could kill my union off.
And yes..."kill" is being used both literally and figuratively. The main reason we organized back-in-the-day was because of the dangerous stuff we do. But now it is illegal for us to have safety rules as part of our contracts with the city/county/state.
Please take some time to ponder that for a moment: People have died in my line of work, and the WiGOP responds by banning contract language that can make for a safer work place.
But the cherry on whole shit sundae is that some folks say I can't even call myself a "worker" anymore. Instead I'm nothing more than a thug that doesn't earn my wages but rather just leeches 'em off other people.
*sigh*
Rape and murder by US soldiers isn't the fall back policy of the US Armed Forces when faced with opposition. The Armed Forces prosectutes offenders when they catch them.
Thuggery and intimidation IS the fall back policy of unions when they are faced with opposition. This is no secret. While local police may arrest and prosecute them, the unions keep the thugs within the fold and defend them; reward them even.
I thought you liberals were into this nuance thing, where you can discern obvious differences.
"purplepenquin said...
It was union workers that helped him put on his recent performance at the Capitol Theater. I can't help but wonder if he thought they were dumb rip-off artists that raped him..."
If I was purplepenguin I would post:
"Is anyone else concerned about the violent language of purplepenguin or is it just me"
"My point is I'm curious to know how he felt about the local crew. Did he feel like the workers at the venue ripped him off while he was getting raped, or was he happy/satisfied with how they did their job that night?"
He referred to the unions, not the workers who happen to be in the union and don't have much individual choice.
Also, he's mostly talking about the public employee unions and the teachers unions.
Would these workers and professions be doing better work if there were no unions? He's saying yes, which is not speaking agains the union members but the effect of the union.
"... That wasn't the part that will crush the unions. It is the ban on allowing us to negotiate safety rules & work place conditions that could kill my union off..."
That's interesting. I'd be curious to know what safety rules the GOP didn't want you to negotiate.
PurpleP: Are you one of the danger loving TAs who risk life and limb? Do you think the government creates unsafe working conditions for non-union employees? Are you on crack?
He referred to the unions, not the workers who happen to be in the union and don't have much individual choice.
What is a union if not a group of workers?
And I'm pretty sure that every stagehand at the Capitol Theater made the individual choice to join the local union rather than just "happen" to be in it. What leads you to think otherwise?
If you are a government employee, you aren't a worker, like a coal miner. Same with your business if it mainly exists due to tax dollar contracts. You have a conflict of interest.
Your employers aren't the GOP or DNC. They are the tax payers and voters. They sent the GOP to tell you what they want from you, not the other way around, because they realized that the Donks were in the pocket of your union and were more interested in union re-election cash than in listening to their constituents and/or governing wisely or spending tax dollars prudently.
26 years in the Army and no union while I faced alot more danger and death than you, I think.
I'd be curious to know what safety rules the GOP didn't want you to negotiate
All of 'em. Are you not aware of what was recently passed? It is now illegal for practically anything (other than wages, to a point) to be negotiated and included in a contract between collective bargaining units and city/county/state entities.
What is a union if not a group of workers?
That blazingly obvious fact escapes Althouse.
But Big Government Nannies like Walker knows what's best for your working conditions and classrooms. Who wouldn't trust a college dropout on that?
I think you're right about that. It doesn't really matter how good of a job the crew does, as soon as some folks find out it is a "union" then the workers are automatically considered thugs who just want to rip-off and rape people.
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He never said that union members were thugs. He probably thinks that the heads of unions are dirty commie thugs that often employ other thugs to use threats, intimidation and violence as "negotiation" tactics.
Do you dispute that?
"... Are you not aware of what was recently passed?.."
Evidently not because all I ever heard was the complaint that teachers would have to fork over more for health care and pensions and the state would not deduct union dues automatically.
Too bad your loudest spokesman here was garage mahal cause he never brought it up and he's the go to guy for unseating Walker. I might have actually gone up to help protest provided beer and babes were available.
What is a union if not a group of workers?
And I'm pretty sure that every stagehand at the Capitol Theater made the individual choice to join the local union rather than just "happen" to be in it. What leads you to think otherwise?
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In non right to work states, a union is a group of workers that are coerced into joining the union.
That is why union arrangements are only acceptable in right to work states. Anything else is a breach of a worker's rights
I've been in six blue-collar unions in the last 48 years and appreciate what they have done for worker's safety. But I have also seen them defend unsafe practices by members against management in order to protect the offender's job. Sometimes this was opposed by other workers, but it seemed showing the power of the union came ahead of safety.
That wasn't the part that will crush the unions. It is the ban on allowing us to negotiate safety rules & work place conditions that could kill my union off.
And yes..."kill" is being used both literally and figuratively. The main reason we organized back-in-the-day was because of the dangerous stuff we do. But now it is illegal for us to have safety rules as part of our contracts with the city/county/state.
------
What state agency do you work for that risks your life so?
From what I remember, the new rules do not affect firefighters and cops.
26 years in the Army and no union while I faced alot more danger and death than you, I think.
While I didn't make a career of it, I did serve in two branches; 11-Bravo as well as a brief time as a Squid. So I know that the military has its own way of dealing with unsafe bosses/butterbars.
If you're really concerned about "thuggery" by union members, then shouldn't you support allowing negotiations to be legal? Or do you think blanket parties and fragging the LT is a better way of going about things than sitting down at a table and working things out?
"As for Nam, wasn't that the bad war and avoiding it was the noble act? I wish you lefties would stick with one playbook."
Is this an astonishingly bad attempt at a rhetorical jab, or are you really this obtuse?
This is has nothing to do with whether "lefties" consider doing whatever one could to avoid being drafted to be sent to Viet Nam to be a bad thing; this has to do with the hypocrisy of a my-balls-are-bigger-than-anyone's, America-love-it-or-kiss-my-ass jingo-istic "macho" poseur like Ted Nugent having shit himself before visiting his draft board in order to run away from serving his country.
Sort of like DICK Cheney having claimed numerous draft deferments in the 60s because, as he said, he "had other priorities."
Well, sure; I'd bet all the young men who were drafted and sent to Viet Nam had other priorities, as well, but the state said--in service of a pointless war--"fuck your priorities and fuck you."
Ted and Dick: American Chickenhawks!
That said, Ted has produced a few moments of listenable music, his high point having been "Stranglehold."
Too bad your loudest spokesman here was garage mahal cause he never brought it up and he's the go to guy for unseating Walker. I might have actually gone up to help protest provided beer and babes were available.
Too bad this blog is your sole source of information on the issue.
(saidwithawrygrinratherthanameanscowl)
And there is ALWAYS beer and babes* around the Capitol in Madison, not just when the protests are happening. If you ever make it to this part of the country please be sure to check it out.
(*best part about living in a college-town. I keep getting older, but they stay the same age)
If you're really concerned about "thuggery" by union members, then shouldn't you support allowing negotiations to be legal? Or do you think blanket parties and fragging the LT is a better way of going about things than sitting down at a table and working things out?
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Negotiations are legal, what are you talking about?
Do you know how many scab workers have been injured and even killed crossing picket lines? Truly worker safety is at the forefront of union organizer's minds.
(Private sector) unions are a good idea on paper, but they are ruined by the people that run them. They make things so difficult for companies by sticking their noses in places where they don't belong, such as hiring/firing practices, that they inevitably run their bosses out of business.
And now they're inevitably forcing the taxpaper into bankruptcy.
This is has nothing to do with whether "lefties" consider doing whatever one could to avoid being drafted to be sent to Viet Nam to be a bad thing; this has to do with the hypocrisy of a my-balls-are-bigger-than-anyone's, America-love-it-or-kiss-my-ass jingo-istic "macho" poseur like Ted Nugent having shit himself before visiting his draft board in order to run away from serving his country.
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Guess what type of people serve their country and fight all our wars, dipshit? Those America love it or leave it types that you like to snidely deride, my dad included. The military is practically a conservative Republican fiefdom nowadays.
Conservatives the ones that serve, so it's really galling to hear you talk shit about Nugent merely for getting a deferment.
It seems your arguement is hypocrisy but it's totally empty because you haven't demonstrated that Ted was for the Vietnam war and more specifically for the draft.
I think government employee unions and politicians negotiating is 2 wolves and a sheep deciding whats for dinner, with the taxpayers being the sheep.
Democrat politicians have made laundering tax dollar cash throught the PE unions back into their campaign coffers in return for giving the unions what they want, no matter how fiscally unsustainable, part and parcel of how they operate for decades.
There is obviously no concern about spending tax money wisely or looking out for the longterm interests of tax dollar expenditures, because Dems are rewarded by the unions with the money to maintain power and keep the gravy train going, with complete disregard to future budgets or even a sustainable level of income. CA and other big spending states are broke because if it.
This is such an obvious conflict of interest and is tantamount to legalized bribery, all using money that isn't theirs to begin with.
Funny how alleged leftists who are up in arms over corporate money influence in politics completley ignore the huge jackass in this room. Which is to enrich fat cat unions at the expense of the poor people that the government programs are funded to serve.
Tax dollars spent paying for inefficient union employment rules, like requiring a certified electrician to plug in an ordinary power cord, when the guy standing by the outlet unloading gear could do it, are that much fewer tax dollars available to feed or house the truly needy.
This is "progressive"? More like "riding the Gravy Train" and "milking it" to me.
Did I say inefficient? I meant an utterly stupid waste of tax payer money bordering on scamming taxpayers and fraud.
I wonder why Republican candidates are always getting into trouble borrowing songs from lefty rockers when (I hope) they could use Ted Nugent's for free?
Ted Nugent just didn't want to fight the Democrats War of Choice in Vietnam. His dissent was patriotic.
As far as avoiding the draft, Nugent got a student deferment. He didn't carry out the funky stuff alleged by some of the commenters. Does he regret it? yes. Read about it here:http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/ted-nugent-off-his-rocker-479556.html
Republican politicians have made laundering tax dollar cash through members of the armed services back into their campaign coffers in return for giving the military what they want, no matter how fiscally unsustainable, part and parcel of how they operate for decades.
There is obviously no concern about spending tax money wisely or looking out for the longterm interests of tax dollar expenditures, because Repubs are rewarded by the military members with the money to maintain power and keep the gravy train going, with complete disregard to future budgets or even a sustainable level of income. The US is broke because if it.
This is such an obvious conflict of interest and is tantamount to legalized bribery, all using money that isn't theirs to begin with.
And on that note, I'm gonna get some lunch...
"Ted Nugent just didn't want to fight the Democrats War of Choice in Vietnam. His dissent was patriotic."
Hahahaha!
"As far as avoiding the draft, Nugent got a student deferment. He didn't carry out the funky stuff alleged by some of the commenters. Does he regret it? yes."
I read an interview with Nugent somewhere in which he claimed to have shit himself to avoid the draft. Was it bullshit? Did he actually receive student deferments? I don't know, but given Ted's M.O., I wouldn't be surprised if his "I shit myself to avoid the draft" was another one of his efforts to show he's more extreme than any other motherfucker, around, motherfucker, even when it comes to avoiding the draft!
As for his belated "regret," yes well...it's quite easy to profess crocodile regret years after the fact when one's ass isn't on the line and one's macho conservative bona fides are.
The point is: he's just another phony, self-serving putz.
SPImmortal: I frankly have no idea what your response concerning the Nuge is supposed to mean, but it's apparent you have completely failed to understand my point.
Funny - and good for you Professor. Being a foodie, I watch the decidedly left leaning Antony Bourdain on "No Reservations." In one episode, Bourdain goes to Ted's place outside of Waco, TX. Hilarious.
Ohh - and as an after-thought. Ted is a huge supporter of our armed forces - - and the wounded warrior project.
how silly purplepenguin. Not equivalent whatsoever. Your attempt at Tu Que Que is a fail.
Democrats also heavily support the same things that support soldiers. But, when the military budget is cut, we salute and deal with it, unlike PE employees and their unions. You never hear any Republican wailing about lost military "jobs" and the shrinking middle class when the actual troop numbers are reduced, unless its a Congressman or Senator trying to maintain the gravy train for his districts civilian workforce that benefits from the military installation thru contracts and service dollars dependent on military families incomes.
The only Federal institution that I have seen actually reduce its budget income in my lifetime has been the military, right after the Gulf War and the fall of the Berlin Wall. And it was a serious reduction.
Has it grown back since then? Hell, yes it has; we're fighting a war in 3 theaters. Oh, and guess what? The Armed Forces are taking a 10% cut on top of that. Is there any other major government program taking a similar haircut, instead of a decrease in the rate of growth built in to annual baseline budgeting that are automatic increases?
So, will you live up to your "we support the troops, not the war" bullshit and fund those wars, until you gain enough political power to bring them home? Or is it inconvenient to bring that up, seeing as how Obama opened up the third theater of that war?
Nugent in middle age has essentially become the voice of the men I grew up around -- WWII and Korea vets who hunted and fished and worked and drank and smoked and played cards and believed in God and took their kids to church and stayed married and did lots of things in their communities without ever calling it "volunteering." In other words, what he's saying is mostly just what used to be called common sense. The fact that he sounds like a right-wing extremist now simply means that we've moved so far away from common sense that we can't recognize it anymore.
By the way, Ted's exactly right about music. I've got my son listening to vintage (1970s) Springsteen and Neil Young and Dylan, but whenever one of his friends is in the car they think both of us are weird. The stuff they listen to is just lame, unmusical crap produced by computers and requiring little if any talent (other than self-promotion).
"...Too bad this blog is your sole source of information on the issue..."
I did read some Wisconsin news articles on the subject and honestly, worker safety was never once mentioned.
For what it'd worth, saftey considerations should not have been excluded
Why should Nugent be thankful for union crews? Because they drive up his costs by instituting a defacto monopoly on labor? Because if he tried to hire a non-union crew the union would come in and steal, break, or vandalize his stuff and shut him down? Is he supposed to say "Yay union!" over that? And let's not even pretend that it's totally unthinkable that a union would resort to criminality--you pretty much expect it. Heck, union supporters don't even think there's anything wrong with it. They'll just wink and suggest that it's just deserts.
I read an interview with Nugent somewhere in which he claimed to have shit himself to avoid the draft. Was it bullshit? Did he actually receive student deferments?
Yes, not bullshit, and yes
You know how grateful you liberals are to oil companies every time you drive your cars? That's probably about how grateful Ted is to union crews.
purplepenquin said...
While I didn't make a career of it, I did serve in two branches; 11-Bravo as well as a brief time as a Squid.
Really? Who did you do your 11 Bravo with? What years?
RE: safety regulations.
If there are any PE union jobs that currently have unsafe working conditions, why didn't the unions deal with this during previous negotiations? What, did the unsafe situations suddenly pop up after the new law was passed?
If public unions are soooo successful and necessary for securing safety in the workplace, then safe workplace standards would have already been secured, and the unions are no longer needed for that purpose. If safety hazards still exist, then the public union negotiations were not a successful method for securing safe working conditions and different methods should be explored.
Sheesh.
I love it. It's a much needed break and a perfect setup for a tremendous (and fresh) come back.
I have all the great guitar rock, new and old, that I could hope for. I don't care if kids today aren't listening to it. I had my scene, let them have theirs, however ridiculous it may at times seem to me.
I would be willing to bet that Nugent and most other people would be willing to pay extra to NOT have the "union help them".
The rule requiring a union electrician to plug in anything is a great example of why.
Of course the tragedy is that you have to pay the union extra and still get the union rules and slug work ethic, which only makes your project harder. Such a deal!
Dodging the draft was nothing to be proud of, but Ted has both expressed sincere regret and made up for it in myriad ways with his support for the troops and this country, as well as the laws and history which made it great.
It would have been much cooler if he had dropped everything and said, "Where do I sign and when do I leave?", but he didn't. Would I have said that in his position?
I honestly don't know.
Bottom line for me is, what has he done since then? I'd say he's grown up quite a bit, where others burned themselves out or quietly faded away. I give him plenty of credit and enjoy his bravado a great deal, as well as the endless head-rotating vomit fits it induces in those who despise him and his political statements.
I don't hold it against the young men who avoided going to Vietnam. It was unpopular especially among the young. It was considered immoral by many. I was a couple years too young, but had mentally prepared myself to run to Canada if I had to. Like Nugent, I regret that now. I deeply wish I would have served, at some time, and wish I could now.
We were kids. Some of us were more mature, patriotic and brave than Nugent and I were, but we have grown up, and grown a pair.
What are we supposed to do - remain pussies forever, and support the wrong-headed ideas we outgrew, just to stay consistent with our 18 year-old foolishness?
"Not gonna do it - wouldn't be prudent."
BTW, Nugent got multiple student deferments - that's public record and indisputable. He also said in an interview in 1977 that he did all that stuff with crapping himself and acting crazy. I assume he was either bullshitting about that ,or he did do it, and did it just in case the student deferments didn't hold.
A student deferment is not a dishonor, but neither is it brave. The faking craziness is dishonorable, but I still forgive that of a young man at that time, for that war. It's not like he spit on the returning veterans and called them baby killers.
purple penguin wrote:
What is a union if not a group of workers?
And what is a group of workers not in an union? Certainly not union members.
"I read an interview with Nugent somewhere in which he claimed to have shit himself to avoid the draft. Was it bullshit? Did he actually receive student deferments? "
"Yes, not bullshit, and yes"
In your link he is quoted as saying he did not do that. Do you not read this stuff before linking?
So Nugent dodged the draft. Under the Democrat playbook, that makes him qualified to be Commander in Chief! How soon you guys forget about Clinton. Sheesh.
As far safety rules... does this change mean that when one union guy is "working," there will only be three others standing around watching him, instead of the usual five?
Considering the fact that most American youth are drooling retards with no taste, I wouldn't find it at all strange that they would prefer, say, Katy Perry to Led Zepplin.
"What is a union if not a group of workers?"
Same concept as "corporations are people."
"Considering the fact that most American youth are drooling retards with no taste, I wouldn't find it at all strange that they would prefer, say, Katy Perry to Led Zepplin."
I was in high school during Zeppelin's heyday, and in my art class every afternoon, kids would bring in records to play on the school turntable while the class did its art projects.
The kids who brought in LED ZEPPELIN II every day to play every day were the wastoids, surfer kids, and "drooling retards with no taste."
It was only 20 years later that I could actually hear some good in Zeppelin; before that, I couldn't escape the cultural associations I had mentally attached to Zepp: the hordes of stoned and functionally illiterate numbskulls for whom "ZEPPELIN!!" was a rallying cry.
That was their audience back in the day.
Katy Perry is as enjoyable as Zeppelin, and as legitimate.
In Case all of you worker safety advocates haven't heard there is a governmental agency Called OSHA that explicitly deals with your concerns.
WV-slopsog
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