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Ted Nugent Isn’t Just an Anti-Semitic Halfwit. He’s Also Bad for Guns.

The rocker’s latest vile campaign targets Jews, but it hurts Second Amendment supporters most

by
Liel Leibovitz
February 10, 2016
Flickr / Gage Skidmore
Ted Nugent speaking at the 2015 Maricopa County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner in Scottsdale, Arizona, March 28, 2015. Flickr / Gage Skidmore
Flickr / Gage Skidmore
Ted Nugent speaking at the 2015 Maricopa County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner in Scottsdale, Arizona, March 28, 2015. Flickr / Gage Skidmore

Mark Twain, who knew a thing or two about idiots, famously warned his readers not to argue with fools; do that, he quipped, and onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. So it’s with much trepidation that I’m addressing Ted Nugent’s latest outrage: having previously written a song that advocated handcuffing and raping underage girls, and having allegedly put his passion for prepubescence into practice by engaging in sexual conduct with a twelve-year-old—illegal, immoral, inconceivable to any conscientious human being—the degenerate rocker posted anti-Semitic drivel on his Facebook page earlier this week, accusing twelve prominent Jews of being “nazi gungrabbers” and overall traitors to the American project of life, liberty, and the pursuit of firearms.

(Flickr / Mike Licht)
(Flickr / Mike Licht)

Now, I love guns. I am a proud and enthusiastic member of the National Rifle Association. I believe every man, woman, and child—particularly those who happen to be Jewish—should be well-armed and well-trained. I am about as rigid an advocate of the Second Amendment as one can get, and I have no particular political love for the twelve officials and activists named by Nugent. And it’s because I hold these views that I feel very comfortable saying that Ted Nugent isn’t just a disgraceful human being (which is self-evident) and anti-Semitic scum (which should be obvious by his decision to refer to Michael Bloomberg as “the mayor of Jew York City” and an Israeli agent who helped orchestrate 9/11) but also a real shande to anyone seriously committed to the right to bear arms.

The liberal caricatures aside, most of us gun enthusiasts are reasonable, responsible people, and many of us see owning a firearm as both an expression and a protection of our liberty. The freedom we wish to defend is the freedom to live safely and with dignity without undue harassment. When a bigoted buffoon like Nugent makes his incendiary statements, he’s not only embodying the vilest stereotypes used to marginalize pro-gun arguments but also undermining the very foundation of the pro-gun argument itself.

Nevermind. This is America. When hateful pricks like Nugent rise using poisonous propaganda, at least we’ll be able to arm and defend ourselves.

Liel Leibovitz is editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine and a host of its weekly culture podcast Unorthodox and daily Talmud podcast Take One. He is the editor of Zionism: The Tablet Guide.