Ted Nugent May Have Finally Gone Too Far Even For NRA Members

Ted Nugent on a recent hunt (image from Nugent's Facebook)
Ted Nugent on a recent hunt (image from Nugent’s Facebook)

For a long time, we’ve wondered if the National Rifle Association has any standards at all. But it looks like that, at least for some NRA members and gun rights advocates, there actually is such a thing as a bright line. You may recall that on Monday, longtime NRA board member Ted Nugent posted a blatantly anti-Semitic picture to his Facebook page suggesting that several prominent gun-control advocates wanted to take our guns because they’re Jewish. Well, in the days since then, the Nuge has been kicked up, down, sideways, and every which way in between by several members of the pro-gun crowd.

Robert Farago of The Truth About Guns, denounced Nugent for crossing the line into “full-on religious hatred” that portrays Jews as “the other.” To Farago, Nugent’s call to “raise maximum hell” against the likes of Mike Bloomberg, Rahm Emanuel, Dianne Feinstein and others was a veiled call for violence that was “beyond reprehensible.” He believes that the NRA should “distance itself” from Nugent” and “remove him from the Board.” Farago also pointed out that he, his managing editor, and one of his staff writers are all Jewish, and see their support for gun rights as their way of saying, “Never again.”

Bob Owens of Bearing Arms talked to a number of other gun-rights advocates, and most of them are “simply done” with Nugent’s “half-baked rhetoric and simple-minded outbursts.” He thinks that unless Nugent is willing to offer a “sincere apology,” he should resign from the NRA board while he can still do so with some semblance of decency.

Farago and Owens aren’t alone. When right-wing commentator Debbie Schlussel saw the picture, she let Nugent have it:

Debbie Schlussel blasts Ted Nugent

Here’s a sample of other comments:

“Uncle Ted, I support (many) of your viewpoints, and have been a long term fan of your music, but this time you’ve gone way over the line.”
“You sank low here. I am a Jewish conservative gun owner. This is just [expletive] hate. I’ve always supported you, but [expletive] you Ted.”
“Ted I loved your music and I loved your politics but blaming Jews for gun control is just plain stupid and ignorant. Liberals, Democrats are to blame and as a proud gun-carrying Jew your stupid comment has lost me as a fan.”
“I’m a pro gun Jew and you can go f**k yourself for your anti semite post. You knew what that picture was trying to comunicate. People like you don’t help the 2nd Amendment. You just anger the other side and give them ammo to push there agenda.”

Apparently we can’t expect an apology from Nugent any time soon. Not only is the original picture still on the Nuge’s page as of Thursday night, but he posted another blatantly anti-Semitic meme shortly afterward which is also still on his page.

This image promotes the old shibboleth that European Jews didn’t resist the Holocaust.

So far, the only response from the NRA has been a statement that “individual board members do not speak for the NRA.” If this is how the NRA responds to blatant anti-Semitism, it says a lot about LaPierre and his friends. I’ve always wondered what it would take for enough people to resign from the NRA that it would just be an empty hulk. Perhaps that time is now.

Maybe it’s also time to pressure Nugent and LaPierre’s bosses as well. For those who don’t know, the NRA is essentially the mouthpiece for the nation’s gun makers. Most of them are privately owned. For all intents and purposes, Nugent is one of the hired guns (if you’ll pardon a pun) for a cabal of faceless men who aren’t accountable to anyone. Hmmm–maybe we should ask the gun makers who sponsor the NRA’s many videos if they find it acceptable for a stone-cold anti-Semite to speak for them.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.