Offensive Remark of the Week

This week’s offensive remark is definitely a tag-team effort. The sadly likely duo of Ted Nugent and Sean Hannity have really pulled this one out.

It all started with some comments that known sexist, racist and all-around Republican asshole Ted Nugent made in concert. While holding two assault rifles on stage, he proudly declared:

I was in Chicago. I said, “Hey, Obama, you might want to suck on one of these, you punk!”

Obama, he’s a piece of shit. And I told him to suck on my machine gun. Let’s hear it for it.

And I was in New York. I said, “Hey, Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch!”

Naturally, there were massive cheers from the crowd. Then, another sexist, racist, all-around Republican asshole Sean Hannity played the clip on his show, called Nugent a friend, seems to suggest that Obama deserved the threat, and adamantly defended Nugent from Democratic strategist Bob Beckel.

After airing the clip, Hannity referred to Nugent as a “friend and frequent guest on the program,” and then compared Nugent’s comments to recent statements by Obama, which Hannity again distorted by claiming Obama “accus[ed] our troops of killing civilians.” Hannity then asked Democratic strategist Bob Beckel: “What’s more offensive to you? Is it Barack Obama’s statement about our troops or Ted Nugent?” Beckel responded by asking Hannity if he was “prepared to disavow this lowlife,” to which Hannity responded: “No, I like Ted Nugent. He’s a friend of mine.” When Beckel said that Nugent “ought to never come on your show again, and if you have him on, you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Hannity responded: “Not at all. We have you on.”

You can view the whole clip at Media Matters, to see the ferocity with which Sean Hannity defends Ted Nugent. It’s impressive.

Of course, Hannity’s remarks about Obama are a lie. Even if he did say that, there are in fact documented cases of soldiers killing civilians. But he didn’t say it.

And even if he had, it of course in no way excuses a death threat. It also doesn’t explain away the threats to Sen. Clinton, or other similar sexualized threats and degrading remarks to Sen. Boxer and Sen. Feinstein, which were omitted from the Hannity clip. It takes extremely little imagination to see the extreme racism and misogyny in Nugent’s choice of words or the way that the violence has been sexualized. And it doesn’t exactly take a clever mind to ask “Hmm, I wonder why of all the white male Democrats out there, who vastly outnumber women and people of color in office, Nugent only went after the black guy and the women?!” And of course, there’s the irony of the Republican attempt to ruin the Dixie Chicks’ career for saying that they were ashamed that Dubya is from Texas, while applauding racist and misogynist threats of bodily harm to other leaders.

Then again, it would be pretty fucking foolish to expect any different.